I thought biomechanics was the answer to understanding human movement.
In fact, I believed it so deeply that I went back to school to do a second Masters degree in biomechanics. Then I had a conversation with a colleague that left me second guessing my outlook on human movement. This was a colleague who I felt was very intelligent but also very practical. When they told me this, it crushed me that I had been looking at things from such a narrow lens. But also excited me that there was a whole other world of movement science to dive into. Here’s what he said:
“Biomechanics is the measured outcome of other human systems.”
Read that again. If you don’t understand this statement, you won’t truly understand how human movement works.
This was a massive shift in mindset for me because I was only focused on what happens at the surface. But I was leaving out the most important question: Why does someone move like that? This was the epiphany that I had during this conversation. We need to understand the other systems at work resulting in the outcome of movement. Otherwise, we are looking at movement from a surface-level perspective.
Here’s how my perspective on biomechanics has changed:
#1. Biomechanics is a proxy measure of neurological and physiological systems
It’s important that biomechanics is not a stand-alone field of human measurement.
Jump testing is a very common biomechanical measurement used in athletes. For example, braking impulse is a measure of force output over a period of time during the braking phase of the jump. Force output is dictated by muscle coordination, muscle size and muscle energy. In other words, braking impulse will be a measure of muscle coordination and force output.
#2. Current state of neurological and physiological systems influences biomechanics
Biomechanical outcomes will change based on a persons current state.
Fatigue is a neurological and physiological state. It can be measured using biomechanical outcomes. I tested a client who was in the middle of exam period at school. Poor timing on our part to schedule her testing but it made for interesting outcomes. Although she had been training hard, all her test measures were down. Mentally, she was exhausted from studying. The state of her nervous system showed in her jump testing. Once she finished exams, we tested her again and everything was back to where it should’ve been.
#3. To change biomechanics, we need to change other systems
I used to think we could change a person’s biomechanics. Again, surface-level thinking.
Now I understand that to change how someone moves, we need to create neurological or physiological changes. Muscle coordination, rate of muscle activation, muscle size, available energy, etc. will influence biomechanical outcomes. A big topic over the past 10+ years in the rehab field has been dynamic knee valgus in ACL injuries. A big mistake we were making was looking only at the biomechanical movement. We had yet to understand that the movement is linked to the timing of muscle activity from the brain. When we ask why, we find that it’s likely more related to the neurological and physiological changes that occur after an ACL injury.
If you’re like I was in believing that biomechanics will give you all the answers, I encourage you to rethink your mindset. I believe the answers are deeper than the outcome.