The Better the Brakes the Better the Motor

Muscles are what move us in virtually endless ways. From walking to dancing, to dunking a basketball. They're like our motor. They are also our body's brakes. They slow us down when we bend down to pick something up, stop on a dime to make a cut playing soccer or football and if we suddenly lose our balance and need to break our fall so we don't get injured. Being our brakes as well as our motor helps us move better and safer.

In contrast a car can continue to move even without brakes. The motor can make the car go faster and faster until the motor doesn't have the power to make it go any faster. The only limitation is the power of the motor and how fast it can propel the car. So, functionally a car doesn't have to have brakes, or at least the brakes don't control the performance of the motor and how fast the car goes. Of course, you do eventually want to stop the car. So, it's important to have brakes that work well.

With the human body it's set up a bit differently. As a safety feature your motor, the muscles that move you, are also your body's brakes. It's a way of keeping you from crashing and burning. Unlike a car if our brakes don't work well the motor doesn't work well either. That's a handy way for things to be set up so we don't hurt ourselves. Unfortunately, we can override our brakes and accelerate past what our brakes can handle. That can cause a single catastrophic accident or add up over time like a series of small fender benders that eventually add up to a body that doesn't function as well as we would like. That's usually in the form of pain and reduced ability to move.

So, it's important to keep the brakes in good working order. A simple way of doing so is to focus on using the brakes when you're doing your workouts. When you're squatting slow down going from standing to the bottom of your squat instead of just dropping down. You control the movement down improving the function of your brakes. No brake job needed. Just use them on a regular basis and they work better. Wouldn't that be handy if the brakes on our cars worked like that too. This also let's your motor provide more power and you get stronger. When your body knows your brakes are working it naturally let's your motor run stronger and provide more power. So, you are stronger. You can lift heavier weights, jump higher or run faster. Your body knows you'll be safe with the extra strength, so it unleashes it. Give it a try and see what happens.