What is muscle elasticity? Well, if you were to cut out a muscle, put it on the table and stretch it, you would see it shrink back a bit. In plain physics, it’s a natural ability of some things to recover the original form upon the removal of the force initially applied.

However, a human and his body is not all physics, it’s physics, chemistry, biology, psychology and all that good stuff, and last time you checked you probably noticed that your muscles are under your skin. Which should immediately suggest that muscles are a part of your entire structure, and as such whatever functions your muscles perform or whatever is going on, it does not happen on its own. There is a whole chain of processes happening, while the main one is leading.

So, technically, “muscle elasticity” is an incorrect term to use when speaking of muscle elasticity in running, or any other movement for that matter.

Muscles do not work independently, nor do they work under your command. The sooner you let go of your imaginary rein of control over the “molecules” of your body, the sooner you will discover better movement.

What we should be discussing is called a muscle-tendon complex. Tendons play a very important and active role in this process, but the muscles are the leaders. The concept of muscle-tendon elasticity complex is a relatively new one and deep research with the correct goals is much needed.

There are, however, already some very certain and obvious facts about muscles and tendons and how they work together making a unique system of movement. For example, it is a fact that tendons can stretch more than muscles. It is most likely because tendons were meant to stretch and muscles weren’t as much, muscles were meant to contract and relax.

Speaking of tendons, let’s mention the Achilles tendon, the biggest tendon in our entire body which just happens to be located at the ankle which is part of the “mechanism” of movement like walking, running, and other types of movement. So instead of being concerned with overloading the largest tendon of the body during running (it is the largest tendon, is it not logical to assume it can handle the load?), why not question the integrity of the idea of hammering the joints (knees) that we obviously meant to simply bend, yet it is often recommended to actively use them in any which way.

Why is it a requirement in Pose Running to keep knees slightly bent at all times? Besides the fact that joints bend and should not be in locked positions, especially during running, bent knees help to absorb the shock during movement. It is also a part of the “rules” of the muscle-tendon complex.

Muscle-tendon complex is the natural ability of your muscular-skeletal system to “return to its original state”. When the limb of your body is moved in any way in any direction for any purpose, muscles and tendons accommodate by elongating or shortening at various key spots. When we move our limbs back to where the movement had started, it is easy to notice how everything goes right back to its shape and form, size and place.

Muscles and tendons work in unison, each one however, with its own timing doing its own job. As should be expected and as mentioned above, muscle-tendon complex has “rules”. In order to “activate” the complex and benefit from it, one must adhere to those “rules”, otherwise the effectiveness of the complex is dramatically minimized or completely lost.

Jack Daniels was among the first people in running to make an observation that all elite runners have a cadence of 180 or higher, but he did not make a conclusion from that observation. Why is cadence of 180 or higher in running – a magic number?

Muscle-tendon complex, like so many other processes in our body, happens in space and time. It is a rhythmic work of muscles & tendons combined with rhythm of loading. And, it is a biomechanical law that guarantees the magic - with high cadence muscles “come to life” and work at the highest level of their elastic function. Without much effort on your part your body continues forward movement. Elite athletes, most of whom are naturally highly talented, instinctively run with high cadence. Their perception allows them to naturally sense the ease of movement that comes from operating the body properly.

With age muscle-tendon complex naturally changes, but the decline in elasticity is less for active people than for non-active.

Article by Dr. Nicholas Romanov

Composed by L. Romanov