Is Your Nervous System Limiting Your Strength
Why Muscles Are Not The Limiting Factor In Most People's Training
The fitness industry is obsessed with muscles. How to grow them, stretch them, recover them, fuel them. But muscles are not the limiting factor in your training. Your nervous system is. Until this reality is widely understood, most training advice will continue to miss the point.
What Is Neural Drive
Your muscles do not decide when to contract. Your brain does. Your muscles do not decide how hard to contract. Your brain does. Every movement is a neurological event first and a muscular event second. Neural drive refers to the strength and quality of the signal the motor cortex sends to a muscle. If the signal is operating at 60% due to positional inhibition, the muscle contracts at 60% regardless of effort or intent.
How Position Limits Muscle Activation
Positional inhibition is the most common form of neurological bottleneck. When a joint is out of position, the brain reduces drive to muscles that cross that joint in positions where contraction would be inefficient or potentially harmful. The Left AIC pattern described by PRI creates predictable positional inhibition at the left hip, left trunk, and through the Right BC pattern, at the right shoulder.
Why Progressive Overload Fails On An Inhibited Muscle
You cannot out-train a positional problem. Progressive overload on a neurologically inhibited muscle does not force the brain to send a stronger signal. It forces the body to compensate harder. The muscles that are not inhibited pick up the slack. The compensators grow. The target muscle stays the same. The asymmetry worsens.
The Difference Between Muscular And Neurological Ceilings
Some plateaus are muscular: you have extracted all the adaptation available at your current training stress and need more stimulus. Neurological plateaus are different: the muscle has capacity it cannot access because the brain will not let it. The distinction matters because the solution for each is completely different. Muscular plateaus need more training. Neurological plateaus need positional correction.
How To Remove The Neurological Bottleneck
Restoring full neural drive requires changing the position first. When the pelvis is neutral, the brain sends full signals to the glutes. When the ribs are down, the brain sends full signals to the serratus and obliques. The muscle does not change. The signal changes. MOVECHECK identifies neurological bottlenecks by testing both sides of every joint. The corrective protocol restores position, then confirms activation through MAT-based isometric drills.
See This In Your Own Body
Every concept in this article is tested in the MOVECHECK assessment. Find out which patterns apply to you.
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