S3NSE Blog: Distribution of Work

Absence of effort doesn’t mean weakness or doing nothing. It means your muscles are perfectly coordinated, with no wasted energy, tension, or muscles fighting against one another.         

~Moshe Feldenkrais 

Olympic champion weightlifter, Tommy Kono once said that at his best, he did not feel the weight unit he held it over his head.  Kono’s technique was so good that his musculature’s distribution of work resulted in effortless lift.  Tommy made very heavy weights look easy to snatch and clean and jerk.  

The human design has the largest and strongest muscles in the center of the body (except for the skull which acts as a sensory operation center).  As you move outward toward the hands and feet, the muscles and bones become smaller and more sensitive.  Problems occur when we forget to use our larger stronger muscles and overload the smaller ones.  Learning how to distribute work throughout ourselves is necessary for creating more efficient actions and preventing injuries.   

Let’s do a few simple movements to experience and learn more about the distribution of work concept:

Start by sitting toward the front of the chair with your feet flat on the floor.

Simply move your head up and down.  Where did you feel the most work or effort to lift your head?  For most people, it would be the neck area.

Tilt or roll your pelvis forward and backwards over your sitz bones.  Notice how you are using your big central muscles to move your pelvis and also how your upper body responds to it.   

Put one hand on the back of your head and the other on the sacrum on the back of your pelvis.  Co-ordinate the movement of your head and pelvis so the head moves downward as the pelvis tilts backward.  Then as the head goes back up, your pelvis tilts forward. 

Synchronize the movement so your head and pelvis move at the same speed and the same amount of distance.

Can you feel the distribution of work happening between your two hands?

Return your hands to a comfortable place.  Simply look up and down.  Is it easier to do?  Maybe even effortless?  

Life is work.  But it does get easier when the work is distributed in an intelligent manner.  Find out how with S3NSE.   www.s3nse.org