The Six Tension Chains for
Complete Physical Development
Some programs work your muscles and other's work your movements. GSC
uses a blend of the two called Chain Training, which I go over in more detail
in my book Smart Bodyweight Training. If you haven't caught that book here
is the general idea behind it.
Chain training is more of a mental focus toward your training than the actual
use of the body. It doesn't focus on working individual muscle groups like in
bodybuilding or physical therapy. It's also not about taking an athletic
approach to training where you focus on movements or doing physical
activity.
Both muscle and movement training are perfectly valid as they each help
your mind focus on how to use muscle tension. In muscle training, you're
focusing your mind on placing tension in a select muscle to create an
aesthetic balance or to shore up a weak link that may be causing dysfunction.
Movement training is best for those looking to perform better and using
tension to satisfy a standard of physical performance.
Chain Training is the blend of the two where you focus on sending tension
through a specific tension chain of muscles to improve physical performance
in basic movements. Each of these tension chains is the collection of muscles
responsible for the activity. You focus on putting tension in the muscles to
accomplish the task at hand. In this way, it's a combination of both movement
and muscle training at the same time.
This mental focus ensures you gain the benefits of both approaches. You can
selectively place tension in the muscles you want to grow while building the
coordination that will improve your functional performance.
This mindset is why GSC workouts are broken down into working your
various tension chains rather than identifying with specific muscles or
movements. Although, you'll probably find each tension chain may classify
without further ado, let's take a look at the six tension chains in the body.
First, we'll take a look at your three movement chains. These are the three
tension chains which are responsible for the movement and locomotion you
experience daily.
Squat chain
Your foundational movement chain is your squat chain. It’s comprised of
every muscle from your waist down including your hips, glutes, quads,
hamstrings, calves and even the muscles in your feet.
The functional purpose of your squat chain is to do everything from walking
and running to stepping up and crouching down. Anything that you do with
your legs involves your squat chain. Even everyday actions like standing still
or getting out of your car require your squat chain.
Push chain
Your push chain includes your chest, shoulders, triceps, and the extensor
muscles in your forearm. The primary function of your push chain is to move
your hands away from your torso in any direction. The most common
motions include pushing against an object, like when opening a door,
punching, and reaching up above you.
Pull chain
Your pull chain is on the opposite end of the functional spectrum from your
push chain. It includes all of the muscles in your back, your shoulders, biceps
and your forearm muscles that close your hand into a grip.
While the push chain is about pushing your hands away from your torso, your
pull chain pulls your hands closer to your torso in any direction. This action
naturally occurs when you pull something to yourself or pull yourself
upward, but it's also involved in all forms of carrying and holding onto
something.
Your three movement chains comprise most of the muscles in your body and
will cover the majority of physical actions you do in sport and life. Just
working these three chains will do a lot, but they still leave a few cracks in
your functional foundation.
That’s where the three support chains come in. These three chains are the
typical muscle chains often referred to in kinesiology and physiology
disciplines. Unlike the movement chains, they use their involved muscles to
flow tension along the entire length of your body.
Functionally, the support chains are somewhat in opposition to your
movement chains. Movement chains are about dynamic movement first and
isometric support second. For example, rock climbing may use your squat
and pull chain to move yourself up a rock face while you use your flexion
and extension chain to hold yourself to the wall. Meanwhile, support chains
primarily provide control for your body first and dynamic movement second.
Consider picking up and moving an object like a box of books. When you
pick up the box, your pull chain is providing support while your extension
chain is responsible for most of the motion of picking something up. After
that, you use your extension chain to support your body as your squat chain
dynamically engages to move you around.
Understanding this helps you optimality condition each of the chains.
Focusing on movement first and support second is the best way to train your
movement chains. The best way to train your support chains is with support
first and movement second. There are plenty of exceptions, but this is
generally how to train these respective chains best. Let's explore your support
chains in more detail.
Extension chain
Your extension chain runs along your entire backside from the top of your
head down to the bottom of your feet and includes your toe flexors, calves,
hamstrings, glutes, spine erectors, and the muscles in the back of your neck.
Its primary function is to extend your body into an upright position and help
you bend backward. Much of the time, it's working to help you maintain an
upright posture without bending forward.
Flexion chain
Your flexion chain is the opposite in function and physiology to your
extension chain. It's a chain that runs along the front side of your body,
including the front of your neck, abdominals, hip flexors, quads, and the
muscles in your shins.
Functionally, this is your "abdominal" chain that helps you flex your body
forward like when you sit up out of bed or lift your legs. It plays a dominant
supportive role by maintaining a straight posture when gravity is pulling your
hips down and forward like when doing push-ups or slouching forward.
Lateral chain
Your lateral chain comprises several of the muscles in both your flexion and
extension chain, but the use of tension is different due to your relationship to
the resistance on your body. Some of the most notable muscles include the
adductors and abductors in your hips, obliques, spinal erectors, and shoulder
muscles. Some of your more prominent back muscles, like your lats, can also
play a role in your lateral stability.
From a functional standpoint, your lateral chain does a lot, including twisting
and rotational movements. It also helps to provide lateral support during
unilateral activities where you use one limb differently than another.
Putting this all together, GSC uses these tension chains to make sure you
involve every major muscle group in an efficient functional way. Workouts
aren't broken up into muscle groups or movements but rather tension chains,
which makes them both streamlined and effective. So, without further ado,
let's start to explore each of the tension chains in more detail, and the best
progressive exercises you can use to make that chain bigger and stronger.
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