Stack of Joints Theory AKA The Joint by Joint Approach

For many people the landscape of training is highly nebulous. Are we training like bodybuilders, powerlifters, olympic lifters, swimmers, triathletes........and what does that even look like at year 5? 6? 10? It's hard to give people answers beyond the things that I have experienced as a coach. I literally don't know what it's like to compete in a triathlon so I don't know what that is going to feel like in year 5, 6, 7, 8.

What I can advocate for though in any athletic endeavor is the preservation of base levels of function. If the sport specific work starts to pull away from the function of the human body there will be suffering and I don't know many people who are signing up for that trip. Now I know this is a loaded topic and everyone has their perspective on it but what we can theorize at the very least is that with increased stress the joint systems should still articulate well. If function starts to deteriorate then performance will slowly disappear as well.

The above model is a visual representation of a potentially viable construct for function to be preserved over time as athletes develop. Now some sports and some performance oriented endeavors are going to hammer the physiology in more specific and predictable ways than others. With that said not being willing to sacrifice any of these joints or body sections is ultimately going to end up in less suffering and greater performance. So when you check out the stack of joints model consider that it's not going to cover all bases in all cases but what it does do is give you a framework for aspects of the functional physiology that you don't want to sacrifice.

When you look at the base of the anatomical tree you see mobility being prioritised for the ankle. Now without relatively decent levels of ankle ROM the reality is that the knee is going to pick up some of that stress. Any time you double up on joint stress because one system doesn't move or is facilitated to move more than is beneficial there will be compromises in base levels of function. If you have an ankle that doesn't move well enough and a knee that is trying to move too much then that gets passed along to the hip. The hip then compensates for the knee by restricting range of motion. By this point there is usually a significant level of pain on board because the individual has three joint systems that are functioning opposite of how they theoretically should be. As further dysfunction moves up the chain we see the low back being compromised for mobility because the hips are not moving enough. But then the T-Spine won't move because the back is moving too much. As you can imagine back pain is normal in these circumstances. Last but not least now the C-Spine is completely locked up. I don't know about you but I want to be able to check my blind spot when I drive on the freeway.

This is just one potential scenario to consider. Out of thousands of different kinds of scenarios that could potentially manifest.

What the stack of joints theory does is give you a framework to consider. If you are experiencing difficulty in performance with your sport or in the gym it's highly likely that certain sections of your body are either inhibited from performing their designated function or they are facilitated into moving too much therefore causing more and more problems. Pile up enough movement related compensations and eventually your performance metrics of strength, power, velocity, endurance, etc. will also become problematic.

So how do you right the ship and bring this functional paradigm back into congruence? Well the first thing to consider is to look for where the body is restricted movement wise. Do you have ankles that don't allow you to move your knee forward? Then we've got to learn how to move the ankles. This usually means the calf and muscles of the lower leg are too rigid for their own good! It's often seen as too simplistic of a fix but there many parts of "the stack" that then change their mechanics once the ankles start to improve. The same approach should be taken with the hips and the T-spine. If you restore mobility to these places then the reality is that you may get some base level function back.

How do you do that?

Start with a foam roller if you can. Use a lacrosse ball if it helps. Definitely go see a massage therapist and definitely start prioritizing your mobility in these regions of your body. There are many ways to do this but ultimately with restricted motion in these three regions it is going to be challenging to get the rest of the body to return to a good functional baseline.

Once you have had an honest look at that what then needs to be considered is do the other regions have regional responses to the increased range of motion. Sometimes restrictions in joint motion happen distally because sections of the body lack cogent motor control strategies. What that word salad means is that those sections or regions don't pass on stress well to their more mobility driven counterparts.

If you consider what a hummingbird looks like in flight you see an example of this system working well. You don't see the neck and head of the hummingbird flexing and extending at 100mph in order to motor time with the furiously flapping wings. What you do see is a very controlled neck, head and beek while the thorax of the bird articulates high velocity wing movements with incredible precision.

I can already hear the questions and queries.

So........................I want to be like a hummingbird?

I don't get it!

No! You don't want to be like a hummingbird. It's just an example but consider the example and its implications. If Lebron James can't control his neck and head when he is jumping up for a dunk or to block a shot how well can he accomplish his objective?

My hunch is not too well and probably with increased risks for his neck and spine!

So when you start working on creating better motor control strategies you have to look at the whole picture. Are they moving their neck to assist the shoulder getting more ROM? Are they bending their back to move their shoulder more? Are they hyper extending their lumbar spine to move into a hinge position? Or are they not allowed to hit depth in the squat because the rib cage and pelvis positions are too loose to hold the bar still through a dynamic movement?

I don't have all the answers and the stack of joints theory is not the only theory in existence for why there are movement related problems with the human kinetic chain. However, it does give you some room to learn about your body. Move a bit and test/retest theories about why something may or may not be functioning well. The challenge becomes more serious when the heat of training stress gets poured on. How do your base level functional movements hold up? Do you maintain a good balance of mobility/stability in those regions or do you sacrifice some base level function for adaptations to higher volumes of sport specific patterns?