Joints First, Muscles Second: Rethinking Movement and Mobility
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[00:00:00] Welcome to what I'm reading, what I'm thinking, where I share the research behind my upcoming book, and how it's shaping the way I think about fascia structure and movement. Let's dive in what I'm reading. I've been diving into a group of studies exploring the sensory innervation of joint capsules.
Specifically how the sensory nerves inside joints like the knee, elbow, and shoulder communicate directly with the central nervous system. We often think of joints as passive mechanical hinges, but this research paints a different picture.
Joints are sensory hubs loaded with receptors that are constantly sending feedback to the brain. Here's the breakdown
Studies on Knee and Elbow Joint Capsules
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studies on the knee and elbow joint capsules. These confirm that joints have neuroreceptors sending detailed discriminating signals to the brain. Information about pressure. Tension, stretch and position
Research on the shoulder joint in both mice and humans
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research on the shoulder joint in both mice and humans.
These studies show that joint capsule nerves can directly [00:01:00] transmit to the CNS, meaning your brain is paying close attention to what's happening inside your joints at all times.
Pain transmission studies
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Pain transmission studies, some of the more recent research, even links these joint receptors to pain processing in the brain, especially in conditions like osteoarthritis,
Autonomic innervation
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autonomic innervation.
One rat study shows the autonomic nerves those responsible for regulating inflammation and blood flow are also present in joint capsules. That means joints aren't just sensory, they're self-regulating systems too.
What I'm Thinking
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What I'm thinking, this all supports something I say to my clients all the time. Joints first, muscle second. Here's why. If a joint can't access its full range of motion, the brain knows. It senses that limitation through these capsule based sensory nerves, and then starts figuring out how to compensate.
By recruiting other muscles shifting tension or changing movement [00:02:00] patterns, the muscles respond after the joint has given its report. That's why it's critical to restore joint mobility before training strength or coordination.
If the joint isn't moving well, the muscles are working off faulty input. So in the bigger picture, what this research shows is that the brain listens to the joints first, joints inform the system, muscles react to that information. This is a fundamental shift from how a lot of people are taught to train or rehabilitate, starting with muscles and ignoring the deeper structural story.
It also ties directly into the bigger themes of my upcoming book, the idea that structure pressure and communication govern how we move, not just the raw power of muscle tissue. That's it for today's dive into the research. If you're enjoying this process and want to see how all these ideas come together, make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for the next one.
There's a lot more coming. [00:03:00]
