Stiff Muscles Are NBA Athletes’ Counterintuitive Superpower

For most people, the term “stiffness” has negative connotations. When you wake up in the morning complaining of a “stiff back,” the remedy might be to take a heated shower, do some yoga, swallow some aspirin, or visit a physical therapist to loosen it up. Stiffness is usually perceived as unpleasant and can limit physical activity.

What is surprising, however, is that for competitive athletes such as professional basketball players, muscle stiffness is not only necessary, it can even be said to be their superpower. As a physiotherapist and researcher who works with National Basketball Association players, I am interested in understanding the key factors that support minimize injury risk and maximize performance in competitive athletes – and understanding stiffness is an significant part of that process.

Spring step

Physiologists believe that muscles are like biomechanical springs. Muscles contract to produce forces that support you move and stretch to provide sufficient range of motion. Stiffness is a way of describing how springy a muscle is. It is a characteristic how much longer can it get in response to an applied force. The elasticity of a muscle allows it not only to stretch, but also to relax during muscle contraction. This process enables movements, including walking, running, and jumping.

The force required to deform or stretch a muscle is related to the degree of elasticity or stiffness and the extent to which the muscle is stretched. extendedStrength is significant, but stiffness can support an athlete generate even more power.

Basketball is a vertical sport This includes up to 46 jumps and landings for a single player per game. That’s 2 to 4 times more jumps than in soccer or volleyball. It’s also a multidirectional sport, with the average player changing direction or activity every 2 to 3 seconds, requiring constant acceleration and deceleration of movements.

Lower extremity stiffness is significant for optimal basketball performance because athletes who properly utilize the characteristics of greater stiffness can utilize the elastic energy it creates. A muscle can only stretch to a certain extent because its length is circumscribed by its degree of stiffness. So, like a spring or rubber band, when a muscle is stretched, this stiffness helps create flexible energy which can then be used in conjunction with muscle contraction to make it easier to run or jump on the pitch.

It helps someone like Russell Westbrook jump into the air, stop in the blink of an eye, and then accelerate down the pitch in a brisk break. That keeps him busy just 3.36 seconds to run from baseline to baseline.

Sweet spot

There is a point of diminishing returns, however. Too much muscle stiffness can lead to restricted joint movement and reduced ability to absorb shock in the joints. This can put you at greater risk for stress fractures or even osteoarthritis, the wear and tear of cartilage that can cause joint pain. Evidence suggests that too much stiffness can lead to injury.

On the other hand, an athlete needs a certain degree of flexibility and joint mobility to support proper stretching of the muscles and tendons, which allows for proper range of motion.

Players must therefore find a balance between these extremes, landing on the sweet spot of optimal lower limb stiffness: not too much, which can lead to high levels of force and loading rates and a greater risk of bone injuries. And not too little, which is associated with an increased risk soft tissue injuries and muscle strains.

My research team is investigating these relationships in an effort to support elite athletes minimize injury risk and maximize performance. The first step is to understand what “normal” clinical measurements are for elite athletes.

Textbook values ​​have been established for the general population, but this information is lacking for NBA players. For example, the typical value for ankle flexibility for the average person is around 50 to 55 degrees. Our research team found that the typical NBA player is stiffer, averaging 35 degrees.

When elite basketball players are compared to textbook norms, they may seem too immovable, even dysfunctional. However, to be successful in their sport, this degree of rigidity is actually their superpower. If coaches start stretching LeBron James’ muscles to match the textbook values ​​of the general public, he might start jumping like the general public. This tactic could be like kryptonite for an NBA athlete.

Training to minimize injury risk and maximize performance

Physiotherapists know that the so-called quick contraction muscle fibers – those responsible for jumping and sprinting – have greater tendency for stiffness. Through training, stiffness levels can be increased to improve performance.

The evidence suggests that plyometric and stretching exercises which involve jumping, hopping, or bounding, performed in a stretched, shortened cycle, have a positive effect on the muscles’ ability to become more elastic. In general, however, your own degree of stiffness versus elasticity is a combination of nature and nurture, genetics and training.

Research related to better understanding the continuum between stiffness and compliance can support physical therapists and coaches when working with basketball players. They need to know the dosage – how much to stretch or strengthen. The work is in progress which contributes to this endeavor. There are also initiatives aimed at understand the player’s workload and the cumulative physical demands that elite athletes are subjected to when they move quickly and forcefully. Scientists also need to understand what are the best methods and technologies for monitoring these loads. My colleagues and I theorize that there is an optimal level of compliance and stiffness that helps our basketball players stay super.