The truth behind stability

"Stability" is one of those words that gets thrown around so frequently in the training and exercise world, without a clear understanding of what it means.

There are some pretty bold claims made about stability training. People say that you'll get injured less, you'll reduce your pain, and your athletic performance will improve. What this can lead to, however, is people thinking there's something wrong with them if they are "unstable", and wasting a lot of time training to correct something that isn't true.

So let's dispel some claims about stability, figure out what it is, and what it isn't.

If stability is the ability to control the movement of a joint, we need to look at what actually influences joint movement.

There are three main things that affect joint movement:

1. Bone formation

This is largely what dictates how a joint moves and how it can't move. For example, a knee joint won't be able to rotate very much due to the way the femur, tibia, and fibula are organised in the knee joint.

2. Passive restraints

These are tissues that we can't contract or consciously control, like ligaments, meniscus, labrum, fluid, adipose tissue, nerves, cartilage, and skin. Ligaments stop bones from moving into extreme ranges where damage can occur. They resist and decelerate bones moving into end ranges of motion.

3. Active restraints

These are muscles that provide tension and contract either subconsciously or consciously.

When it comes to training, we can really only influence the third point through muscle development.

Unfortunately, we can't do much to reorganise our bones and ligaments, short of surgery.

We can increase muscular strength, and we can improve coordination, which involves contracting at the right time, in the right sequence, at the right speed, in conjunction with other muscles.

The way muscles coordinate together is absolutely essential for efficiency in movement. For example, compare a runner who might be physically strong but poorly coordinated, to a runner who is coordinated but less strong. The first runner's stride looks erratic, they move inconsistently, and they look awkward. The second runner's stride is smooth, effortless, and efficient. Who do you think will win a race between them?

So when you're told you need to improve your hip stability, it's simply not an accurate description of what you need to do. You either need to improve your muscular strength, your coordination, or both.

Remember that the way a joint moves is largely dictated by bone formation and passive restraints, like ligaments, neither of which we have much control over.

Another problem with the term "stability" is that it makes us think that any kind of movement away from something controlled or optimal technique makes us unstable. When really, it's just a combination of a deficit in strength, and an inability to coordinate our muscles to provide tension effectively.

The main point from all of this is that "stability" is not a trainable outcome. When you shift your mindset away from trying to "stabilise" a joint, and instead aim to strengthen a muscle group or coordinate a movement, the type of training you need to do becomes much clearer.

If you have any questions about training or athletic performance, feel free to book a free consult.