The Damping Effect: A Programmable Quality of Biological Point B Reactive Strength
At Absolute we have written extensively on soft tissue injuries, specifically how those injuries result from and impact the behaviour of the connective tissue network. Any change to the organization of that network or more locally any changes to the architecture of regions of that network will have an influence on the Reactive Strength capacity of the athlete at the Level of Competition.
What is Resonance?
Quite simply resonance refers to vibration as a result of some external force. Many systems display the behaviour of resonance whereby they oscillate or vibrate internally as a mechanism of energy conversion (potential to kinetic). Each system has a resonant frequency, which is a critical point at which the external force acting on the system increases the vibration of the system hence creating more energy for the system to use. With respect to the resonant frequency there are two corollaries:
If the external force is too little and does not match the resonant frequency it is problematic for the system as the energy cannot be used effectively. This lends to a situation whereby the oscillations within the system are of low amplitude and therefore the system is unable to efficiently absorb the input energy, thus leading to more of that energy being dissipated (leaving the system as heat).
If the external force is too large and does not match the resonant frequency it is problematic for the system as the energy cannot be used effectively. This lends to situations where the oscillations within the system become too high creating an overload force within the system disrupting the normal oscillations and efficient energy usage or this lends to a situation whereby the oscillations become smaller within larger creating “out of phase” oscillatory behaviour leading to energy being continually reflected and absorbed with minimal usage.
Using an example of pushing a child on a swing, it becomes easy to demonstrate resonant frequency and its corollaries. Assuming the goal is to push the child higher and in control, there is a certain force and rhythm of pushing that will allow us to do this without tipping the swing. If we do so, we have found the resonant frequency.
If our pushes are of too low of force the child in the swing will not go higher, but more specifically you will notice that the swing starts to lower its amplitude back and forth. This is corollary 1.
If our pushes are of too much force the child in the swing will go higher initially, however what we notice is that the amplitude of the swing will get smaller within a large force as the swing will be out of phase—there will be bending of the chains and tipping of the seat leading to inefficiency dependent on the goal (to go higher). This is corollary 2.
Soft Tissue Resonance
In accordance with the physics definition of resonance, soft tissue resonance refers to the oscillatory behaviour of muscles, and connective tissue, as well as other non-bony tissues when exposed to mechanical loading.
Using a simple example of human locomotion, it is easy to visualize resonance in application. If you observe the lower leg from a posterior view while someone is walking, you will notice the posterior leg soft tissues oscillate back and forth upon ground contact. During locomotion, as a result of impact, and rapid force production from ground reactive forces. These soft tissues experience vibrations and oscillations whose amplitude and frequency are influenced by factors such as tissue stiffness, damping capacity, and neuromuscular control which all act to tune those incoming forces to the proper resonant frequency. In this way, energy can be used effectively to drive locomotion as appropriately tuned resonance can enhance elastic energy storage and return.
Excessive or poorly controlled resonance as a result of the impact forces being too great for the tissues to withstand may increase the metabolic cost of locomotion, impair force transmission through the connective tissue network, and elevate injury risk. This could be a factor related to the high incidence rate of Achilles tendon injuries in both the NBA and the NFL, most recently with 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Here is a look at his injury:
Observing the posterior right leg in the video it is plausible that the large ground impact force on the backward step was occurring at such high force, above the resonant frequency of the soft tissues of the calf, that they were not granted the “time” to match the force through tuning. You can see a very small amplitude oscillation, however it travels linearly upward at a very fast rate. Evidently, as a result was a catastrophic injury.
Also see the Deshaun Watson case showing a similar pattern of oscillation.
Oscillations Actively Regulated By Neural Network of Absolute Strength
Human movement occurs in a mechanically noisy environment. Every foot strike, ground reaction force, and rapid change in direction or acceleration introduces vibrations that propagate through soft tissues. Unlike rigid bodies, biological tissues behave as viscoelastic systems, meaning they deform, oscillate, and dissipate energy under load. These oscillations are not merely mechanical byproducts but variables actively regulated by the neuromuscular system. The matching of the oscillatory behaviour of connective tissue and the regulation of those forces by the neuromuscular system is paramount to the capacity of Reactive Strength. It is for these reasons that Absolute has qualified this special strength as having a bottom-up and top-down neural network of absolute strength component.
The Damping Effect
