How muscles have gears like cars

Muscles have gears which allow them to move fast with less power when carrying something light and slowly but with more power when carrying something heavy. This is similar to how a car in high gear can travel at greater top speeds but will accelerate slower from standstill, whereas a car in a low gear will accelerate much faster from a standstill but not be able to reach very high speeds. The concept is called the architectural gear ratio and it all comes down to how the muscles are structured!
👉 Consider subscribing if you found this interesting! 👈
If you liked this video, you might enjoy:
✔️ The proper way to do a bicep curl: • The PROPER way to curl...
✔️ Why small calves are actually better: • Why small calves are a...
✔️ Biomechanics of climbing: • 3 biomechanical techni...
********************
🧐 Who am I?
A doctor from Australia with an interest in sports biomechanics and biotech!
Follow me on:
🔥 Facebook: / curiousdoc99 🔥
#biomechanics #biology #science

[@yoelmorales208]

Your videos are very interesting

[@gritthroughscience]

Fantastic video! Straight to the point with a simple explaination. I chance upon this as my lecturer did a poor job explaining. Thanks!

[@ozone_au]

quality still insanely high. keep it up bro!

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

cool to know! The visuals were very helpful, btw

[@thatlumberjack]

I found a paper describing this about a year ago. Your explanation only describes a piece of the absolutely fascinating and interesting concept of gear ratios in muscle. The length of the muscle when initiating load is a bigger factor in effecting the pennate angle. For example, if you land on your heel while running, you’re extending the calf muscles, increasing their power, but reducing their explosiveness. Conversely, landing on your forefoot would initiate contraction with a greater pennate angle resulting in higher speed of contraction. I’ve been trying to find research covering this topic, but it seems like an understudied corner of biomechanics. I’d welcome anyone that can point me towards more studies in this vein.

[@davidadunola7867]

Wouldn't it make sense that almost all commendable sprint coaches I know say to keep a dorsiflexed foot through out the race, now if that's the case I can see your logic applying here. You're still landing on the balls of your feet but your foot is pointed upwards.

[@davidadunola7867]

I myself have read on so many coaches, knowledge and im looking to start reading books on sprinting, but I haven't heard anything on this topic and now I'm curious to know more

[@thatlumberjack]

@@davidadunola7867 There are different philosophies about running economy, and until we have "solved" running, there will be inconsistencies in coaching styles. How do you define a "commendable sprint coach"?
I also think the gear ratio can be seen as a natural response to changes in ground height(trail running), where the body is able to naturally adjust gate intuitively.

[@CuriousDoc]

​ @David Zellers great points you've raised there and yes this is a lot more to muscle architecture I've left out of this video for simplicity (like the role of physiological cross sectional area)

[@davidadunola7867]

@@CuriousDoc checkout les spellman, in my opinion I've gotten most of my best advice from him interms of acceleration. He mentions that on the way down to the ground before your foot hits the ground you pull your foot backwards, and that's what give you horizontal forces. I watched all the top sprinters and they do this

[@willtsaivlogs8504]

Nice video bro 🤩🤩🤩