theory
Connective tissue connects
Connective tissue is ubiquitous, you can't escape it. Fascia in particular weaves its way through the body embedded in muscles and lining bones and internal organs. Sheets of superficial fascia lie just beneath the skin, continuous with the web of deep fascia internal to it. Every time we move, and we're always moving, this fascia is under tension, transmitting forces from one part of the body to another. Here we will examine more closely the sequence of events that gets a sound out of you guitar.
Biomechanics
Kinematics is the study of human movement
It's analysis examines the types of motions possible at particular joints and the muscles that make them possible. The guitarist needs to move and when he or she can obey the same rules as everyone else we'll be better off.
Biomechanics examines the various mechanical forces that the human body is subject to.
Overuse Injuries
The term overuse injuries is descriptive and makes sense to the layperson which is why I've used it in the title. Medically it is an overused one however. Overuse injuries are a specific subset of what are now called Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD's), repeated low grade damage to muscle and connective tissue that never gets a chance to heal due to the constant use. Overuse injuries are characterised by repetitive movements where other CTD's are caused by both dynamic and static loading.
The Skeletal System
The skeletal system is a networked collection of different types of connective tissue. While the hard bony tissue makes up the bulk of it, the joint capsules contain ligaments, membranes, catilage and fluid.
The Nervous System
The nervous and endocrine systems regulate the bodies functions, allowing it to maintain homeostasis, a state of balance. The nervous system is the control centre and can make fast changes while the endocrine system produces and secretes hormones that act more slowly. We are more concerned with the fast acting nervous system.
Connective Tissue
There are only four types of human tissue. We cover muscle and nerve tissue elsewhere and epithelial tissue, while being prolific throughout the body, is less relevant to our discussion. Connective tissue however is very relevant.
Function
In order for us to move, or even stand, a number of things have to happen.
The Myofascia
Myofascia is the soft tissue that generates and applies the force that holds our skeleton in position and moves it around. It is a more accurate term for what is usually referred to as the muscles.
myo - refers to the contractile component, the muscle fibres, the red stuff. These fibres shorten as a muscle contracts, supplying the motive force for the movement, but they are not strong enough to convey that force to other structures.
