Motor unit synchronization vs. common synaptic input. Motor units don’t operate in isolation. Shared synaptic input can cause multiple motor units to increase or decrease their firing rates together. This is called common synaptic input, and it helps coordinate force production across a muscle. Synchronization refers to motor units discharging action potentials at nearly the same time. Both influence how force is produced, but they aren’t the same mechanism. Explosive performance depends on recruiting high threshold motor units, firing them rapidly, and coordinating their output to produce force in very short time windows.

If your knee sleeves stand on the ground by themselves they definitely do a lot more than just make you “feel better” when you squat.

Maximal strength and rapid force production are not the same thing. Before muscle force can be fully transmitted to the skeleton, some of the slack in the muscle tendon unit must be taken up. The faster the neuromuscular system develops tension and removes this slack, the sooner force can contribute to movement. In sprinting, where ground contact times are extremely short, this matters. An athlete can be very strong but still need to improve how rapidly that strength becomes mechanically effective.

37.4” with 30lbs DBs. Not as good as @CarsonRoy_11 🤬

Strength training and speed training can recruit the same high threshold motor units, but that doesn't mean they train the same qualities. Heavy resistance training develops force production capacity. High velocity movements train the nervous system to coordinate that force rapidly through precise intermuscular timing, rapid motor unit activation, and efficient sequencing of muscle actions. Elastic performance depends on more than recruitment alone. It requires producing and transmitting force in very short ground contact times while coordinating the muscles and tendons to exploit the stretch shortening cycle. Recruiting high threshold motor units is one piece of the puzzle. Learning to express their force rapidly is another.

A doublet occurs when a motor neuron fires two action potentials in very rapid succession, typically with an interspike interval of roughly 5 to 20 milliseconds. This can produce greater force than two impulses separated by a longer interval because the muscle fiber has less time to relax between contractions. The result is enhanced force summation and a more rapid rise in muscular tension. In explosive movements, the nervous system’s ability to rapidly activate muscle fibers is a major component of force production. Strength builds the force producing capacity. Neural strategies help determine how quickly that force can be expressed.

Today is the anniversary of my father’s passing. My dad worked as a concrete construction worker is entire life. I watched my dad work from sun up to sun down almost every single day. He never complained. Starting at 10 years old, I worked every summer with my dad. My dad would never talk sports or politics, just concrete; the slump, different screeding techniques, stamping, finishing curbs, etc. If my dad was still around he would probably still want to go pour concrete. How does this apply to anyone is that we should be grateful to god for the ability to work hard and better ourselves and the athletes we train. Never take a day for granted no matter how frustrating, because we are empowering the lives of athletes across the world.