Golgi Tendon Organ

Hoss

Hoss

1
Well I've tried to do my research, and I haven't come up with much.. I know how the GTO works, and what it does, and if you make it less sensitive blah blah blah... Okay well here is my Q, how exactly do I make it less sensitive? All I've read about is you must continuously workout, heavy; Sometimes at 100%+ your 1RM. Is there a particular rep scheme, or set number to acomplish this?

My teacher is more of an aerobic buff, so he was stumped.. Anybody know? Evo? Ballast? Fil? Anyone?
 
Well the Golgi Tendon Organ is located in your tendons, of all your muscles. It tells your brain about the amount of tension in that particular tendon. If the tension is too much, i.e. you're trying to lift to much, your brain will then send IPSPs along with EPSPs (inhibitory post synapic potentials, which are the opposite of what you want, EPSP, excititory post synaptic action potentials). Making your GTO less sensitive will actually make you stronger without making you bigger, just letting your muscles actually work closer to their potential. BUT!!!! The GTO is like a saftey net, almost like a circuit breaker, as in it keeps you from hurting yourself. One should not train the GTO for too long, or else!! Ever seen those REAL TV videos where the arm wrestler's bicep rips right off his arm?? That's because his GTO was too unsensitive(even a word?? lol).

Anymore Q's? I'm like a fricken book, lol, I had a test on this like 2 weeks ago.
 
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You just need to strech I think. I was talking to a body building friend of mine a few months back and he explained the basics of this to me. he said that straight after his set, he'll strech and hold for 10secs, then flex for 10secs. He said to do this once a min for your 3min rest between each set.

Its supposed to numb the "ouch tendon" so your brain doesn't know that your working too hard.

But I dont know any way of making the "ouch tendon" less sensitive perminantly.
 
You can only deinhibit your inhibitory reflexes so fast. Think of the woman who lifts the car off her child...she'll never in a million years be able to recreate that. Your body will only allow what it needs at that moment.

You are right that you need to lift at maximal percentages in order to push it further and further. You'll find most Oly lifters can push crazy weights due to the fact of velocity and very little eccentric (but that's another subject). What I'd suggest is working up to a heavy single in your major lifts-squat, good morning, deadlift, bench, push press on a regular basis. What you'll find from most of your barbell clubs is that they have one main movement that they work to a 1RM or heavy single and use accessory work for higher reps.

Check out and go to their articles and look for The Eight Keys. Hope this helps, let me know if you need a bit more info on structure.
 
the golgi tendon is also what keeps up from doing full splits. our muscles are perfectly long enough for us to drop into full splits, the golgi tendon makes them tense up when we reach a range of motion it feels we are not strong enough in. by going deep into a stretch, then tensing your muscles manually for about 20 seconds, the tendon will become overloaded and in fear of tearing, release its own tension, then you release the tension u were applying and you'll find you can go lower into the stretch.

it's hard to find the exact answer as to how to trick the tendon into making you super strong. by lifting heavy weights breifly, everyday, you will teach it to contract the muscles more.

i know that a trick to help in this is to lift an incredibley light, almost non existent weight, but treat it like a 1rm. also, by contracting every muscle in your body (easier said than done) the law of irradiation (one muscle contraction leads to the adjacent and opposite muscles contracting) will make the muscle involved contract much harder. So, when you are doing chin ups, clean your butt cheecks, abs and quads to get that extra lift.

posts like this are so freshing!
 
Look up PNF Stretching... This method is used all the time by athletic trainers to get muscles to relax...

"The theory behind PNF stretching is that it quickens neuromuscular responses by stimulating neural proprioceptors. Proprioceptors are nerve endings found in muscles, tendons, and joints which are sensitive to changes in tension. One of these proprioceptors, the Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) is sensitive to an increase in tension within muscles. When activated the GTO causes the muscle to relax."

"During PNF stretches, three techniques are used to increase the range of motion. The three PNF stretching techniques are: (1) hold-relax, (2) hold-relax with agonist muscle contraction, and (3) contract-relax. It is recommended that these stretching techniques are completed in three phases. To begin, a passive stretch lasting 10-seconds is recommended. This “pre-stretch” establishes the client’s current flexibility limits. The stretching techniques differ based on the muscle contractions used in the second and third phases (1,2). Both isometric and concentric muscle contractions of the antagonist are used before applying a passive stretch of the antagonist to bring about autogenic inhibition. The isometric muscle contraction is termed “hold” and the concentric muscle contraction is termed “contract.” A concentric muscle contraction of the agonist is used during passive stretching of the antagonist muscle group to cause reciprocal inhibition. The concentric muscle contraction of the agonist muscle group is termed “agonist contraction.” Each PNF stretching technique also involves passive static stretches called “relax.” (1,2)."
 
I like PNF stretching (actually I like all the methods of stretching at different points) and they're great for atheletes. But it'd require Mreik to have a partner to apply pressure and it's time consuming.
 
Not necessarily... You can do a couple PNF stretches on your own... Like the doorway pec stretch, doorway hamstring stretch, etc.. granted it's not as effective than having a partner, but it still can be done.
 
Hmm.. I looked into the PNF streching, it sounds promising. So I understand how to do it for your arms, legs, and muscles that are easy to isolate. But how would you do this for your pecs, or better yet your back? Thanks a lot guys, I find this very interesting.
 
You probably don't want to do it for your back considering those are the muscles holding you up, and the last thing you want to do is 'put them asleep'.

Pecs are super easy, just do a normal pec stretch, go until you feel a 'good stretch', then think about 'driving' your arm against what you're stretching on.. hold that for about 6-8 seconds... take a nice deep breath, exhale, and try and relax as much as possible, and then SLOWLY move into the stretch again. Do this about 2-3 times.( Like this )

Keep in mind, that's one version of PNF stretching.
 
So I should do these as a workout, or after a workout?

And what do you mean, one version of it.. There are more ways to do it? Or just different angles and such?
 
You want to only do PNF stretching afterwards (unless you do a modified version which is a whole other story)... Reason being is that since you are putting the muscles to 'sleep' they really don't want to have to lift heavy, so they won't react as well...

I would do it definitely afterwards to help w/ flexiblity.
 
Wow this is great stuff guys.. I appreciate it. I'll let this thread die for a little while, then post in it after I've done the PNF streches for a while...
 
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