Muscle Attachment Sites - The What, Why, & How of Training Them

The What

When we strength train or lift weights, we often focus on strengthening the muscles we see. What we typically skip and forget are the muscle attachment site, which as the points where the muscles connect to bones or other tissues. These play a crucial role in generating movement by transferring force from the muscles to the attached structure, which also means they experience significant strain in the movements we do in sports.

The Why

These attachment sites are often improperly or insufficiently trained and strengthened, leading to strains and tears at these points. For example, many strengthening exercises athletes perform are concentric movements where the muscle is contracting or shortening, whereas the attachment sites are exposed and most greatly used in eccentric movements where the muscle is lengthening while contracting. This could look like sudden deceleration while running.

The force on these untrained attachment points can be extreme, leading to injury. Additionally, in sports with explosive actions like sprinting, jumping, or changing direction the stress put on the attachment points are high and increase the risk for injury as well.

The How

Now that we understand the importance of strengthening muscle attachments for how frequently we use them, we must understand how to train them properly. Just like with anything, the importance is in the balance between strengthening and stretching or mobilizing these areas. There is a long list of muscle attachment sites throughout the entire body, and, depending on your sport, we all utilize different ones more.

Let's look the important muscle attachment sites of a soccer player:

• Groin

• Quadricep

• Hamstring

• Calf (Gastrocnemius)

Types of Exercise to Strengthen the Attachment Sites

• Little to no weight

• Isometric and eccentric exercises

• Slow and controlled movements

• Slow, steady progress

It is important to not overexert or progress to quicky. These areas are not as strong as the main muscles and can be injured in the beginning. In addition to strengthening these sites, it is equally important to stretch and mobilize them, as flexibility can also decrease injury risk.

As I said before, each sport is unique in the movements of the body and the muscles used, but here are some examples of exercises for some common attachment sites. I recommend watching detailed videos or working with a professional as form is extremely important in these exercises.

Exercises for the groin muscle attachment:

• Ball squeeze

• Side-lying hip adduction

• Copenhagen plank

  
  

Exercises for the quadricep muscle attachment:

• One of the various forms of sissy squats modifications

• Seated knee extension

• Knee over toe lunge

• Heel raised single leg squat

Exercises for the hamstring muscle attachment:

• Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs)

• Elevated bridges

• Nordic hamstring curls

• Glute bridge with workout sliders

Exercises for the calf muscle attachment:

• Progressive calf raises - ranging from elevated to single leg

• Farmer’s walks

• Uphill walks

• Jump rope

Exercises for the shoulder muscle attachment:

• Banded external and internal rotations

• Shoulder blade squeezes (rear delt)

• Scapular retractions - scapula pushups and pull ups are great for these

Exercises for the bicep muscle attachment:

• Preacher curls

• Full Range of Motion (ROM) Incline dumbbell curl using light weight

The list goes on, and I urge you to look into your specific sport biomechanics, do proper research, or, above all, work with a professional. Working with an experienced professional, like our Holisitc Athlete Training team will not only make the most of your time, effort, and training, but ensure you do exercises properly to avoid injury and reap all of the benefits. In sum, strengthening the muscle attachment sites will help reduce the risk of many commonly occurring and nagging aches, pains, and injuries in sports. Don't just treat, prevent!