Muscle ≠ strength. Here’s what actually matters

"Brainy What-Why-How"

Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.

🧠

What:

Most people think strength = muscles, and bigger muscles = more strength.

Cute idea, but nope.

Strength is just as much about what your nervous system* allows as it is about muscle size.

Why:

Your brain runs the show.

When you’re new to something (lifting, handstanding, pole dancing, puppy-mum life), your nervous system is the one getting stronger, not your biceps**.

It’s learning to recruit more muscle fibres, fire them faster, and chill out on the “NOPE, TOO DANGEROUS” reflex.

Because your brain’s main job: Keeping you safe.

If it doesn’t trust that you can handle the load, it’ll hit the brakes.

Example: my one-rep max deadlift is 98 kg (yes, I’m still annoyed I couldn't hit triple digits).

My nervous system just wasn't convinced that day.

But if a 120 kg log fell on Edgar — my tiny monster of a pup 🐶 — I know I’d lift it. Adrenaline would override those safety limits (and I’d probably tweak something, which is exactly why my brain says no in the gym).

Same with handstands: it’s easy to bail early at home. But circa 2018, when I was doing them on jagged rocks for the 'gram, I learned how much longer I could hold when falling wasn’t an option 😅

How:

During my last workout, I caught myself thinking, I’m too weak.

Then I remembered: strength is neurological.

Your brain is always predicting outcomes to protect you.

If it expects failure, it limits your effort.

If it expects strength, it lets you access more of your potential.

A quick brain tour:

  • Insula: gives emotional context to your sensations.

  • Thalamus: filters what reaches your awareness.

  • Cortex: decides what’s important and how you feel about it.

So if you expect to feel weak, your body follows that script. Expect to feel strong, and your nervous system organises around that.

The ​newest class on the MWA app is a strength-based weighted yoga flow​ — your nervous system will love it.

And this Friday, I’ll be live on MWA teaching a full-length yoga-with-weights class! It’s going to be so good. See you there?

From me and the world’s tiniest gym coach, Edgar 🐾

Adell 💋

*The “nervous system” here doesn’t simply mean “brain power” — it includes motor unit recruitment, intramuscular coordination, intermuscular coordination, neural drive, rate of force development, and how well the central and peripheral nervous systems can activate muscle quickly and efficiently: ​https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25274345/?utm_source=chatgpt.com​

**​https://acthealth.org/how-strength-training-bolsters-your-nervous-system/​

Want to go way deeper with me? 👀 ​

• Check out my upcoming​ IRL events​ 
• Sign up to ​my next NeuroYoga TTC​ where I teach YOU how to blend yoga + neurology
• Join me on Move With Adell -- I upload 2 new videos a week -- often with brain drills woven in -- ​Click here​ to start your FREE trial. • Check out the courses from Z-health, where I started my education in brain-based approaches: ​Click here​ for my discount codes on their first 3 courses!
• Get my book ​"Too Flexible to Feel Good: A Practical Roadmap to Managing Hypermobility"​

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