Tensegrity - the Good Side of Stress

Such a fantastic word – Tensegrity. It’s a relatively new word in the English language coming into existence because of Buckminster Fuller less than 50 years ago. It is a combination of the words Tension and Integrity.

 

The formal definition from Merriam Webster is this: the property of a skeletal structure having continuous tension members (such as wires) and discontinuous compression members (such as metal tubes) so that each member performs efficiently in producing a rigid form.

 

The idea needs a picture first:

 

In this picture the purple rods represent the compression members from the definition and form part of the integrity; the wires are the tension members. Both parts are needed, if any part is missing the entire structure will collapse. The term started out began as a design concept for building and moved into the realm of architecture. There are dozens of structures around the world that incorporate this design.

 

This idea also moved into the realm of biology and the makeup of human biology and onto bodywork. You see, we as human bodies are also tensegrity structures. Our bones are the compression members (the solid pieces) and our muscles are the ‘wires’ or tension members. We are different from the static structures as well because we move. Tensegrity structures like the one pictured above can move, in a limited way, and the entire system holds together.

 

For us as humans to move we have parallel ‘wires’ or muscles around the bones. On the front side of the femur, the long bone at the top of our legs, are the quadriceps muscles and on the back are the hamstrings muscles. Similarly in the upper arm we have biceps on one side and triceps on the other side. There’s a similar pattern throughout the body, and more to account for all our different rotations and axes of movement.

 

For those muscles to work properly they need to be under stress, that is have a load on them. When you grab your favorite beer and bring it from the table to your mouth, you place a load on your biceps muscles. Without that bit of stress the muscles wouldn’t work. Under most normal circumstances, the muscles have a balanced amount of stress which keeps them static. When we start to move, one muscle has to activate and move direction, while the other muscle relaxes to facilitate the movement; and then it reverses.

 

Astronauts who go into space for extended periods of time know how important stress is, even the stress of gravity. After being in space, the muscles atrophy because they don’t need to be used in the same way. The bones also deteriorate as well because they don’t need to be used in the same way. The normal stress of gravity isn’t there so our structure built to work because of gravity changes and adapts.

 

If we didn’t do anything and were couch-potatoes a similar thing would happen, where muscles and bones would atrophy and become weak because they weren’t being used. So we walk and our normal things. And we exercise – which helps to support the muscles and feels good. Certainly pushing it too far and we tax the system too far.

 

So enjoy your muscles and bones and the wonder of the human body. And Bless that bit of Stress that’s needed to keep us as beautiful Tensegrity structures!