The Stability Every Athlete Is Missing (all humans are athletes)

Why Pain in the Body Often Begins in the Gut, the Mind, and the Stories We Carry

Greetings friends,

Today was one of those full days that leaves a quiet sense of gratitude behind it.

I had the honor of spending about two hours speaking with Matt Walden, an osteopath in the UK whose depth of understanding of the human body is remarkable. Matt contributes to scientific research and has one of those rare minds that can move comfortably between physiology, biomechanics, and philosophy.

The conversation was not surface level.

We explored the relationship between emotion, nutrition, gut health, and stability in the human body.

That conversation inspired me to share something with you today, because the topic touches something most athletes struggle with, whether they realize it or not.

And when I say athletes, I do not only mean people competing in sport.

If you live in a body that moves through gravity every day, you are an athlete.

Listen to Podcast HERE

Stability Is the Foundation of All Movement

Inside the body we have two major muscular systems.

The first is the global muscular system. These muscles create large movements. Running, jumping, lifting, skating, throwing.

The second is the local muscular system, often referred to as the stabilizer system. Some people call this the core, although that description is incomplete.

This stabilizing system has a simple but essential job.

It stabilizes the joints so the rest of the body can move safely and efficiently.

Before you stand up from a chair, before you lift a weight, before you skate down the ice, the stabilizing system should quietly activate to create a stable platform for movement.

When it functions well, movement is fluid and coordinated.

When it does not, the body begins to compensate.

Those compensations show up everywhere.

Back pain.
Neck pain.
Shoulder irritation.
Elbow and wrist tension.
Hip instability.
Knee pain.
Foot and ankle issues.

Almost every joint complaint can trace part of its story back to a lack of stability somewhere in the system.

The loss of stability is rarely a purely mechanical problem.

The Hidden Drivers of Instability

Most people assume instability comes from weak muscles.

Sometimes it does.

But in many cases the deeper driver is inflammation and nervous system stress, both of which influence the stabilizing system directly.

And those processes are deeply connected to three things:

• Emotional stress
• Gut health
• The way we perceive our lives

Our emotional and mental states influence how the body interprets the environment.

If the body perceives threat, pressure, or unresolved emotional pain, the nervous system tends to shift toward sympathetic dominance, the fight or flight state.

In the short term, this response is helpful.

In the long term, it becomes destabilizing.

When the body remains in this state chronically, it releases stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline at low levels throughout the day.

This subtle stress chemistry begins to influence the entire system.

And I mean the entire system.

The System That Talks to Every Cell

One of the most powerful regulatory networks in the body is the HPA axis, the communication system connecting the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands.

This system regulates stress responses and communicates with nearly every cell in the body.

When it becomes dysregulated, the ripple effects are enormous.

Sleep becomes disrupted.

Inflammation increases.

Immune function becomes dysregulated.

Digestive health begins to change.

And eventually, the stabilizing system of the body can begin to down regulate.

Why?

Because the body must prioritize survival.

When the Body Chooses Organs Over Movement

The stabilizing muscles of the body surround the organs and glands.

When inflammation occurs around the digestive organs or other internal systems, the body must increase blood flow to those areas so healing can occur.

But stabilizing muscles can act like a supportive corset.

If they remain tightly engaged, they can reduce circulation around those organs.

So the body makes a decision.

From an evolutionary perspective, the organ system is more important than the musculoskeletal system.

You can survive with unstable joints.

You cannot survive without functioning organs.

So the nervous system reduces activation of the stabilizing muscles.

And from that moment forward, movement begins to compensate.

Every step.

Every lift.

Every training session.

Every repetition begins reinforcing compensatory movement patterns.

Why Many Treatments Fail

This is one reason recurrence rates for physical pain remain extremely high.

Many approaches treat the symptom of instability rather than the underlying drivers.

If inflammation, stress physiology, gut permeability, microbiome imbalance, or unresolved emotional tension remain present, the stabilizing system will continue to function below its potential.

Which means the body continues compensating.

The athlete keeps training.

The cycle repeats.

The Gut, The Brain, and The Lungs

The body has three primary protective barriers.

The gut barrier.
The brain barrier.
The lung barrier.

Chronic stress and inflammation often begin to weaken these barriers.

When the gut barrier becomes more permeable, partially digested food particles and environmental compounds can enter circulation.

The immune system responds.

Inflammation increases.

And the stabilizing system continues receiving signals that the body is not in a safe environment for optimal movement.

This is why digestive issues rarely remain confined to the digestive tract.

They show up in joints, muscles, energy levels, mood, and recovery.

Athletes Are Not Separate From Their Lives

Many athletes attempt to fix instability by training harder.

More core work.

More strengthening.

More effort.

But the stabilizing system does not only respond to exercise.

It responds to the entire environment of the human being.

Sleep.

Light exposure.

Nutrition.

Hydration.

Training volume.

Stress.

And perhaps most interesting of all, perception.

How we interpret our lives influences our physiology.

Our perception of our past.

Our perception of our relationships.

Our perception of our self worth.

Hidden fear and shame can live quietly in the background of the nervous system, influencing physiology in ways most people never consider.

Stability Begins With Awareness

If someone truly wants to restore stability in their body, the work rarely begins with another exercise program.

It begins with curiosity.

Curiosity about lifestyle.

Curiosity about digestion.

Curiosity about stress physiology.

Curiosity about the stories we carry about ourselves and our lives.

Because those stories influence our nervous system.

And the nervous system influences everything.

Including the body’s ability to stabilize itself under gravity.

The Athlete In All Of Us

Whether you lift weights, skate, run, practice yoga, or simply walk through your day, your body is constantly adapting to gravity.

In that sense, every human is an athlete.

And every athlete is influenced by far more than their training program.

The deeper work is learning to see the body not as a collection of symptoms, but as a living conversation between mind, metabolism, environment, and movement.

When those systems begin to align, stability returns.

And when stability returns, the body moves the way it was designed to.

Strong.

Efficient.

And surprisingly resilient.

If you enjoyed this exploration, I invite you to spend some time reflecting on one simple question:

Where in your life might instability be asking for deeper attention?

Sometimes the body speaks long before the mind is ready to listen.

And when we learn to listen, the body often begins to heal.

with intention

Jator Pierre 👽