Instead of leaving it as an ExFizz buzzword, let’s get to know the practical meaning of this important human physiological concept. I think it’s best understood with an example, as opposed to another dry definition.
But the dry definition must come first, so you can see the whole problem. Neuromuscular Efficiency is the ability to recruit muscle mass into a contraction very quickly, and is the basis for the ability to generate explosive power. Motor neurons cause muscle fibers to contract, in varying numbers. The more muscle fibers in contraction, the more force the contraction produces. Each motor neuron is attached to varying numbers of muscle fibers, depending on its location in the body and the size of the muscles it innervates. “Neuromuscular Efficiency” refers to the ease with which the nerves cause the contraction of muscle fibers. Very efficient means that large numbers of muscle fibers contract rapidly and simultaneously, and therefore produce high levels of muscular force in a short period of time.
The Standing Vertical Jump (SVJ) test is the standard way to measure neuromuscular efficiency, because the height of a jump is determined by the force generated against the ground – the force that carries your body’s mass up in the air. Since a jump is inherently explosive, the height of the jump is a direct measurement of the ability to create a measurable force against the ground explosively.
This test also covers the “easily” ground of the efficiency definition. It’s only bodyweight that is the stimulus, not a heavy lift. SVJ and snatch/clean/jerk – and for that matter the squat, press, and deadlift – are different in this respect because the force production requirement is higher than bodyweight and is incrementally progressive, so the stimulus is greater and drives continued adaptation.
And since heavier weights require more recruitment, the stronger you become under the bar, the better your neuromuscular system becomes at producing force. This unfortunately does not mean that a strength program will drastically improve your SVJ. In the absence of a major body recomposition that reduces bodyfat from morbid obesity to a healthy percentage, SVJs are not particularly susceptible to improvement by a strength increase beyond about 10-15%.
This is due to the fact that the rapid recruitment of muscle mass into contraction is a genetically predetermined capacity, and is not especially trainable, despite the popularity of “rate of force development training.” This is why the NFL uses the SVJ test as a screening procedure. If they can fill the locker room with 36+ inch SVJs, they have a much better team, because guys with big SVJs are stronger than average athletes. This is very important to understand: since force production = strength, a guy with a big SVJ is already stronger than an average athlete.
This is why teams rely on SVJ testing to select athletes. The measured distance of the SVJ calibrates the force. The more force generated explosively, the higher the jump. Easy to understand. The average SVJ for college-age males is 22 inches, and 14 inches for females. The records for men and women are well in excess of the averages, a male having jumped a 48 at an NFL Combine recently, and a female doing a 32. So sex (not gender, which is a linguistics term) is a major factor in neuromuscular efficiency, although the ratio of record performance to average performance in both sexes is about the same.
The SVJ consists of a counter-movement flexion of the knees, hips, and ankles, and then an explosive knee/hip/ankle extension. The distance the jump carries the body up in the air is usually measured with a device called a Vertec, although other methods can be used. The time spent executing the concentric (jumping-up part) is the time spent generating the force. If a male can spent 0.2 seconds generating enough force to carry his bodyweight 48 inches off the ground, he can be a valuable member of the team.
This is one reason that the worst strength coaches in the industry are found in the NFL. The guys are already strong since they were recruited with big SVJs, which means that they can more easily access whatever strength they have than the lower SVJ guys, so the strength staff always looks like they know what they’re doing. If you coach genetic freaks, you are already ahead of the game.
An important thing here is that the existing strength potential is easily and quickly accessed. This matters on the field since the only heavy things on the field are the other athletes (like in the SVJ test), but even then, you’re often hitting them but not executing a prolonged hold/push, so the advantage goes to the efficient in getting the job done over the less efficient, even if the less efficient guy is strong.
The less contact-dependent the sport, the bigger the advantage to the big-SVJ performer over the guy who’s worked on his strength. In American football, the hits are fast and explosive, and backfield positions depend on rapid ground-reaction forces to generate acceleration, both for the ball carrier and against a tackle, whereas linemen have time after an initial explosive contact to develop higher force against an opponent. The higher the level of the team, the higher the average SVJ scores will be, since elite teams can afford to be selective. In all cases, a big SVJ indicates more athletic potential.
Females are different from males because of their hormonal history. At about 8 weeks after conception, the male fetus begins to secrete testosterone. Since this process begins well before birth, the male fetus develops in the presence of testosterone and the female fetus does not. This is not a nuanced concept: testosterone affects all the issues of the body – including the musculoskeletal system – from 8 weeks after conception, and these changes are permanent. Bruce Jenner did not lose his explosive ability when he got his “trim,” but it makes the Trans Community feel better to pretend he did.
There are profound and persistent differences in males and females, and the exogenous administration of testosterone in females – or the administration of estrogens in males – cannot compensate for these congenital characteristics, among them the SVJ. You cannot produce the physical equivalent of male-ness in a female with testosterone, nor can you produce female-ness with estrogen. The in-utero exposure to testosterone is where these characteristics are decided and developed.
But for some reason, known only to the politicians that control the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Games ignores the facts of congenital maleness and allows congenital males to compete in the Women’s Division provided that their serum testosterone levels are below a certain threshold for a certain period of time. This is irrespective of the biological fact that any organism developed in utero in the presence of testosterone is profoundly different that that same organism developed in utero absent the testosterone.
And the current levels of testosterone are a minor consideration when weighed against the obvious historical facts. You can give elite females a bunch of testosterone, and their performance will still not approach that of elite males. And elite females in fact DO use anabolics. They try to avoid the androgen effects, but they are already trying to get the performance aspects of male hormones into their game. All of us that coach females know this, but it makes absolutely no difference to the sanctioning bodies, the politicians, or the sports media, who are composed almost entirely of either craven dogs or complete fools.
Neuromuscular efficiency and strength – and of course practice under the conditions of the performance – determine the limits of athletic performance for all athletes. I’m very sorry, but as long as sports performance is measured accurately and objectively, these two factors, and quality practice, determine who wins the event. Even the game of golf has a men’s and women’s division, because men hit the ball farther down the fairway than women. Due to the nature of Golf, it will be interesting to see what happens when a congenital male wants to enter the Women’s Division of the US Open.
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