“I’m just not coordinated.”
I hear this often from clients, especially when a movement asks their arms and legs to do different things. A new Pilates sequence can make even a strong, experienced mover feel like a beginner. But does that awkwardness mean we lack coordination, or have we simply encountered something we haven’t learned yet?
Research suggests that coordination reflects both biology and practice. In a study of 44 female twins, Missitzi and colleagues (2013) found that identical twins were more similar than nonidentical twins in their performance and improvement on a thumb-force task. This suggests a genetic contribution to motor control and learning. Still, our starting point does not determine the whole outcome.
Practice can change how the nervous system organizes movement. Babadi and colleagues (2021) studied adults learning to move against unfamiliar forces and found changes in connections between the cerebellum and other brain regions involved in learning and regulating muscle activity. As participants improved, unnecessary muscle co-contraction—the simultaneous activation of opposing muscles—decreased.
Think of opposing muscles as having different jobs in the same movement. Some co-contraction helps provide stability, but more muscle activity does not always mean better control. Learning can involve refining when muscles engage and how much effort they contribute.
This is an encouraging way to approach the moments in class when a sequence feels unfamiliar. You lose the rhythm, mix up the sides, or need to watch a demonstration again. Those moments are part of learning, and they offer an opportunity to practice. Coordination has a biological foundation, but it is also something we can develop. The next time you catch yourself saying, “I’m not coordinated,” try adding one word: “yet.”
References
Missitzi, Julia, et al. “Heritability of Motor Control and Motor Learning.” Physiological Reports, vol. 1, no. 7, 2013, e00188. doi:10.1002/phy2.188.
Babadi, Saeed, Shahabeddin Vahdat, and Theodore E. Milner. “Neural Substrates of Muscle Co-contraction during Dynamic Motor Adaptation.” The Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 41, no. 26, 2021, pp. 5667–5676. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2924-19.2021.
