Flexibility Training Flashcards
Flexibility & Mobility
Flexibility is the normal extensibility of all soft tissues, leading to full ROM of a joint.
Mobility is the combination of flexibility and joint ROM.
Flexibility Programming: When to program & when to do it?
Should be programmed FIRST, after the assessments.
Can be done as warmup or cooldown.
Relative Flexibility
Poor flexibility leads to relative flexibility (altered movement patterns).
This is the process in which the HMS seeks the PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE during functional movements.
It can prevent the nervous system from recruiting the correct muscle patterns & contractions.
Ex. Squat with excessive outer rotation of feet.
Myofascial
Connective tissue made up of fascia & muscles
Upper and Lower Kinetic Chain
Upper: shoulder, elbow, wrist
Lower: hip, knee, ankle
Postural Distortion Patterns
If one or more segments of the HMS are misaligned & not functioning properly, predictable patterns of dysfunction occur.
Postural Distortion Patterns (poor static or dynamic posture) are represented by a lack of:
Structural integrity. Which results in muscle imbalance, altered force-couple relationship, altered osteokinematics & arthrokinematics (roll, slide, spin)
Altered reciprocal inhibition synonym
Altered length-tension
Synergistic dominance synonym
Altered force-couples.
Synergistic dominance occurs when synergists take over for weak or inhibited prime movers.
Ex. Overactive hip flexor complex (iliopsoas, rectus femoris, TFL) leads to altered reciprocal inhibition in underactive hip extensor complex (glute max & med)
Which causes increased force output of the synergists for hip extension (HMs)
Arthrokinematic dysfunction synonym
Altered joint movement
Relationship between Ostekinematics and Arthrokinematics with regard to efficient movement
In order to have efficient movement through a joint’s ROM (osteokinematic), there must be good motion at the joint’s surface (arthokinematic) & soft tissue flexibility.
Neuromuscular efficiency
The nervous system’s ability to recruit the correct muscles to produce force, reduce force & dynamically stabilize the body in all 3 planes of motion.
Stretch reflex
“Gag reflex”. Neurological signal from muscle spindles that causes a muscle to contract to prevent excessive lengthening.
Autogenic inhibition
Neural impulses that sense tension are greater than the impulses that cause muscles to contract, resulting in an inhibitory effect to the muscle spindles.
Can aid in static stretching b/c when you CONTRACT a muscle (activating glogi tendon organs (GTO)) before passively stretching it, you can use autogenic inhibition (reduction in sensing of muscle spindles inpu) to stretch it further (b/c stretch reflex is deferred).
3 factors in improved ROM
Mechanical: muscle & tendons allowing for compliance
Neural: inhibition of the CNS to help the muscles to relax
Psyco-physiological: stretch tolerance
Lengthening reaction
When a muscle is lengthened, a cascade of neurological reactions take place that allow the muscle to be stretched.
1.) Muscle is lengthened and muscle spindle is activated
2.) The stretch reflex is activated and muscle contracts
3.) After a prolonged period, muscle spindle activity reduces, resulting in a relaxation response.
Static stretching
Passive lengthening of the muscle to the point of tension & held for a sustained amount of time.
