Muscles, Overview

Question 1

What is a muscle origin?

Answer 1

Proximal attachment of muscle to bone

Question 2

What is the muscle insertion?

Answer 2

Distal attachment of muscle to the bone

Question 3

What is an agonist (or prime mover)?

Answer 3

The muscle that contracts to produce a certain action about a joint

Ex: hamstrings are agonist when you flex the knee

Question 4

What is the antagonist?

Answer 4

The muscle that relaxes while the agonist contracts

Ex: the quads are the antagonist to the hamstrings when you flex the knee; when you extend the knee it is the opposite

Question 5

What is the synergist?

Answer 5

A muscle that assists and fine tunes the action of the agonist

Question 6

What do tendons do? Describe them

Answer 6

Attach muscles to bones

Moves the joints

They have sensory nerves

Tendons (& ligaments) have limited stretch and do not contract

Yoga improves both tendon and ligament flexibility

Question 7

Muscles can be defined by the number of joints they cross from origin to insertion. Name the different classifications.

Answer 7

1. Monoarticular - moves only 1 joint when contracted

2. Polyarticular - moves more than 1 joint when contracted

Question 8

Name and describe the types of muscle contraction

Answer 8

1. Concentric or Isotonic - the muscle shortens while maintaining constant tension through a range of motion
2. Eccentric - the muscle contracts while lengthening
3. Isometric - the muscle generates tension but does not shorten and the bones do not move

Question 9

What are the 3 types of stretching?

Answer 9

Static (most common in Hayha Yoga), Facilitated, Dynamic

Question 10

Name and describe the 2 types of Static Stretching

Answer 10

1. Active Static - contracting antagonist muscles to stretch a target muscle
   Ex: contracting quads, iliopsoas and biceps. in Paschimothanasana is active static stretch of hamstrings
   **contracting antagonist muscles in active static stretch results in phenomenon called “reciprocal inhibition”; during this, the central nervous system signals the target muscle to relax
2. Passive Static - when we relax into a stretch, using only force of body weight to stretch the muscles
   Ex: supported bridge pose is Passive Static Stretch of iliopsoas

Question 11

Describe Facilitated Stretching

Answer 11

Used to deepen postures; involves contracting the muscle being stretched during an active static stretch

Relaxes the target muscle when the contraction period ends

**consider joint reaction forces during this type of stretch bc of the force thr muscle generates is transmitted to the joints. Gently contract the stretched muscle to avoid excessive joint reaction forces

Question 12

Describe Dynamic Stretching

Answer 12

Used during Vinyasa style classes

Repetitive movement of the body into increasingly deeper stretches

If done in the morning it resets the resting muscle length for the day