Muscle Co-Contraction

[Mick220]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone could help me out with a question i was given in a Uni class.

Muscle co-contraction provides stability to joints and balance to our posture. When would muscle co-contraction/co-activation (the simultaneous activation of both the agonist and antagonist muscle) be considered undesirable or unwanted?

Do you guys think that muscle co-activation would reduce the strength that could be produced by the agonist muscle?

Thanks.

 

[russy_russ]

I believe an antagonist is relaxed while an agonist is contracted

 

[suncloud]

Muscle co-contraction provides stability to joints and balance to our posture. When would muscle co-contraction/co-activation (the simultaneous activation of both the agonist and antagonist muscle) be considered undesirable or unwanted?

anytime there's a problem with the secondary muscle. consider how quads are the major muscle involved in walking. if the hamstring activates, and say its injured, or muscle tears, bitten by a brown recluse, etc, you have made all movements of the primary muscle difficult to impossible.

thats my thought.

 

[russy_russ]

anytime there's a problem with the secondary muscle. consider how quads are the major muscle involved in walking. if the hamstring activates, and say its injured, or muscle tears, bitten by a brown recluse, etc, you have made all movements of the primary muscle difficult to impossible.

thats my thought.

precisely, if both were contracted at once the only net movement would be in the rotational range at the axis of the joint in which the muscle generating the most force, which wouldn't be much.