PHYSIOLOGY OF SKELETAL MUSCLE (PART 4): TYPES OF MUSCLE CONTRACTION
Depending on the relationship that an individual establishes with external resistances, muscle activation can lead to three different contractions:
CONCENTRIC: With shortening of muscle fibers. Overcoming external resistance. The external force acts in the opposite direction to the movement.
ECCENTRIC: With lengthening of muscle fibers. Assignment to external resistance. The external force acts in the…
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PHYSIOLOGY OF SKELETAL MUSCLE (PART 3): TYPES OF MUSCLE FIBERS
Skeletal muscle is a tissue capable of making a wide range of functional demands, from performing highly precise movements for which little force is required, to maximum contractions, to maintaining the body’s posture. This versatility is due, in part, to the existence of several types of muscle cells or fibers, which have different functional, metabolic…
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PHYSIOLOGY OF SKELETAL MUSCLE (PART 2): MUSCLE CONTRACTION
At rest, the thin and thick filaments of a sarcomere slightly overlap. During contraction, the thin and thick filaments slide past each other bringing the Z lines closer to the center of the sarcomere.
Contraction is stimulated when the muscle fiber innervating α motor neuron releases the neurotransmitter acetylcholine as a consequence of an action…
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PHYSIOLOGY OF SKELETAL MUSCLE (PART 1): THE STRUCTURE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE
The human body contains approximately 650 muscles and the different sets of muscles are enveloped by a membrane of connective tissue called the fascia (e.g., thoracolumbar fascia).
The functional and structural unit of muscle tissue is the muscle fiber, differentiated muscle cell or myocyte. Each muscle fiber is surrounded by a fine network of reticular…
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMPROVEMENT IN STRENGTH PERFORMANCE AND THE COMPLEXITY OF TRAINING OVER TIME
Strength training consists of following a program that increases an individual’s ability to produce muscular effort against resistance for the purpose of displacing it. This resistance is almost always external, like when we lift an Olympic bar, but it can also be internal resistance, like when we lift our body when performing a pull-up.
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TWO WAYS TO RUN SPEED DETERMINED BY YOUR MORPHOLOGY
In sprinting form makes function. What does this mean? It means that the sprint technique is highly dependent on the differences in muscular balance between agonist and antagonist muscles.
Kelly Baggett distinguishes in his book “No-Bull Speed Development Manual” two types of runners based on the predominance of one muscle group or another, with its…
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THE INSANE WAYS TRACK AND FIELD TRANSFORMS YOUR BODY
No other sport tests the extremes of human performance like track and field. The physical demands of each event are so confused and singular that athletes must push their body and training to the very limits of what is possible.
In the same arena you´ll see the pinnacle of human strength and power by a…
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STRONG AND FLEXIBLE AT THE SAME TIME: IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE?
Surely you have heard phrases like this from the mouths of many sports coaches: “If you start lifting weights you will get stronger, but you will sacrifice your flexibility and joint mobility.” And vice versa: “If your goal is to gain a lot of flexibility you have to avoid lifting weights so that it doesn’t…
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WHEN TO DO MULTI-JOINT EXERCISES AND SINGLE-JOINT EXERCISES?
One way we can classify strengthening exercises is into multi-joint and single-joint.
An exercise is considered multi-joint when several joints move during its execution, so that all muscle groups belonging to a kinetic chain are strengthened. In this way we can say that the entire body is strengthening at the same time since it intervenes…
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ATLETA EXPLOSIVO 