Muscle Contractions

Isometric exercises

The best way to develop abdominal muscles and strength and preventing lower back pain is by doing the following:

Counter the force of gravity

Concentric muscle contractions happens in order to...

Actin filaments are pulled away from the centre of the sarcomere and each sarcomere will lengthen.

During eccentric contractions, the following happens:

Concentric

If the force of the muscle contraction is greater than the resistance to the muscle's contraction, the muscle will successfully shorten. The type of contraction in which the muscle contracts and shortens is called concentric.

Doing a plank or holding a book with arm extended

These are examples of isometric contractions.

Lifting a glass with water to drink, lifting your leg for a frontal kick.

These are examples of muscle contractions:

Isometric

This is a contraction in which the muscle stays the same length. When muscles move, both forces balance each other and therefore, there is no motion, no change in the body's part position.

Eccentric

This type of contraction occurs when the force of the antagonist (resistance force) is greater than the force of the muscle causing the muscle to lengthen instead of shortening.

Importance of Eccentric contractions

When you drink water, you don't let the glass fall to hard on the table by letting gravity do the job. It may break the glass or damage the table.