Muscles

Question 1

Hip flexors

Answer 1

• Rectus femoris (from iliac spine) • Psoas • Iliacus • Sartorius – longest muscle

Question 2

What do hip flexors do?

Answer 2

• 1 – core stability - Key muscles in stabilising the pelvis and spine • 2 – hip flexion – pick up your leg or move chest to leg (when the angle between your trunk and leg decrease) • let you to walk, kick, bend, and swivel your hips. • under constant tension because of ergonomics and habitual postural positioning, often tight and shortened

Question 3

Quadriceps

Answer 3

• Rectus femoris (from iliac spine) • Vastas medialis (inner) • Vastas intermedialis (middle) • Vastas lateralus (outer)

Question 4

What do quadriceps do?

Answer 4

• Muscles that extend (straighten) the leg at the knee • Crucial for walking, running, jumping, getting up from a chair etc. • Antagonists to the hamstrings and glutes

Question 5

Hamstrings

Answer 5

• Bicep femoris longhead (origin – ischial; insertion – fibula) • Bicep femoris shorthead (origin – femur; insertion – fibula) • Semimembranosus (origin – ischial; insertion – tibia) • Semitendinosus (origin – ischial; insertion – tibia)

Question 6

What do hamstrings do?

Answer 6

• Hip and knee movements in walking, squatting, bending, tilting your pelvis • flex/bend your knee and extend your hip • Antagonist to the quadriceps – when contracted stretches the quads

Question 7

external rotators

Answer 7

• External rotators x 10 • Gluteus maximus • Gluteus minimus • Gluteus medius • ITB and TFL • PGOGOQ (Quadratus Femoris)

Question 8

what are external rotators of the hip

Answer 8

• Rotate and abduct (move away from the midline) the hip and leg away from the body • Piriformis helps with internal rotation

Question 9

adductors

Answer 9

 Pectineus  Adductor brevis  Adductor magnus  Adductor longus  Gricilis

Question 10

What do adductors do?

Answer 10

• Adduct (move toward the midline/another part of the body), flexes, internally rotates hip - Groin/inner thigh muscles - responsible for pulling the legs toward each other, support balance and alignment - Antagonists – glutes

Question 11

What are the layers of the abs?

Answer 11

• hold the abdominal organs in place, support the trunk and allow movement - Predominantly assists with flexion - Deepest layer = transverse abdominis - Internal oblique - External oblique - Rectus abdominis - serratus anterior

Question 12

What are the pecs?

Answer 12

• Pectoralis major o bulk of the chest muscles and lies under the breast o They turn on and pull us forward. o Used in chataranga dandasana - Pectoralis minor o Beneath the pectoralis major is the pectoralis minor, a thin, triangular muscle.

Question 13

Internal obliques - what do they do?

Answer 13

• sits low down on the side of the torso body - flex the trunk and compress its contents - rotates trunk to the same side as contracting muscle - side bending muscle to the same side as contracting muscle - have a protective as well as a supportive role, holding the abdominal organs in place

Question 14

What muscles are used to bend/flex your knee?

Answer 14

hamstring

Question 15

What happens if you contract your bicep?

Answer 15

do a bicep curl

Question 16

What happens if you contract your tricep?

Answer 16

arm lengthens

Question 17

Transverse abdominis - what does it do?

Answer 17

• deepest layer - acts as a stabilizer for the entire low back and core muscles - muscles create a deep natural “corset” around the internal organs and lumbar spine - weakness is often one of the many reasons people may experience low back pain

Question 18

External obliques - what do they do?

Answer 18

• Flexes the trunk and compress contents - rotates trunk to the opposite side as contracting muscle - side bending muscle to the same side as contracting muscle

Question 19

Transverse abdominis - what does it do?

Answer 19

• deepest layer - acts as a stabilizer for the entire low back and core muscles - muscles create a deep natural “corset” around the internal organs and lumbar spine - weakness is often one of the many reasons people may experience low back pain

Question 20

Rectus abdominis - what does it do?

Answer 20

o sternum to pubic bone o the ab that is visible in people with low body fat o rounds spine forward and compresses the abdominals o stabilizes and controls tilt of the pelvis o outer muscle o Creates the airbag effect

Question 21

serratus anterior - what does it do?

Answer 21

o originates on the surface of the 1st to 8th ribs at the side of the chest and inserts along the entire anterior length of the medial border of the scapula o pulls scapula forward o helps with upward rotation of the scapula

Question 22

What do the back muscles do?

Answer 22

• Extension. Keeps us upright.

Question 23

What is the deepest layer of the back?

Answer 23

• multifidus group

Question 24

What do the multifidus muscles do?

Answer 24

o either side of vertebral column, spanning between the transverse and spinous processes of certain cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae

o hold the spine up and rotation

o when they contract, they are connected in a way that twist you in the opposite direction

Question 25

Erector Spinae muscles

Answer 25

* three muscles: the Iliocostalis, Longissimus, and Spinalis. * parallel to the spine, the erectors span from the base of the skull to the pelvis. * primary function is to hold us upright * straighten the back and provide for side-to-side rotation * Forward fold stretches these out ![]()

Question 26

Quadratus lumborum

Answer 26

o back of the abdominal wall o very important for stabilization of both vertebral column and the rib during various movements of the spine o extends the lumbar spine, when activated on one side the trunk is bent towards that direction ![]()

Question 27

Latissimus dorsi

Answer 27

o covers lower part of the back, extending from the sacral, lumbar, and lower thoracic vertebrae to the armpits o internally rotates and adducts the arm at the shoulder o extends the arm at the shoulder

Question 28

Trapezius

Answer 28

o lies just beneath the skin and covering the upper back of the shoulders and neck o upright posture support o used to tilt and turn the head and neck, shrug, steady the shoulders, and twist the arms o trapezius elevates, depresses, rotates, and retracts the scapula, or shoulder blade ![]()

Question 29

Rhomboids

Answer 29

o Rhomboid - Major and minor o pull the shoulder blades together o rotate the scapula in a downward direction and provide stability for your shoulders o Use them when cactus the arms o Garudasana stretches them ![]()

Question 30

Serratus posterior

Answer 30

o Superior – lies underneath the rhomboids and trapezius, superficial to the top of the thoracic o Inferior – superficial to the erector spinae muscles and deep to the latissimus dorsi muscle, bottom of thoracic spine o Intermediate layer of muscles o role in respiration superior elevates the ribs supports inhaling and inferior supports exhaling by depressing the ribs ![]() ![]()

Question 31

What is an antagonistic pair?

Answer 31

A pair of muscles that when one contracts the other stretches

Question 32

What does an agonist muscle do?

Answer 32

Contracts/produces movement

Question 33

What does an antagonist muscle do?

Answer 33

Stretches, acting against or in opposition to the agonist muscle

Question 34

How are muscles and the nervous system related?

Answer 34

The movement of muscles is coordinated and controlled by the nervous system, that sends a message to the muscles 'telling' it to move

Question 35

What are the two types of isotonic muscle contractions?

Answer 35

Concentric Eccentric

Question 36

What is an isometric muscle contraction?

Answer 36

Muscle generates force without changing length ie. holding a pose

Question 37

What is an isotonic muscle contraction?

Answer 37

Tension remains unchanged but the muscle length changes ie. Moving into a pose

Question 38

What is a concentric muscle contraction?

Answer 38

Muscle contracts to meet resistance, whilst shortening ie. bicep curl

Question 39

What is an eccentric muscle contraction?

Answer 39

Muscle contracts whilst lengthening ie. Putting shopping down

Question 40

What is reciprocal inhibition?

Answer 40

* the fundamental mechanism of how our bodies maintain posture and produce movement is by balancing continually contracting and relaxing opposing muscles * when the agonist contracts, its antagonist relaxes

Question 41

Stretch reflex – myotactic reflex

Answer 41

* when a muscles is lengthened during stretching, an impulse is sent to the spinal cord and a response to contract the muscle is received * designed as a protective measure. It means that there will be an initial reflex action but that it will release after approximately 10 seconds and lengthen further

Question 42

Agonist v antagonist

Answer 42

* Muscles that work like this are called antagonistic pairs. * In an antagonistic muscle pair as one muscle contracts the other muscle relaxes or lengthens. * The muscle that is contracting is called the agonist and the muscle that is relaxing or lengthening is called the antagonist.

Question 43

Synergist

Answer 43

The synergist in a movement is the muscle(s) that stabilises a joint around which movement is occurring, which in turn helps the agonist function effectively. Synergist muscles also help to create the movement.

Question 44

Co-contraction

Answer 44

Creating a bandha around the joint where co-contracting muscles, hugging into the midline