Do You Move Well and Without Pain?

August 16, 2011 by 8 Comments

Muscle Imbalances Is This The Cause Of Your Muscle Pain, Tension, Muscle Tightness and Weakness?

Yes it is! Faulty movement patterns primarily begin as muscle imbalances. Janda believed that muscle imbalance is an impaired relationship between muscles that are prone to tightness or shortness and muscles that are prone to weakness or inhibited*.

He believed that muscles typically were static, tonic or postural in function and have a tendency to get tight and become readily activated during movements; as compared to muscles that are dynamic and phasic in function, which have a tendency to become weak (Janda 1978).

Functional muscle imbalances defined….

Tonic Muscle System: (prone to tightness)

  • Generally flexor or postural muscles
  • Tendency to tightness or shortening
  • Easily activated and fatigue quickly
  • less likely to atrophy
  • Less fragile
  • Typically one joint muscles

Phasic Muscle System: (prone to weakness)

  • Generally extensor muscles
  • Tendency towards weakness or lengthening
  • Delayed activation, weak
  • More likely to atrophy
  • More fragile
  • Typically two joint muscles

click image to see more detail

Looking for faulty movement patterns is the basis of our massage skill set, whether, you see a Chiropractor, a Physical Therapist, Personal Trainer or a Doctor the human body lives by the same rules. And no matter what tool you choose to help you correct this, we are all trying to accomplish the same thing; getting you to move well and be healthy again.

Muscle tightness can lead to injury due to faulty movement patterns and joint dysfunction. Your lifestyle will often contribute to these muscle imbalances with the daily stress, fatigue, insufficient movement or a lack of variety of movement (doing the same things over and over).

As you examine these charts based on Janda’s classification, you will notice that on the left side upperbody “muscles prone to tightness” there are several in the upper back and neck region (suboccipitals, scalenes, pecs, scm, levator, and upper traps).

And below that, you have several more surrounding the hip joint and low back (QL, lumbar paraspinals, piriformis, IT band, hamstrings, soleus and psoas muscles). These muscle imbalances need to be identified and corrected in order to have the freedom to move well.

Are you experiencing muscle tightness?

Muscle tightness leads to lowered activation threshold and lowered irritability, which means muscles are activated when they should not be or activated much earlier than they should be. And muscles that should be active and stabilizing  are not. Our massage therapists are experienced in this area of recognizing muscle imbalances and restoring normal movement patterns is our goal.

If you are not moving well now, have pain or are experiencing limited range of motion; just think how much worse this problem will get in 7, 10 or 15 years from now. See us today!!

Reference:

“Assessment and Treatment of Muscle Imbalance” The Janda Approach, Phil Page

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