The non-inhibited synergists and stabilizers usually become activated earlier. It is usually the start of the muscle activation that is delayed so that the order in which the individual muscles are activated changes. Change in timing is the most important feature of inhibition and results in a delayed activation in movement patterns.The problem is that Strength testing is difficult and often quite inaccurate as it is hard to isolate individual muscles. Hypotonia, which can be determined by observation and palpation.It has been shown that certain muscles tend to deteriorate in their function, which can clinically be demonstrated by three main syndromes: There is strong evidence that impaired function of muscles occur in close relationship with the development of joint dysfunction. Change of movement patterns is the result of long lasting dysfunctional proprioceptive signalling. Pain leads to alterations of movement patterns and can thereby affect the activation of individual muscle groups. There might be an inhibition based on altered reciprocal interaction due to the activation of an antagonist muscle in spasm or directly from the pain of the muscle spasm.
In the nervous system there are constantly occurring processes of excitation and inhibition which substantially affect the function of any part of the body. The decrease of activity of some muscles is often considered to simply be muscle weakness without recognition that this decreased activity and resulting weakness may be due to altered movement patterns, and specifically due to an inhibitory phenomenon related to joint dysfunction and the resulting altered sensory afferent signalling. The tendency for some muscles to develop tightness and others to be inhibited and weak is known and plays a large part in the evaluation and treatment of various pain syndromes. The quality of muscle function depends directly upon the Central Nervous System activity. The importance of muscle dysfunction in various pain conditions of the locomotor system is widely accepted. Posted by Hans Lindgren DC on 4 January 2013 | 0 Comments Now that some benefits of stretching the hip flexors, how should we go about stretching them? The basic lunge stretch shown below in Image 1, is a great place to start.Unilateral Gluteus inhibition from Sacro-iliac joint dysfunction-Janda By stretching the hip flexors, we allow the glutes to turn on, improve performance, and reduce our chance of injury. Strong, active glutes help to reduce both knee and back injuries. The opposing muscles to the hip flexors are our vital glute muscles, so if our hip flexors are tight, this can cause our glutes to become weak. Reduce Injury by Activating the Glute Muscles: Altered reciprocal inhibition describes a phenomenon where if one muscle becomes overly tight, the opposing muscle may become inhibited.Again, by decreasing hip flexor tightness, we can push our thighs back into greater hip extension, lengthen our stride and improve our speed. Speed is a factor of stride length and stride rate, so anything we can do to increase stride length without reducing stride rate, will increase speed. Improve Running Speed: Just as tight hips limit our vertical jump, this restriction can also reduce stride length as our legs push back against the ground and reduce our top speed potential.By stretching the hip flexors prior to a vertical jump attempt, we can temporarily inhibit them, put them to sleep so to speak, and increase the explosiveness of our extensors as we set a new vertical personal record! Now, current research tells us that static stretching can temporarily decrease the strength of muscles and connective tissue, impairing performance and increasing the likelihood of injury however, the hip flexors are an exception. Improve Vertical Jump: Tight hips resist hip extension, which is a major contributor to the triple extension (hip extension, knee extension, plantar flexion) that takes place during a vertical jump.Because of this, the following are three reasons to stretch the hip flexors: With all the sitting we do in today’s world, we may create and hold tension in our hip flexors, and overly tight hip flexors can impair performance and contribute to injury.