KINESIOLOGY

CHAPTER 2

INTRODUCTION TO
MOVEMENTS
 Movement
 Movement is fundamental characteristics of all
animals
 Means by which organism adopts itself to the
demands made upon it by the environment in which
it lives
 A system of lever provides the human body with the
means of achieving a wide variety of movements
 The resilience in what would otherwise be a rigid
bony frame works
 The Body Levers

 Bones form the arms or rigid bars of the levers

 the fulcrum is at a joint where the movement takes place

 Structure of joint is related to its function and determines the type

of movements possible

 Shape and direction of the articular surfaces is such that normal

function movement is rarely possible unidirectional

 No lever is functional unless some force is applied to it

 Forces Applied To Body Levers

 Two types of forces applied to body levers

 Classified as
 External force
 Internal force

 External force: supplied from source outside of body e.g.

 force of gravity
 Manual force
 Internal force: supplied by forces developed
within the body e.g. by muscular contraction
 The direction of applied forces determines the
direction of movement e.g. movement under
the gravity is in the direction of earth’s centre
 Movement resulting from muscular
contraction is in the direction of muscle’s pull.
 The levers of the body are rarely if ever subjected to the
application of single force at any one time, normally two
or more compounded or opposed

 Compounding of applied forces modifies the direction of

the movement and forces applied in opposition either
results in movement in the direction of the greater force

 If they are equal in magnitude ,a state of equilibrium is

established and no movement takes place
 Types Of Movement And Posture

 Two types of movements

 Active movements
 Passive movements

 Posture or attitude may be external or internal in

character
 Balance or stability is achieved in active or inactive
postures
 Types of muscle contraction
 Two types
 Isometric
 Isotonic

 Isometric: iso :equal and metric: measurement

Involves the development of force by an increase in

intramuscular tension without any change in length of
the muscle
 Isotonic: contraction constitutes an increase in
intramuscular tension accompanied by change
in length of the muscle
 The change in length may either shorten or
lengthen the muscle
 Types Of Muscle Work
 Work:

Product of force and distance through which the force

acts
 Three types of muscle work
 Static Muscle Work
 Concentric Muscle Work
 Eccentric Muscle Work
 Static Muscle Work
 Muscle contract isometrically to counterbalance the opposing
forces
 Maintain stability but as there is no movement no work is done

 Concentric Muscle Work

 Muscles contract isotonically in shortening to produce
movement
 The attachment of muscle drawn closer together
 Movement is in the direction of the muscle pull
 Eccentric Muscle Work:
 The muscles contract isotonically in lengthening
 Muscle attachments are drawn apart as it works to
oppose the action of a force which is greater than
that of its own contraction
 Movement is therefore is in the direction of the
opposing forces
 In a direction opposite to that of muscle pull
 Range Of Muscle Work
 The excursion of muscles

 The amount of shortening or lengthening possible during

contraction ,is estimated to be about 50 percent of the muscle’s
maximum extended length
 Full Range: the maximum excursion possible
 Inner
 Outer
 Middle
 The Inner Range is the part nearest to the point at
which muscle is in its shortest position
 The Outer Range, the part which is nearest to the
point at which the muscle is most fully extended
 Middle Range indicates that the muscle is neither
fully shortened nor fully extended as it works
 Strength Of Muscle Contraction

“The muscle’s ability to generate muscle tension”

Intramuscular tension
Varies in proportion to the tension exerted by the
forces which oppose its action
Variation in the strength of muscles contraction is
made possible by means of a system of motor units
 Motor Unit
 Single neuron and group of muscle fibers it supplies

 When the unit is activated by the stimulation of its anterior

horn cell all its component fibers contract

 The strength of muscle contraction as a whole is largely

dependant upon the number of its motor units activated at any
one time

 Greater the number of motor units activated the stronger the

contraction of muscle as a whole
 The Group Action Of Muscles
 Functionally muscles work together in groups although each
muscle may have some specific part to play in relation to the
action of the whole group e.g.
 By determining the precise direction of the movement or by
maintaining its progress in a particular part of the range

 The integrated activity of many groups is required for the

production of efficient functional movement
 The function of these groups is indicated by
their names as
 Agonists
 Antagonists
 Synergists
 Fixators
 Agonists Or Prime Movers:

Group of muscles which contract to provide the force

required to produce movement

 Antagonists :

muscles whose action would oppose that of the agonists

Therefore their activity is inhibited and they relax

progressively to control and permit the movement

 Synergists:
 Group of muscles work with the agonists to
provide a suitable background of activity and to
facilitates the movement
 Synergists may be required to modify the
direction of pull of an agonists or control joints
not involved in the movement as in the case of
muscle which pass over two or more joints
 Fixators:

 These muscle work to stabilize the bones of

origin of the agonists to increase their
efficiency for the production of movement and
to secure the stability of the body as a whole
 Patterns Of The Movement
 Site and direction of movement are described as its pattern

 Wide variety of pattern are possible

 Most functional movement patterns require movement in

several joints, i.e
 Mass movement and the observation of these patterns in every day
activities is both interesting and instructive

 Movements which are localized to few or single joint are

developed or distilled from mass movement patterns by a
conscious process of learning
 Timing In Movement
 Sequence of muscle contraction which takes place in the
direction of movement

 There is a waste of effort if the timing is too slow or too fast

 Faulty timing frequently accounts for inefficiency of

movement for the purpose for which it was designed

 Some components may be omitted and others added or he

sequence is too slow or too fast e.g as in learning to swim or
play golf
 The timing of functional movements usually
proceeds from distal to proximal as it is distal
areas which receive most of the stimuli which
controls the movement i.e , the hands & feet
 The smooth and orderly sequence of events which
constitutes effective timing ensures the maximum
efficiency of muscular contraction which is
characteristics of co-ordinated movement
 Rhythm Of Movement
 The regular beat or recurrence of a sequence of events

 The inspiratory and cardiac muscles contract

rhythmically throughout the life , their period of
contraction alternating with a period of relaxation and
inaction
 Skeletal muscles can also work for longer period of
time without fatigue, provided their contraction
alternates regularly with complete relaxation
 The rhythm of work and rest reduces fatigue to the
minimum
 Variation of rhythm in movement and in individual
 The natural rhythm varies with age
 The rhythm of children’s movements being relatively
quick as compared with that of adult
 Rhythmical movements taken too quickly or too slow
usually result in
 faulty timing and
 loss of efficiency
 an increase in muscle work
 diminution of the range of movement
 The Nervous Control Of Movement

Motor unit is the functional unit of the neuromuscular

system which initiates and achieves movement in
response to a demand for activity
The unit’s muscle fibers contract in response to impulses
discharged from its cell (A.H.C) when it stimulated
Impulses may be excitatory and inhibitory
 The pattern of movement is planned in
initiating areas which also discharge the
impulses suitable to bring it to effect
 Voluntary movement is initiated in response to
conscious effort to perform the movement
 Reflex movement is initiated in response to a
demand made by sensory stimulation