Introduction: Enhancing Muscle Performance Muscle performance encompasses a muscle’s ability to carry out work. It’s influenced by various factors, including morphology, neurological function, respiratory health, cardiovascular condition, and metabolic effects. Factors like injury, illness, immobilization, neglect, and inactivity can lead to reduced muscle performance, resulting in weakness and muscle atrophy.
Three crucial elements of muscle performance are:
- Strength: Muscle strength refers to a muscle’s ability to generate tension and force in response to external demands. It’s the measurable force exerted by a muscle against resistance during a single effort. Functional strength involves the neuromuscular system’s capacity to generate and control forces smoothly during everyday activities.
- Power: Muscle power is the work produced by a muscle per unit of time and relates to the speed of movement. The rate at which a muscle contracts and generates force affects muscle control. It can be expressed as a single burst of high-intensity activity or repeated bursts of less intense muscle activity.
- Endurance: Endurance signifies the ability to perform low-intensity, sustained, or repetitive activities over an extended period. It’s also referred to as a muscle’s capacity to repeatedly contract against resistance, sustain tension, and resist fatigue.
Principles for Effective Resistance Exercises
Overload Principle: To improve muscle performance, the resistance applied should exceed the metabolic activity of the muscle. It emphasizes progressively increasing resistance through intensity and volume of exercise.
SAID Principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands): This principle guides the selection of exercise parameters to achieve specific training effects tailored to individual functional needs and goals.
Reversibility Principle: Gains in strength and endurance from resistance exercises are temporary if not used in functional activities. Muscle performance may decline within two weeks of ceasing resistance exercises.
Determinants of Effective Resistance Exercise
- Alignment and Stabilization: Proper alignment ensures muscle fibers’ direction and the line of pull of muscles being strengthened align with the desired movement. Stabilization involves securing a body segment to prevent unnecessary motion during exercise.
- Intensity: Resistance exercise should apply an appropriate amount of resistance to the contracting muscle during each repetition without causing pain.
- Volume: The total volume of repetitions and sets of a specific exercise during a single session, multiplied by exercise intensity, determines the workout’s volume.
- Frequency and Duration: Frequency refers to how often exercise sessions occur per day or week, while duration encompasses the total weeks or months during which a resistance training program is executed.
Types of Resistance Exercises
The choice of resistance exercises depends on factors like muscle performance deficits, tissue healing stage, joint tolerance, equipment availability, and patient goals. Healthcare professionals can select from various exercises to create customized resistance exercise programs:
A. Manual Resistance Exercise: In this type, an external resistance is provided by a therapist. This method is valuable for early-stage exercise programs, especially when the target muscle is weak, and only minimal to moderate resistance can be tolerated. Proper joint range of motion can also be closely controlled during these exercises.
B. Mechanical Resistance Exercise: Mechanical resistance exercises involve the use of equipment or mechanical devices to apply resistance quantitatively. These exercises are suitable for when the resistance required exceeds what a therapist can provide manually. Various equipment options, such as weights, therabands, and pulley systems, can be used for mechanical resistance exercises.
Strengthen Your Shoulders with Manual Resistance Exercises
- Shoulder Flexion: In a supine position on a couch, therapists provide resistance to the front part of the distal arm or forearm if the elbow is stable and pain-free. Scapula and trunk alignment are essential.
- Shoulder Extension: In a supine position on a couch, therapists apply resistance to the posterior aspect of the forearm. Scapula stability is ensured by the couch.
- Shoulder Abduction & Adduction: In a supine position, therapists apply resistance to the distal segment of the arm with the patient’s elbow flexed at 90 degrees. Lateral resistance is applied for abduction, while medial resistance is applied for adduction. Superior shoulder alignment is crucial.
- Shoulder Internal & External Rotation: With the patient in a supine position, therapists flex the elbow to 90 degrees and position the shoulder in the plane of the scapula. Resistance is applied to the distal part of the forearm during both rotations, with stabilization at the clavicle level during internal rotation.
If you’re seeking the best physiotherapy services in Faridabad, including physiotherapy for back pain, reach out to us. Our skilled physiotherapists provide personalized home visit services, helping you achieve better muscle performance, strength, and endurance for a healthier, pain-free life. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.