Muscle Balance

The relationship between the muscle's strength and length around a joint is known as muscle balance. When examining an athlete, we must assess static and dynamic muscle balance (Kemp & Boynes 2000)^[1].

Muscles

Muscles can be divided into two types: mobilisers and stabilisers.

Mobilisers

Mobilisers are found close to the body's surface and tend to cross two joints, and are typically made up of fast-twitch fibres that produce power but lack endurance. They assist rapid or ballistic movement and have high force. With time they tend to shorten and tighten.

Stabilisers

Stabilisers are situated deeper, invariably only cross one joint, and are made up of slow-twitch fibres for endurance and postural control. With time they tend to weaken and lengthen.

Imbalance

Both groups of muscles work in a complementary fashion to stabilise and move. Over time, the mobilisers can inhibit their action and begin to move and attempt to stabilise on their own. This inhibition of the stabilisers and preferential recruitment of the mobilisers is central to the development of "imbalance" and is what we want to prevent.

Balance and Strength

Assessment of an athlete's muscle balance and strength should be conducted regularly.

References

KEMP, S. and BOYNES, C. (2000) Why detecting muscle imbalance is an essential part of an injury prevention strategy. Peak Performance, 128, p. 4-6

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

MACKENZIE, B. (1999) Muscle Balance [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/musbal.htm [Accessed


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