We are all a product of our education. When a coach or an esteemed instructor is directing us and teaching us in the ways of training and protocols of conditioning, we tend to follow along and adhere to instruction. There is a great deal of trust in this process, we follow where they lead with unquestioning loyalty. Mostly this works. But at times all of us have to return to the research and try to come up and perhaps re-tweak that which we’ve been taught.
Early on in my body training I knew I had to stretch. I was as stiff as a board. Totally inflexible. A routine that started with 4 basic stretches was adhered to religiously and added to in vocabulary so that after some dedicated months, I was making in-roads on my range of motion. Passive stretching worked for me and let’s face it - anything would have worked on me because I really had never had that flexible and pliable body that was so necessary for a wannabe dancer.
Years later, after many years of adhering to a passive stretching regime, I began to discover the realms of active stretching through yoga practice. The concept of not just lying passively in a stretch but being actively engaged in poses (asanas) to activate and open up the body, as a preparatory warm up was an approach supported much more by sport science and conditioning instructors. I didn’t know this. I followed. Someone told me yoga was good for me and I followed. Lucky me.
The real magic in this approach is a concept known as RECIPROCAL INHIBITION. A way of utilising a natural process of neural activation to get a more functional and healthy increase in range of motion that doesn’t risk overextending muscles or tendons or shutting them off before activity.
The Science
Muscles work in pairs. Like couples. They give and take to support each other. When we shorten a muscle to enable movement, the corresponding muscle (or group) relaxes to enable the action of the first muscle to move a joint. The classic example is bicep and tricep. The bicep (agonist) flexes to bend the elbow and the tricep (antagonist) must relax to allow the bicep to flex the joint. The reverse where the tricep contracts would extend the elbow. If these two muscles contract at the same time, the more powerful muscle (in this case tricep) would overpower the lesser muscle and cause a tear (known as a strain).
There is a neural (nerve) complex that facilitates this co-ordination by blocking the nerve of the antagonist from firing when the agonist is contracting and moving the joint space. This is known as Reciprocal Inhibition. What we have been able to do is to utilise this natural process in our conditioning to enable greater range of motion or a safer relaxation of a muscle. By applying the contraction of an opposing muscle group, effectively we can ‘turn off’ the opposing muscle, getting it to either relax or allow more range of motion.
In application we can manipulate this process to get a desired result - either in relaxing a shortened muscle or a cramping muscle locked in contraction. As a physical therapist this works when presented with an athlete in severe cramp on field. For example, a cramping calf. By getting the athlete to dorsiflex their foot whilst providing resistance against the opposing muscle (anterior tibialis in this case) you can enable this reciprocal inhibition to relax the contracting muscle.
In stretching this has a two fold benefit and purpose. In encouraging activation of an opposing muscle group, you are effectively ensuring that the muscle you are trying to stretch is utilising not only its muscle spindles but being reinforced by a nerve complex to ensure a sound lengthening of the desired muscle. This has implications on the ability of muscles to work in cohesion. In movement the associated tone of an antagonist ensures that the larger agonist will not overpower the antagonist in its activation. Think of the hamstring/quadracep pairing. The quads are usually much stronger and will overpower a hamstring in a sprint causing a most common ailment for sprinters - a hamstring tear.
By building tone and strength in the opposing muscle at its greatest range of motion, you are helping to ensure the balance between agonist/antagonist is greater so that in a movement where force is being generated on an already extended muscle, the resulting counter contraction won’t cause such an injury. In this way, by working on a stretch with reciprocal inhibition, we can create a healthy lengthening of muscle where the power of the opposing muscle group doesn’t create an imbalance. So working with ranges of motion with reciprocal inhibition can help to build that strength of range of motion in related muscles, along with strength building techniques aimed at both agonists and antagonists to maintain balance.
Most Common Pairings:
Biceps – Triceps
Deltoids – Latissimus Dorsi
Pectoralis Major – Trapezius/Rhomboids
Iliopsoas – Gluteus Maximus
Quadriceps – Hamstrings
Hip Adductor – Gluteus Medius
Tibialis Anterior – Gastrocnemius
Anterior Deltoid – Levator Scapula
Forearm Flexors – Forearm Extensors
So how do we best apply this principle? It means that when we are undertaking a stretch session, making sure that we maintain contraction of the antagonist (the muscle that pairs with the one we are trying to stretch) we can enable reciprocal inhibition to help us with achieving a more pain free range of motion. That feeling when you can’t stretch further and the muscle is pulling and you are grimacing… if we use contraction of the antagonist, that may help us to relax the stubborn muscle we are trying to get length in and achieve the stretch pain free.
It can be as simple as turning on your quads when you are stretching your hamstrings. Instead of being completely passive in a hamstring stretch, engage the quadraceps to ‘lift the kneecap’ and you will be activating reciprocal inhibition. Similarly turning on your glutes when doing a hip lunge to stretch the psoas. Theres always a combination to use and whilst some may get tricky such as anterior tibialis with gastrocnemius, its worth investigating the idea to gain better condition of stretching.
Talking to your coach/trainer or investigating how to activate certain muscles when you are engaged in a stretch is a beneficial way to help build integrity and keep your tendons in good shape so that you aren’t just a floppy jaloppy. You’ll be getting into a safe range of motion and maybe even achieving better flexibility at the same time.
