Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68175
ESSENTIAL SKILLS a particularly heavy object or slipping on ice and using their arms to catch themselves), they may easily get injured. This means that it's important both to develop each muscle more fully and to develop a wider range of muscle groups. AIS protocols incorporate the full spectrum of muscles in a particular area—including those responsible for rotating, bending, extending, and flexing—so you don't focus solely on the most frequently used structures. Another source of risk is having Thumb adduction. uneven levels of strength in a given muscle. Generally, a muscle is much weaker and more vulnerable at the end of its range of motion. As a result, a sudden or strong exertion from a position of full stretch (e.g., getting up suddenly from a lunge or starting to use a pectoral weight machine from the most stretched position) can result in injury. AIS exercises limit this risk by working each muscle throughout its full range of motion, starting with very light weights. Along the same lines, you want to Thumb hyperadduction. Thumb opposition. Finger adduction. There are AIS exercises designed to strengthen almost every individual muscle in the body. There are dozens for the fingers and hand alone. be sure that the person has adequate strength in eccentric contraction, not just concentric contraction. In concentric contraction, the muscle shortens while it contracts, as when you lift a weight in a biceps curl. Slowly releasing from a biceps curl involves eccentric contraction, in which the muscle is simultaneously contracting and lengthening. As we mentioned in Part 1, some individuals experience difficulty with eccentric contraction following an injury. AIS places a strong emphasis on eccentric contraction, which actually builds strength 30–40 percent more efficiently than concentric contraction. In many cases, we use manual resistance (resisting the client's motion with our own strength, rather than a weight), which enables us to directly feel where the muscles are weaker and then adjust the exercise 92 massage & bodywork july/august 2010