With physical preparation, you can achieve good muscle tone that contributes to injury prevention.
Muscle tone is the permanent state of partial, passive and continuous contraction of muscles . It is the resting state of the muscles that helps maintain the appropriate body posture for each movement.
It should be noted that tone is a term originating from the Latin tonus that has several meanings. It may be the property of sounds that allows them to be classified as low or high according to their frequency; of the particular way of expressing something; of the amount of light of a color ; of the musical accent of the words; or the acoustic signal heard on a telephone when a line is available.
Muscular , for its part, is what belongs to or relates to muscles . A muscle is an organ that is made up of contractile fibers and that can be related to the skeleton (in the case of skeletal muscles ) or to the structure of organs or devices ( visceral muscles ). The set of muscles that can be controlled voluntarily is called the muscular system .
Characteristics of muscle tone
Muscle tone is reduced while we sleep due to relaxation, and increases again when awake. The myotatic reflex and the various motor units are necessary so that the muscles can regulate and maintain the resting state.
The state of muscle contraction also depends on unconscious nerve impulses . In the event of a pull, for example, muscle tension increases automatically so that the body maintains balance and as a form of protection against danger.
It should be noted that maintaining muscle tone does not require effort, since it is regulated by the unconscious activity of the nervous system .
Disorders such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis cause increased muscle tone that causes stiffness.
Strength development
Developing muscle strength is important in many everyday tasks. This is the name given to the ability of a muscle to perform a contraction and overcome resistance. Any movement, whether to push something or perform a movement, requires muscle strength.
Once that contraction ends, muscle relaxation appears. In this instance, the muscle fibers recover their original position. When the muscle is able to lengthen and contract repetitively, the so-called muscular resistance is obtained.
Muscle tone can be associated with the potential energy available to the muscle. In the relaxation stage, the muscle maintains a certain contraction that exerts resistance to passive movement and limits elasticity .
It is important to mention that contractility can be carried out thanks to the cell filaments that are composed of actin and myosin , two classes of proteins. They appear in an alternate arrangement, with actin filaments being thin and myosin filaments being thick.
In the contraction state, the level of overlap of the filaments increases. On the other hand, with stretching, this aloneness is reduced.
A massage can help reduce excessive muscle tone.
Muscle tone in smooth muscles and cardiac muscles
Muscle tone in smooth muscles and cardiac muscles is also present, so it is not an exclusive property of skeletal muscles .
In these cases, the contraction of the muscles is not associated with the action of antagonist muscles. Muscle tone is linked to enervation, which can develop randomly.
Tips to improve it
To improve muscle tone, it is advisable to perform a series of exercises with a minimum frequency of two days a week. It is important to remember that toning should be sought by working on various parts of the body, such as the arms, back, buttocks and legs. You should always act gradually, starting with the least demanding routines to gradually increase the demand.
Some of the recommended exercises to improve muscle tone are:
- Squats : they are among the most complete, since on the one hand they strengthen and firm the glutes, but they also help to give more stability to the pelvis and trunk. The so-called "air" ones are the least complicated, since they do not require the use of any tool. On the other hand, moving your arms and legs at the same time is not exactly easy, which is why moderation is important.
- Abdominals : when it comes to muscle tone, abdominal exercises are very beneficial , as they tone the arms and abdomen . It is not necessary to exceed ten minutes per day in the first sessions, although it is recommended to add minutes as the body gets used to muscle training.
- Weight bar : if you do not have a bar, then it is possible to use any element whose weight we can adjust to our liking, such as a water bottle. The idea is to lie down and hold the weights at chest level, to make a series of ascending movements (leaving the arms stretched but without tense them) and descending movements (until touching the pectorals), which helps us strengthen the arms and pectorals and increases our muscles.
- Waist and trunk twists : by extending your hands, you must turn your waist and torso to the sides, three times per series. It is possible to make lateral or dorsal movements (in this case you must stop by touching your legs with your hands). It is important not to overexert yourself and increase the number of twists gradually, without exceeding 8 minutes a day .