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Research |
Sport Science |
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THE ROLE OF CO-ACTIVATION OF AGONIST AND ANTAGONIST MUSCLES IN NEURAL
ADAPTATIONS OF STRENGTH TRAINING |
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Themistoklis Tsatalas1,2,
Giannis Spyropoulos1, Paraskevi Sileloglou3,
Vasilis Sideris1, Giannis Giakas1,2
1Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences,
University of Thessaly, Trikala, Hellas
2Institute of Human Performance and Rehabilitation,
Center for Research and Technology, Thessaly, Hellas
3Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences,
Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki, Hellas |
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Published: September 30, 2009 |
| © Inquiries in Sport and Physical Education (2009),
7, 57-62 |
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Abstract |
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Strength training induces neural
adaptations that can be studied according to the modification in the
activation levels of the agonist, synergist and antagonist muscles. The
aim of this study is to review and evaluate the most important studies
that investigated the role of antagonist muscles’s coactivation in
neural adaptations of strength training. Muscular coactivation or
co-contraction is defined as the activity of the agonist muscles,
simultaneously with a low level activity of the antagonist muscles of
the same joint. Among others, coactivation plays an important role in
the stability of a joint and also in the production of accurate, smooth
and coordinated movements. Generally, strength training is believed to
control the antagonist activation by: a) reducing it, in combination to
an augmentation or not of the agonist muscle activation and b) by
keeping it stable and increasing the agonist activation, resulting in a
reduction of the antagonist/agonist activation ratio. According to the
present review, the role of antagonist coactivation in the neuromuscular
adaptations of strength training is not considerable compared to the
observed strength enhancement. Further research concerning coactivation
and more general neuromuscular adaptations is necessary. |
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Key words: neural
adaptations, neuromuscular adaptations, strength training,
co-activation, co-contraction, muscle coordination |
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