title: Theoretical considerations on cocontraction of sets of agonistic and antagonistic muscles.
abstract: It is well known that static, non-linear minimization of the sum of the stress in muscles to a certain power cannot predict cocontraction of pairs of one-joint antagonistic muscles. In this report, we prove that for a single joint either all agonistic muscles cocontract or all are silent. For two-joint muscles, we show that lengthening and shortening of muscles corresponds closely to zero force and non-zero force states, respectively. This gives a new physiological interpretation of situations in which cocontraction of pairs of two-joint antagonistic muscles is predicted by these static non-linear optimization approaches.
authors.affiliation: Human Performance Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ait-Haddou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Binding
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Herzog
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D009141:Musculoskeletal System