Understanding Muscle Tone, Posture, and Balance
Muscle Tone
Muscle tone refers to the state of tension or contraction of a muscle. It forms the foundation for motor and postural activity, both in movement and at rest. Muscle tone changes reflect our emotional and affective states.
Types of Muscle Tone:
- Resting Tone (Base Tone)
- Postural Tone (Attitude)
- Action Tone
Posture
Posture relates to the location and position of body parts, primarily influenced by skeletal muscles counteracting gravity. It’s our equilibrium in relation to spatial references.
Attitude
According to Castañer and Camerino, attitude is the meaning we attribute to visible tonic manifestations and how an individual uses them in their interactions (postures and gestures).
Le Boulch (1978-80) highlights that changes in postural tone, leading to different attitudes, stem from psychological reactions. These changes are expressions of deep emotional and affective responses, both conscious and unconscious.
- Emotions and conscious thoughts are accompanied by tonic shifts.
- Affections produce corresponding variations in muscle tone, communicating changes from one muscle to another for each affective state.
Postural Attitude
Postural attitude combines the concepts of posture and attitude. It’s a personal form of balance, influenced by neurological, morphological, and psychological factors. This balance can be fleeting or permanent and is unique to each individual. Postural attitude is often accompanied by gestures and postures.
Both attitude and posture are significant manifestations of behavior, representing an adjustment or adaptation, primarily in the motor domain.
Balance
In physics, balance refers to the mechanical state where all forces acting on a body counteract each other, resulting in a net force of zero.
In physical education, balance relates to rebalancing—compensating for each movement to maintain stability.
Ability to Assume and Hold Body Positions Against Gravity
- Control of one’s body in space.
- Recovery of the correct position after a destabilizing event.
- Stable maintenance of the center of gravity in static or dynamic situations, with or against gravity.
Types of Equilibrium
All movement originates from a balancing act. We distinguish between:
- Reflexive Balance: Static-postural, based on reflexes.
- Automatic Balance: Used in everyday motor activities, often automated (e.g., walking).
- Voluntary Balance: Applied in planned motor actions. This type further divides into:
- Static Balance: Maintaining a specific position for a certain duration without displacement of the body or its segments.
- Dynamic Balance: Maintaining balance while in motion, despite constant changes in position and center of gravity.
- Object Balance: Maintaining balance while interacting with objects. This is relevant to physical education and can be static or dynamic.
Tonic activity underpins various forms of muscular activity.
- Maintaining Position: Even a still position involves variations in muscle tone to maintain balance with minimal effort and maximum support.
- Expression of Emotions and Body Language: Muscle tone supports attitude, gestures, and movement quality.
Muscle tone is integral to all motor behaviors, including balance and coordination.
Tonic Regulation of Activity
Tonic regulation is the control mechanism that adjusts postural and movement tone. It’s related to the ability to modulate muscle contractions that influence voluntary movement.
Sensory receptors provide information for this adjustment of tone variations. Therefore, educating postural attitude begins with sensory perception development.
Factors Involved in Balance
Internal Factors:
Balance control relies heavily on sensory input:
- Proprioceptive: Kinesthetic and vestibular senses.
- Exteroceptive: Touch and sight.
Psychological factors like fear and insecurity, and their connection to reality, also play a role.
External Factors:
- Force of Gravity: A centripetal force pulling bodies towards the Earth’s center.
- Base of Support: The surface on which the body rests, defined by the area between points of contact.
- Center of Gravity: The point where the force of gravity acts.
- Line of Gravity: An imaginary line connecting the center of gravity to the Earth’s center. For balance, this line must fall within the base of support.