Understanding Muscle Tone, Posture, and Balance in Physical Education
Muscle Tone, Posture, and Balance in Physical Education
Muscle Tone
Muscle Tone: The state of tension or contraction of the muscle that underlies our motor and postural activity. Changes in tone reflect our emotional and affective state.
Types of Muscle Tone:
- Resting Muscle Tone
- Postural Tone
- Action Tone
Posture and Attitude
Postural (Anatomy): Refers to the location and position of body parts, maintained by skeletal muscles opposing gravity, resulting in a form of equilibrium.
Attitude:
- Castañer and Camerino: The meaning attached to visible tonic manifestations and the subject’s conduct in relationships (postures and gestures).
- Le Boulch (1978-80): Changes in postural tone, resulting in attitudes, depend on psychological reactions and reflect emotional and affective states.
Postural Attitude: A form of personal balance, influenced by neurological, morphological, and psychological factors. It’s a manifestation of behavior and a form of adaptation, often accompanied by gestures and postures.
Balance and Equilibrium
Balance: In physics, the state where all forces acting on a body counteract each other, resulting in a net force of zero. In physical education, it relates to maintaining stability and regaining balance after a destabilizing factor.
Types of Equilibrium:
- Reflection-Type Static-Postural Balance: Maintaining balance in a stationary position.
- Automatic Balance: Motor activity used in daily life, such as walking.
- Voluntary Balance: Applied in planned motor actions.
Subtypes of Voluntary Balance:
- Static: Maintaining a position without displacement for a certain time.
- Dynamic: Maintaining balance while moving and changing the center of gravity.
- With Objects: Maintaining balance while manipulating objects, both statically and dynamically.
Tonic activity is the basis for various forms of muscular activity, including maintaining posture, expressing emotions, and supporting body language.
Tonic Regulation of Activity
Tonic Regulation of Activity: The control that allows for postural and movement adjustments, related to the subject’s ability to control muscle contractions that affect voluntary motor activity. This adjustment relies on information from sensory receptors.
Factors Involved in Balance
Internal Factors:
- Proprioceptive: Kinesthetic and vestibular senses.
- Exteroceptive: Touch and sight.
- Psychological: Fear, insecurity, and their connection with reality.
External Factors:
- Force of Gravity: The force that attracts bodies towards the center of the Earth.
- Supporting Base: The surface on which the subject rests.
- Center of Gravity: The point where the force of gravity acts.
- Line of Gravity: The line connecting the center of gravity to the center of the Earth. For equilibrium, this line must fall within the base of support.