Each of us is an assembly of hinges and springs energized by physiological power plants.  Our muscles and other systems respond to signals that originate in our conscious and subconscious minds.  We are designed to move.

Our moveable parts have minimum and maximum capacities.  We adjust the rate and intensity of movement to fit the needs of the moment.  And our physiological mechanisms work better and become stronger when their parts are periodically allowed to work to their greatest capacity.  Internal systems, organs, and muscles can work at variable speeds.  But they need to be allowed to reach their maximum capacity regularly.  It’s the old “use it or lose it” syndrome.

Aerobic exercises push your heart and lungs to work harder than they do when you’re taking a stroll in the park.  Sports and other exercises call on muscles and connective tissue to stretch out and power up.  When you push your body beyond its normal work-day physical activity level, you move muscles beyond their habit zone.  Of course, muscles get a pretty good workout nearly every day if you’re a professional athlete, construction worker, walking postal carrier, farmer, or regular in another physically demanding job. 

However, the great majority of Americans are considerably less physically active than the aforementioned subgroups.  For millions of Americans, muscle and joint activity settles into a comfortable but limited movement pattern.  It’s not that muscles and joints can’t move more, it’s that they are rarely called on to extend themselves.  As a result, in time, their range of motion can become limited.  One of the objectives of exercise is to allow muscles and joints to once again reach their full range of motion.

The term “range of motion” is generally applied to the amount of movement possible for a joint or joints.  Yet your bones can’t move by themselves.  For controlled movement, either you or someone else must provide energy and direction.  In either case, it’s your bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments that are involved in your movement. 

It doesn’t take a broken bone or other injury to reduce the range of motion of joints and muscles.  Inactivity can have the same effect.  That’s often demonstrated after sitting in one position for a while.  You get up, and for the first step or two, fluidity of movement is missing.  Or, stay in bed for a couple of days, and you become “weak.”  And, range of motion can also be limited by emotional stress as well.  A combination of inactivity and stress can be a powerful motion inhibitor.

Emotions such as anger, fear, or guilt keep your body in defense – uptight.  Muscles are contracted and ready to explode into action, which may or may not happen.  Muscle contraction is only one part of the movement.  For fluid movement, as one muscle contracts, its opposite must relax.  They work cooperatively.  Muscle tone is the steady state of slight contraction.  Muscle tone helps your body resist the pull of gravity. It’s the muscles’ ability to resist a force without changing length.  Among other benefits, muscle tone keeps your back straight when you’re standing up, and your mouth closed when it’s not being used.  The best muscle tone is just the amount of tension needed to do the particular job at hand.  Not too much and not too little.  Muscles become tired if they stay tensed more than necessary to do their job.  They can’t do their job effectively if they are too relaxed or worn out. 

Link to Morter March Monday Rebroadcast: