What type of exercise involves a muscle contraction with a change in the muscles length?

The three main types of muscle contraction during exercise are isotonic, isometric, and isokinetic. Also, we further categorise them into concentric and eccentric depending on whether the muscle shortens or lengthens when contracting.


Isotonic muscle contractions

Isotonic muscle contraction types are those where the muscle changes length as it contracts. The load or resistance remains the same. There are two types of Isotonic muscle contraction:

Concentric contractions

What type of exercise involves a muscle contraction with a change in the muscles length?

Concentric contractions are those which cause the muscle to shorten as it contracts. An example is bending the elbow from straight to fully flexed, causing a concentric contraction of the Biceps Brachii. Concentric contractions are the most common type of and occur frequently in daily and sporting activities.

Eccentric contractions

Eccentric is a type of muscle contraction opposite to concentric. They occur when the muscle lengthens as it contracts. This occurs when lowering the dumbbell down in a bicep curl exercise. The muscle is still contracting to hold the weight all the way down but the bicep muscle is lengthening.

What type of exercise involves a muscle contraction with a change in the muscles length?

Another very common example is the quadriceps muscles at the front of the thigh when landing from a jump. As you land the thigh muscles and in particular the quad muscles at the front of the leg are strongly contracting but also lengthening at the same time.

This type puts a lot of strain on the muscle and is commonly involved in muscle injuries. Plyometric training exercises (hopping and bounding) involve a lot of eccentric contractions and can lead to severe muscle soreness (DOMS) if you overdo them too soon.

What type of exercise involves a muscle contraction with a change in the muscles length?

Isometric muscle contractions occur when there is no change in the length of the contracting muscle. For example, when carrying an object in front of you. The weight of the object pulls your arms down, but your muscles contract to hold the object at the same level.

Another example is gripping a tennis racket. There is no movement in the joints of the hand, but the muscles are contracting. They produce a force sufficient enough to keep a steady hold on the racket.

Isometric muscle strength vs length

The amount of force a muscle produces during a maximal isometric contraction depends on the length of the muscle at the time. Each muscle has an optimum length at which the maximum isometric force can be produced. Generally, muscles are stronger when not fully contracted.

Types of muscle contraction – Isokinetic

Isokinetic contractions are similar to Isotonic in that the muscle changes length during the contraction, where they differ is that Isokinetic contractions produce movements of a constant speed. To measure this a special piece of equipment known as an Isokinetic dynamometer is required. Examples of using Isokinetic contractions in the day-to-day and sporting activities are rare. The best is breaststroke in swimming, where the water provides a constant, even resistance to the movement of adduction.

Muscle contraction is the tightening, shortening, or lengthening of muscles when you do some activity. It can happen when you hold or pick up something, or when you stretch or exercise with weights. Muscle contraction is often followed by muscle relaxation, when contracted muscles return to their normal state.

Why Do Muscles Contract?

‌Muscles serve several purposes in your body. Your muscles contract for any number of reasons, but they primarily do the following:‌

  • Offer stability to your joints and connective tissues – Your muscles lengthen and shorten, sometimes involuntarily, as your body needs them.
  • Produce heat to maintain your body temperature – Around 40% of your body’s temperature converts into muscle work. Shivering is your body’s response to feeling cold, and your skeletal muscles activate to warm your body.‌
  • Maintain posture – Muscles help you maintain a position like sitting or standing. ‌

How Your Muscles Contract

‌Your muscles contain fibers called myosin. Depending on how you need to use your muscles, the myosin fibers either tighten up and shorten or loosen up and stretch out. Myosin is also responsible for muscle contractions like your heartbeat that happens at regular intervals.

Understanding Muscle Contractions

Concentric Contractions. This type of contraction happens when your muscle is actively shortened. Your muscle tightens when you activate it to lift something heavier than normal, which generates tension.‌

Keep in mind that this type of muscle contraction happens when the load is less than your muscle’s maximum capacity. Your muscle cannot move the load without shortening the fibers to physically move the object.‌

An example of a concentric muscle contraction is picking up a heavy box. If you squat down to lift a box, your arm muscles may contract to hold the weight, but your leg muscles tighten as you stand up with the additional weight.‌

Eccentric Contractions. This type of contraction happens when your muscle is actively lengthened during normal activity. An example of this is walking because your quadriceps muscles are active when your heel touches the ground and your knee is bending or straightening out in stride. ‌

Eccentric muscle contractions also happen when you lower something heavy. Your muscle has to remain tight to manage the weight, but it lengthens to shift the weight into a different position.‌‌

Isometric Contraction. This type of muscle contraction happens when your muscle is actively held at a set length. Instead of lengthening and shortening as it would during some activities, you hold it in a position that requires a specific length once activated. An example of this type of contraction is carrying something in your arms in front of you. You aren’t trying to raise or lower the object but keep it at a steady position.‌

Passive Stretch. This type of muscle contraction happens when your muscle is passively lengthened. For example, you lean down to touch your toes. There’s no additional weight that your hamstring muscle needs to hold or lift by applying force, but it still stretches from the movement.

How You Use Muscle Contractions

Isometric muscle contractions. This type of contraction is used when your muscle stays in a single position and the attached joint doesn’t move. It doesn’t provide overall strengthening to the muscle group. Instead, it strengthens your muscle for that single, specific movement. An isometric muscle contraction is good for practicing the use of a muscle in a particular way following an injury.

Concentric and eccentric muscle contractions. These two types of contraction often go together. A concentric muscle contraction helps you lift something heavy. It is often referred to as positive work.‌‌

An eccentric muscle contraction is called negative work. Your muscle reacts eccentrically to help you lower something heavy. An example of these two contractions is lifting a dumbbell while working out.‌

When you pick the dumbbell up, your bicep muscle tightens and contracts to lift the weight. When you lower the weight down, your bicep muscle remains contracted, but it lengthens instead.‌‌

Passive stretching. This type of muscle contraction is helpful for gently lengthening your muscles. You can contract your muscles passively by stretching them as far as they can physically go. This lengthens your muscles in a way that activates them without using force.‌

What type of exercise involves a muscle contraction with a change in the muscle's length?

Isotonic exercise is movement that requires muscles to resist weight over a range of motion, causing a change to the length of the muscle. We usually think of muscles shortening in isotonic exercise, as when you lift a dumbbell for a bicep curl or rise into a sit-up. This is called concentric muscle contraction.

What are the 3 types of muscle contraction?

1 Types of Contractions. There are three types of muscle contraction: concentric, isometric, and eccentric. Labeling eccentric contraction as “contraction” may be a little misleading, since the length of the sarcomere increases during this type of contraction.

What are the 4 types of muscle contractions?

Types of Muscle Action Traditionally, the following types of muscle “contraction” beginning with the prefix "-iso" (meaning "the same") are defined: isotonic (constant muscle tension), isometric (constant muscle length), isokinetic (constant velocity of motion) and isoinertial (constant load).

Which exercise is isometric?

If you've ever held a plank, then you've also done an isometric exercise. Simply put, isometric exercise is any type of exercise that holds the body in one position. The muscles are contracted but do not change length as you hold the position.