What are Agonist and Antagonist Muscles? (How They Work While Running)

They’re important muscles that work together when you run.

When you run, your agonist and antagonist muscles work in a cycle, called agonist-antagonist muscle activation cycle. This cycle helps to ensure smooth and efficient movement.

It’s like teamwork, where the agonist muscles are doing the main job, and the antagonist muscles are working behind the scenes to keep everything in balance. This way, you’re less likely to get injured and you’ll be able to run more easily and efficiently.

Agonist Muscles

They are the muscles that are actively contracting and doing the movement, like the muscles in your legs that move you forward when you run. These muscles are “the stars of the show” so to speak.

The Agonist Muscles for Running include:

1. Quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius) in the front of the thigh
2. Hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus) in the back of the thigh
3. Glutes (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus) in the buttocks
4. Gastrocnemius and soleus (calf muscles)
5. Tibialis Anterior in the front of the shin
6. Hip flexors (iliopsoas and rectus femoris)
7. Erector Spinae muscles in the lower back

The above-mentioned muscles play key role in running, as they all work together to generate the power needed to propel the body forward and maintain balance and stability.

Antagonist Muscles

They are the muscles that are working in opposition to the agonist muscles. They help to control and stabilize the movement.

For example, when your quadriceps (front thigh muscle) is contracting to extend the knee while running, the hamstrings (muscles at the back of your thigh) are relaxing or contracting to a lesser degree.

The Antagonist Muscles for Running include:

1. The hip extensors (gluteus maximus, hamstrings) which work to slow down and control the forward motion of the thigh during the stance phase of running.
2. The calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) which act as antagonists to the hip flexors and help to control the motion of the foot and ankle.
3. The adductors (gracilis, adductor longus, adductor brevis, pectineus) which act as antagonist to the hip abductors
4. The erector spinae muscles in the lower back which act as antagonists to the rectus abdominis and other core muscles during running.
5. The spinal extensors act as antagonist to the hip flexors.
6. The triceps brachii act as antagonist to the biceps brachii

It’s important to note that during a movement like running, multiple muscle groups work together in a coordinated fashion, each muscle group has different roles to play and the muscle action is not always as simple as agonist-antagonist muscle action.

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