Exercise and The Spine
Muscle Response to Exercise
Regular activity and exercise leads to better muscle tone and strength. The body responds to exercise by assigning more motor units (groups of muscle fibers) to a task. This process is referred to as motor unit recruitment. It is accomplished by the pattern of nerve signal firing. The more motor units which are called into action by the nervous system the more work the muscles can perform. Exercise not only trains muscles it also trains the nervous system to send more signals that synchronize and improve muscular performance. This process is referred to as neural adaptation. This is an important mechanism in physical rehabilitation of the spine.
The body’s first responds to an increasing work load is to recruit more motor units (muscle fibers) in order to adequately perform the work. Once this process becomes inadequate to accomplish the task, the muscle responds by developing more protein filaments which results in muscular enlargement (hypertrophy).
The body’s first responds to an increasing work load is to recruit more motor units (muscle fibers) in order to adequately perform the work. Once this process becomes inadequate to accomplish the task, the muscle responds by developing more protein filaments which results in muscular enlargement (hypertrophy).