Question

What are 5 examples that the muscles are working in pairs

Answer 1

Muscles that work like this are called antagonistic pairs.

• In an antagonistic muscle pair as one muscle contracts the other muscle relaxes or lengthens. The muscle that is contracting is called the agonist and the muscle that is relaxing or lengthening is called the antagonist.

• For example, when you perform a bicep curl, the biceps will be the agonist as it contracts to produce the movement, while the triceps will be the antagonist as it relaxes to allow the movement to occur.

• The biceps contracts and raises the forearm as the triceps relaxes

Antagonistic muscle pairs

The following groups of muscles are antagonistic pairs:

Biceps

Triceps

Hamstrings

Quadriceps

Gluteus maximus

Hip flexors

Gastrocnemius

Tibialis anterior

Pectoralis major

Latissimus dorsi

• To allow antagonistic pairs to work efficiently, other muscles called fixators assist by supporting and stabilising the joint and the rest of the body. Some fixators also assist the agonist and act as a synergist.

• The trapezius muscle can act as a fixator when the biceps is flexing the elbow joint.

• The abdominals can act as fixators to stabilise the body for hip and knee movements.

Answer 2

Muscles that work like this are called antagonistic pairs. In an antagonistic muscle pair as one muscle contracts the other muscle relaxes or lengthens.

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Antagonistic muscle pairs.

Biceps Triceps

Hamstrings Quadriceps

Gluteus maximus Hip flexors

Gastrocnemius Tibialis anterior

Pectoralis major Latissimus dorsi