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Evaluating Muscle Function
Muscle imbalances can’t be easily evaluated using X-rays, CAT scans, or other high-tech devices. Electromyography (EMG) equipment can help determine some of the imbalances discussed above, but it’s not sensitive enough to find the more subtle imbalances seen in athletes. Properly done, manual muscle testing can effectively evaluate muscle function and can eliminate the need for EMG and other tests, many of which are much more expensive. When working with athletes to assess their muscle function, I would study the posture and movement or gait on a treadmill or track. I also performed manual muscle testing to evaluate individual muscles. This was in addition to other assessment procedures such as physical exam, questions about training and racing, and reading their training diary.
Full Spectrum of Muscle Function
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I found that the history of a person’s injury usually provides a significant amount of information regarding which muscles are imbalanced. Today, taking a patient’s history is a lost art, with many health-care professionals no longer talking much with their patients. This is unfortunate since athletes unknowingly provide many clues by talking about their symptoms, and a good question and answer session may be the best assessment process. Simply listening to athletes talk with one another before or after a race can often help determine what is causing their physical problems.
Observing muscle imbalance is relatively easy. One just has to watch the runners at the end of a marathon, long bike event, or triathlon to see the more exaggerated forms of imbalance: irregular movements, and, in runners, even the erratic sounds of shoes hitting the pavement. However, the more common and subtle muscle imbalances in athletes are often only observed by those trained to see them. I recall my days as a student, learning about muscle imbalance and which muscles perform which movements, and which imbalances cause slight irregularities in gait. Some of my classmates and I would go to an indoor mall and watch people walk by, assessing them with our newfound observations.
In addition to gait, evaluating standing or sitting posture is important, especially in cyclists. And the swimming stroke also provides many clues about muscle function. Muscle imbalances are represented by deviations in posture—curving of the spine, tilting of the head or pelvis, rotation of the upper body, or other distortions; some very subtle, others not.
Most importantly, when the proper therapy is applied and muscle imbalance is corrected, gait and postural irregularities should noticeably improve very quickly (along with the patient’s pain patterns or other symptoms). That’s because many therapies change the neuromuscular system and the effects are immediate. This is unlike the effects of weight lifting to improve strength, where a certain amount of time is required for an increase in muscle strength.
