kinesiology glossary
kinesiology glossary
20 terms
The future career that I have in mind is kinesiology. This field of study of this degree is the study of the human movement and function with a point of view of performance.
This glossary is useful for understanding basic therms in kinesiology. In this field of study, there are a lot of complex therms that you have to understand.
- abduction
- Lateral movement away from the midline of the body.
- aerobic exercise
- Exercise of sufficiently low intensity that it can be sustained predominantly by aerobic metabolism which can be quantified by measurement of oxygen uptake.
- agonist
- A muscle that causes motion.
- anatomical Position
- Body upright, feet together, arms hanging at sides, palms facing forward, thumbs facing away from body, fingers extended. See Anatomical Position.
- antagonist
- A muscle that can move the joint opposite to the movement produced by the agonist.
- bell Shaped
- A tension curve in which the muscular tension required increases then decreases. Many gravity dependant exercises tend to have a bell shaped resistance curve where muscular tension is greatest in middle of the exercise. Also see Gravity Vectors.
- biarticulate
- A muscle that crosses two joints.
- circumduction
- Circular movement (combining flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction) with no shaft rotation.
- concentric contraction
- The contraction of a muscle resulting in its shortening.
- dynamic contraction
- The contractions of a muscle resulting in movement. Concentric and eccentric contraction are considered dynamic movements.
- eccentric contraction
- The contraction of a muscle during its lengthening.
- fatty acid
- A common form of fat in the body, often used in metabolism to provide energy for exercise. A fatty acid is a carbon chain with 1 oxygen and 2 hydrogen atoms for each carbon.
- fibre-type
- a term used to classify skeletal muscle fibre properties; typically fast-twitch and slow-twitch, based on myosin isoform in mammalian muscle. Adult human muscle can be identified as type I, type IIa, and type IIx according to the presence of these three isoforms of myosin. Hybrid fibres have more than one isoform of myosin present. There is also a classification that relies on contractile and metabolic properties.
- insertion
- Muscle attachment that moves most, generally more distal.
- isokinetic
- The contraction of a muscle against concomitant force at a constant speed. Diagnostic strength equipment implement isokinetic tension to more accurately measure strength at varying joint angles.
- isometric contraction
- The contraction of a muscle without significant movement, also referred to as static tension. Also see Isometric Training.
- resistance Curve
- An exercise's characteristic change of force throughout its range of motion. Also see Angle of Pull and Muscle.
- stabilizer
- A muscle that contracts with no significant movement to maintain a posture or fixate a joint.
- synergist
- A muscle that assists another muscle to accomplish a movement.
- trigger Point Therapy
- Therapy that is specifically designed to alleviate the source of the pain through cycles of isolated pressure and release.