Tensing & Releasing Exercises

Tensing and releasing muscles is a technique that is used to strengthen and release muscles, reduce stress and return the body and mind to a state of balance. Often combined with deep breathing and imagery, it is used by athletes, musicians and actors, as well as people rehabilitating from an illness or injury. Progressive relaxation uses this technique systematically to relax all of the muscles in your body.

  1. Isometric Contraction

    • Your muscles are attached to your bones with tendons. To move part of your body, you must contract a muscle or group of muscles. The muscles contract and pull on the tendons, which pull on the bones. But your muscles can also contract without causing any movement. In other words, you engage your muscles but hold them at a constant length, so nothing actually moves. This type of muscle contraction is called an isometric contraction. You use an isometric contraction when you carry a stack of books. The weight of the books pushes downward and you use your muscles to resist that force, holding the books in place. After the initial movement that puts them into the holding position, your arms don’t move during the contraction.

    Contract or Relax

    • A muscle can either be contracted or relaxed. When your nerves send the signal to contract, your muscles tense. When the signal is stopped, your muscles relax. If the nerve-muscle link has been interrupted or the signal is incorrect, your nervous system may continue sending the signal to contract. Tensing and releasing exercises interrupt this signal so your muscles can return to their normal, relaxed state. To interrupt the signal, isometrically contract, or tense, a group of muscles for 10 seconds, then relax and breathe deeply for 20 to 30 seconds. You don’t have to tighten a muscle hard for this to work, you simply need to tense it. For example, tighten your calf muscles by pointing your toes away from you, hold this position for 10 seconds, then relax and let your feet hang limp for 20 seconds.

    Progressive Relaxation

    • Progressive relaxation involves systematically tensing and releasing all of your muscles. To relax your whole body, you will tense and release all of the different muscle groups of your body in succession. After getting into a comfortable position, contract and release the muscles around your eyes and forehead, then your jaw, down into your neck and shoulders and so on until you’ve released all of your muscles down to your toes. If one part of your body is particularly tight, repeat the isometric contraction and relaxation for that area.

    Relieve Anxiety

    • Progressive relaxation is way to manage stress and achieve a state of deep relaxation. In his book, “Progressive Relaxation,” the founder of progressive relaxation, Dr. Edmund Jacobson, points out that progressive relaxation is helpful for releasing anxiety and its symptoms associated with muscle tension. Through a regular practice of progressive relaxation, tensing and releasing exercises can help relieve tension headaches, backaches, jaw pain, fibromyalgia pain, high blood pressure and insomnia.