Are you an athlete, or your type of work is prone to muscle cramps? Whether it’s mild or severe muscle spasms, we know how the pain can affect your passion. And, you might be finding relief or ways to avoid recurrent muscle spasms, and that is where the reciprocal inhibition technique can help you. The Reciprocal Inhibition Technique can help you deal with chronic pain due to muscle cramps.

The reciprocal inhibition technique can’t only help relieve muscle cramps. It also relaxes, lengthens the muscles, and normalizes joint motions. By using this technique, it can prevent getting tears on muscles or known as muscle strain.

At At Evergreen Rehab and Wellness, we have Kinesiologists in Coquitlam and Surrey who use reciprocal inhibition techniques. But, first, let us discover more about the Reciprocal Inhibition Technique.

Our muscles function with coordination. If one muscle is performing the task of contraction and the other will automatically act as a relaxer. The relaxed muscle is also known as an antagonist, and the contracting muscle is called an agonist.

If muscles do not maintain their coordination, it may cause cramping, chronic tension, spasms, and strain.

The Reciprocal Inhibition Technique (RIT) is a type of Muscle Energy Technique (MET) that involves the relaxation of one muscle to accommodate the contraction of the opposing one.

In this technique, the therapist or the Kinesiologist will do the following:

Places the affected muscles in a mid-range position
Resists the patient’s movement or while pushing towards the barrier
Then the stretching and contraction will be followed by the patient’s relaxation together with exhalation.
He will work on a new barrier or restriction and repeat the same step for about 3 to 5 times more.

Our muscles work in pairs wherein one muscle is much more relax while the opposing one contracts – this is essential to create efficient movement. However, if you’re an athlete or doing a regular workout, you can observe that the muscle get engaged and extended over time. It can lead to chronic spasms or cramps and strains.

The reciprocal inhibition technique is essential to reduce muscle spasms occurrence while increasing your flexibility and mobility. It also helps us to avoid further injury such as muscle strain.

In RIT, our Kinesiologists will work with agonist-antagonist muscle pairs, wherein among the most common pairs are:

• Biceps and Triceps
• Deltoids and Latissimus Dorsi
• Pectoralis Major and Trapezius/Rhomboids
• Quadriceps and Hamstrings
• Hip Adductor and Gluteus Medius
• Tibialis Anterior and Gastrocnemius
• Anterior Deltoid and Levator Scapula
• Forearm Flexors and Forearm Extensors