for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
Course Navigator
Muscle Metabolism: Synthesis of ATPNext Lesson 

Isometric and Isotonic Contraction: Definition and Examples

Chapter 14 /  Lesson 11   Transcript
Start Your Free Trial Today

An error occurred trying to load this video.

Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support.

Coming up next: Muscle Metabolism: Synthesis of ATP

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Take Quiz Watch Next Lesson
 Replay
Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds
  • 0:06 Whole Muscle Contraction
  • 1:02 Isotonic Contraction
  • 3:36 Isometric Contraction
  • 5:44 Lesson Summary
Add to Add to Add to

Want to watch this again later?

Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course.

Login or Sign up

Timeline
Autoplay
Autoplay

Recommended Lessons and Courses for You

Lesson Transcript
Instructor: John Simmons

John has taught college science courses face-to-face and online since 1994 and has a doctorate in physiology.

Did you know that muscles can contract and not move your limbs? This lesson describes the nature of both isometric and isotonic skeletal muscle contraction. Examples are utilized to help you understand how this works.

Whole Muscle Contraction

Did you know that your muscles are contracting even when you're trying to rest? Skeletal muscles are contractile organs composed of several motor units. A motor unit includes all the muscle fibers innervated by a single motor neuron, and at least some motor units are always contracting - again, even when we're at rest. The contraction may not be enough to produce movement, but they keep the muscle at a resting level of tension or tone.

Muscles contract even when we are at rest.
Muscles Contract at Rest

Muscle tone is the resting tension in the skeletal muscle, and it helps to stabilize the position of the bones and the joints. This lesson will describe the nature of isometric contractions, in which the muscle does not change length, and isotonic contraction, in which the muscle length changes without additional tension or force development.

Isotonic Contraction

Isotonic literally means 'same tension,' where 'iso'- means 'the same' and 'tonic' refers to 'tension or force' - in this case, in the muscle. In an isotonic contraction, tension develops to a point and then remains constant while the muscle changes its length. In other words, motor units are activated to develop the necessary tension in the muscle. We utilize isotonic contractions when we move our limbs. Let's consider an example.

Let's consider a man attempting to curl 25 kilograms. This movement requires the use of the biceps brachii, a.k.a. our guns. Before the muscle can shorten and thus move the 25 kilogram load, it must first develop slightly more than 25 kilograms of tension. Once enough motor units are activated to produce tension slightly greater than the load, the muscle can shorten. If you try this yourself, you will notice tension developing in your muscle even before you move the weight. Once muscle tension slightly exceeds the load, muscular contraction can then be used to shorten the muscle and move the load. It's important to note that force does not change in the muscle while it's shortening - hence the term isotonic contraction.

In an isotonic contraction, the muscles produce slightly more tension than the load we want to lift.
Isotonic Contraction

It's also important to note there are two types of isotonic contractions. Concentric contraction occurs when the muscle shortens, while eccentric contraction occurs when the muscle lengthens. Let me explain. Let's re-examine our weight lifter. The muscle shortens when the arm flexes at the elbow in the act of curling - therefore, this is a concentric contraction.

Does the muscle contract during extension while doing a curling exercise? As it turns out, the answer is yes. As the man extends his arm, that same muscle, the biceps brachii, lengthens and maintains tension slightly greater than the load - in this case, slightly greater than 25 kilograms. This tension is maintained by eccentric contraction. Eccentric contraction helps to control the rate of movement.

Isometric Contraction

Let's move on to isometric contractions. Isometric literally means 'same length,' where again 'iso'- means 'the same' and here 'metric' refers to length - now, we're talking about the length of the muscle. During an isometric contraction, the muscle as a whole does not change its length, and the tension developed in the muscle never exceeds the load. This is what happens when we attempt to lift more than we can.

To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account

Register for a free trial

Are you a student or a teacher?

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a Member  Back
What teachers are saying about Study.com
Free 5-day trial
Description

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 160 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.

To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.

Research Schools, Degrees & Careers

Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school.

Browse Articles By Category

Browse an area of study or degree level.

Recommended Articles
You are viewing lesson Lesson 11 in chapter 14 of the course:

 Back To Course

UExcel Anatomy & Physiology: Study Guide & Test Prep

20 chapters | 249 lessons | 19 flashcard sets

Ch 14. Muscular System
Ch 15. Gross Anatomy of Muscular...

Isometric and Isotonic Contraction: Definition and Examples Related Study Materials

Create an account to start this course today
Try it free for 5 days!
Create an account

Explore our library of over 75,000 lessons

Browse by subject
Support