Positional Isometric Contractions (PIC)

PICs are taken with permission from Greg Roskopf's Muscle Activation Techniques® Jump Start into MAT book and slightly modified for context in this course. PICs are a low intensity isometric contraction of 10-20% of a maximum isometric contraction for a longer duration of 3-6 seconds performed with the muscle(s) in their shortened position. Low intensity contractions focus on the slow-twitch muscle fibers that can be metabolically altered from inflammation due to trauma and overuse. The longer duration contraction in the shortened position helps to increase the sensitivity of the muscle spindle reconnecting the intrafusal and extrafusal muscle fibers.