Likhith Bomma

Physical Inequality: The Effects of Muscle Imbalances

Introduction: ​ This research project is about finding how the muscle imbalance between the

hamstrings and the quadriceps can affect the spine. The research will focus mainly on males, and

age is not a factor of the research. This project is suppose to find different ways various parts of

the body are connected, and how the symptoms of injuries or imbalances can have bigger effects

than expected.

Background/History of the Issue:

On a cellular level, human muscles are made of thousands of muscle spindles that give the

muscle cell the ability to stretch and contract by sliding past each other in a coordinated fashion

(Cimons). There are different ways to perceive muscle imbalances as well. One type of muscle

imbalance is local to specific joints. When muscles one side of a joint become to tight from

overuse, the muscles on the other side of the joint become too weak from the lack of use

(McCall). There is also a muscle imbalance when looking at the symmetry of the body and when

a muscle on one side of the body is significantly stronger/weaker than the corresponding muscle

on the other side of the body (e.g. when one arm is stronger than the other). However, there has

been a recent study in which the researchers found that exercising one arm/wrist gives the same

benefits to the other arm (Reynolds), highlighting that there is a little bit of controversy on the

topic of muscle imbalances.

Rationale:

The problem of muscle imbalance is very important because many athletes have certain muscles

that are much more developed than others which could cause injuries. The issue does not only
pertain to athletes but to people with regular lives such as computer engineers, car mechanics,

teachers, and etc. Bad posture and any specific repetitive motion with a certain muscle can cause

injury, so many people are affected by muscle imbalances. The issue with muscle imbalance has

a bigger impact than just affecting athletes, but anyone can be affected and are at risk of injury

due to muscle imbalances.

Research Question:​ How does the lower body muscle imbalance between the hamstrings and the

quadriceps affect the lumbar spine for human males?

Hypothesis: ​ Lower body muscle imbalance between the hamstrings and the quadriceps will

harm the lumbar spine and hurt the nerves running through the branches in the lumbar plexus.

The hamstrings and the quadriceps are more prone to muscle imbalance with the

quadriceps usually being stronger. This imbalance is due to the fact that humans use their

quadriceps to walk forward, so the overuse of the quadriceps causes is to be much stronger than

the hamstrings (Asher). This research is trying to explore how this typical imbalance can affect

other major parts of the body, and in the case of this research, the spine is the major part of the

body being examined. The spine was chosen to be examined because it is the “coat rack” for the

body as it holds it up and transmits messages from the brain to the rest of the body parts (Berry).

Research Design Model: ​The research design model being executed quantitative research. The

approach being taken is causal-comparative, in which the variables will be the muscle and

strength ratios between the hamstrings and quadriceps, and the quality and well being of the

spine. The muscle and strength ratios basically represent how much of a muscle imbalance is

present between the hamstrings and the quadriceps, and the quality of the spine is supposed to

show the correlation of how the imbalance affects the spine.This model was chosen because it is
difficult to do “hands-on” research on the muscle imbalance and spine without the proper

equipment and knowledge. The main tool for research is the computer to find different research

projects that have been done on the hamstrings and quadriceps and the spine, but there will also

be contacting with physicians and physical therapists who are experts and knowledgeable about

the hamstrings and quadriceps.

Product Objectives: ​The outcome of the study will be presented through a website, containing

the important information need to hopefully draw a conclusion about the research. The intended

audience and viewers of this website includes doctors, patients that suffer from muscle

imbalance issues or spine issues, and anyone because muscle imbalance affects everyone, even if

they are not aware of it. There will need to be some awareness in order to attract people to view

the information in the website.

Logistics:​ There have not been tangible resources required for the project however knowledge

has been gained from Alpa Uchil, who is a nurse practitioner and was willing to help me with my

research by answering some important questions. I have a limited amount of resources as I can

not do hands-on research to examine the muscle imbalance of a real person, so I need to examine

research that has been done and make connections.

Approval:

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