Question

What would happen if you contracted two antagonistic muscles at the same time?

Answer 1

If two antagonist muscles contract at the same time, it leads to a phenomenon called "muscle coactivation". Generally, it is termed as 'muscle cocontraction', if two muscle groups contract simultaneously. Muscle deactivation takes place when two antagonist muscles which are surrounding a joint, contract simultaneously to provide stability to the joint. The same thing happens when an agonist and an antagonist muscle contracts simultaneously. These contractions can be measured by using 'electromyography' (EMG). This muscle deactivation allows muscles to become more stable.

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