MEDIOS SOPORTE VISUALES

The study showed that 62 .0%, o f the respondents participated in one type of sporting activity or the other while 38.0%i did not participate . The number that did not participate surely included those w ho felt that the brewery _ job wa s loll

exercise already and '-O the y did not need a ny extra sporting adiv ity. as highlighted in the FGD findings. I loweve r, the stud y.showed that LBP was signi lic antly related to frequent and regular participation in sport in g activities (P =

0.02341788). This shows that what affec ts LB P is not taking part

sports but lack of regular parti cipation in sport. That is, the regularit y and frequency of participation in sports is what is essent ial. One of the basic laws guiding human life is the law of 1110\'cment. Without movement there is . standstill, retrogress ion. and even death . Movement ensures new formation s for progress. Generally movement is hrought about by the contraction and relaxation of muscles at the impulses from the nerves. 1 :or the muscles to function effecti vely and c rti cicntly they must have " tonus ... /\ normal live muscle which appears to be fully relaxed still possesses a small amount of tension. If it is palpated in a resting state. the muscle will be found to have a quality of resi lience rather than wmpletc flabbiness. When it is passiyely stretched by moving one of the joints. a certa in amount of resistance will be

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encou ntered in the muscle. which is not related to an y consc ious effort on the part of the patient. These c haracteristi cs - subdued activity at rest, and involuntary reaction opposing mechani cal stretch me th e chi ef clinical mani festations o f nrnscle ton us.

A mu scle loses its ton us al om :e i r the ve ntral roots containin g its motor nerve fibres arc cut. Tonus is also lost by cuttin g sensory fib res rrum the mu scle. Thus, lonus is maintained and n:gulaled in muscle by re nex activit y of the nervous system. and is not a propert y of isolated mu scle. The stretch reflex is th e basic neural mechani sm for maintaining tonus in muscles.

Aside from its ro le in keeping relaxed muscles sli ghtl y act ive, the stretch reflex is capable of increasing the tension of selected mu scle groups to provide a background of postural muscle lonus on which voluntary movements are superimposed.

Muscle spi ndles are encapsulated structures 3 lo 4mm in length located, in varying numbers. in most skeletal muscle of the hod y. They arc referred to as intrnfu sal musc le lihn:s in co ntrast to th e large cxtrafusal librcs of the skeletal mu scles. The golgi tendon organs also arc c1H.:apsu lated structures located in series wit h large collagcnou s fi bres of tcn<lon s n ear the muscle insertion and, thus are in S G ri cs with the ex traf usal muscle fibres, unlike the muscles spi ndles which are in parallel with the extraf usal skeletal mu scle fibres.

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The function of the intrnfusal fi bres is to inform the nervous sys tem of the length and rate of change in len gth of the extralfusa l fibre s. The Uolgi tendon organs on the other hand are primaril y tensio n recorders and respond to active contraction of the muscle. Thus it is the lonus in the mu scle n .:gula_ rl y maintained by nerve fibres and not the occnsio nal intensive movements o f the skeletal muscles th at ensures effccti\'c and effi cient body movements. This explain s how the regularit y ol' participation in sports maintains the muscle tonu s and not the intensity whi ch invo lves mostly the skeletal mu scles that matter as far as factors of LBP arc concerned.

However. a study of fi ve strength and fitness measurements from one thousand six hundred and fift y-tw0, Los Angeles lire fi ght ers concluded that physical fitn ess and co nditio ning have a significant pre venti ve effect on the occurrence of back injuries (Snook. 1980). Also in a cross sectional stud y on low back pain among wor kers at an industri al e nterprise in Ru ssia. it was n.:vealcd that there was assrn.: iatiun hdwccn lo w hack pain and low level or

education, marital status. absence of sporti ng m .:ti vities, intensity of smokin g, frequent lifting and bending during work ( foroptsova et al. 1 995 ).

Similar to wo rk activities . . exerci se and sports parti cipat ion · oft en included twisted and bent postures and increased risk of sudden traumatic inj urie s as well as some s pinal patho logy. Some studies have shown that certain athletic activities such as gymnastic a<.:ti vitics, weight lifting and

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soccer may accelerate spinal tkgeneratiun. as they also involve physical occupati on. the onl y difference being the duration and frequency of loading which is less in work than in spo rting activities . On the other hand . exercise to strengthen muscles and increase aerobic capacity and range of motion are among the most common components of back pain prevention and rehabilitation progrnn1111es. (/\shto11-t\ lillcr. J./\ . 19

)8) .

Some controlled stu dies clearl y demonstrate a positive effect of exercise and fitness on back problems. It is unclear however. how th e po tentiall y benefic ial effects or sports training interact with the potentially harmful effects of loading. In the study on the long term effects of physical loading and exercise-life styles on back related symptoms. disability and sp inal pathology among men carried out by Vidcman and colleagues ( 1995). it was observed that back pain is less common among athle tes than among contro l subjects and no benefi ts wen: shown for rigorous exercises compared with li ghter exercises wi th l'L'Spcct to hack pain prohlems. Thus it can he inferred that the musculoskcletal system needs some exercise lo function optim ally. Whi le it is possible that ·rrce radil.'.al formation in the body that accompanies slrenous exercises could al.'.celcralc degeneration of the ti ssues, experimental and clinical studies l1tl\·c demonstrated that inactivi ty causes degeneration. weakening a.nd shortening of the l.'.Onncctivc ti ssues.

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