Facial
Muscles in Motion
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Then click the word 'APPLICATION' next to INTRO
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Acknowledgment with special
thanks is extended to the author of Artnatomy
Victoria Contreras Flores |
Deep lines or furrows of the face are
classified as dynamic or static. Dynamic lines appear with movement i.e. the activity of
facial muscles when you smile or frown. Static lines are unchanged with muscle movement
such as Crows Feet. Eventually dynamic lines become static.... Oh really?
Every muscle of the face
is there to do a specific job. For instance, there’s a muscle that opens the eye, and
one that closes the eye, a muscle to lift the eyebrow, and one to lower the eyebrow. In other words, for every muscle that does one
job there is another one to do the exact opposite. The muscles that do the exact opposite
are called ’antagonistic muscles. These
muscles work as a team. When one is shortened
(contracted) the other muscle is lengthened to the same extent.
When we make
a facial expression, only a portion of the muscle is being used… otherwise we would be
making some pretty outrageous faces! If one
muscle is constantly contracted, than its antagonistic muscle is constantly relaxed. Over time, this constant state partial contraction
and relaxation (everyday expressions) cause the muscles to lose tone. When facial muscles
begin to lose tone (starts around mid twenties) you’ll begin to see expression lines.
Yes, there are other factors involved in making that line (photo damage etc.) but the
muscle that was used to… lets say… pull back (smooth out) a frown just doesn’t SNAP
back the way it used to.
The only way to maintain muscle
tone is to use all of our muscle fiber to maximum. Do
we do this daily? ... no…why…not in our nature....why... natures way of allowing are
bodies to age. Can you do something about it….
yes…. build, build, build.
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FlexEffect Facialbuilding®:
Because the
majority of facial muscles terminate into the skin, we are literally able to stretch the
muscle before contracting it. This allows us
a greater advantage in building the muscle because we are able to execute an *eccentric
contraction.
This very
action is what separates FlexEffect Facialbuilding from today’s mainstream facial
exercise programs.
The force
generated by muscle contraction is related to the speed of the movement (force-velocity)
as well as the initial length of the muscle belly (length-tension). The length-tension relationship demonstrates that
a muscle generates maximum force when it begins its contraction slightly stretched passed
its resting length. This action comes into play when I direct you to first pull before the
contraction.
Again,
mainstream facial exercise tells you to anchor the muscle (hold in place) for resistance.
Muscle
contraction comes from both ends of the muscle (the ends move to the center of the
muscle.) You will note that sometimes you are directed to pull from the muscles insertion
and sometimes to pull from the muscles origin depending on the exercise. To understand the
placement of the pull, study the line of contraction.
Again, it is the pulling action that makes our training so effective.
*eccentric contraction: when the resistance is greater
than the force generated by the muscle i.e., the individual fibers of sthe muscle contract
but the force (pull) is so great the muscle actually lengthens. |