Hi everyone, I am doing a functional movement analysis for my Kinesiology class and decided to do it on the Tree Pose.
I am having a hard time determining if the trunk, back and neck portion of this pose’s muscle contractions are concentric, eccentric, isotonic, co-contracting.
Is there anyone who may be able to help me out with my uncompleted chart?!
Hi Britney,
it can be very confusing to look at asana (the postures in Yoga which are so often mislabeled as “yoga”) only in terms of kinesiology or only in terms of anatomy. As you may already know from your text book(s) one of these studies the interplay of the musculoskeletal system while living and the other studies it in the not-so-living 
Asana is a more complex animal because it is possible for the student to apply actions which may be unobserved, unobservable, or subtle AND those actions can alter the nature of contraction, antagonists, synergists etc.
However, I can take a run at this if you are more specific than “trunk, back, and neck”.
gordon
I am having a hard time with my chart. I am trying to attach it. Hopefully this works. It’s originally an excel sheet but I had to upload into notebook in order to attach it here. Hopefully it’s not horribly confusing?
Oh I see. Yes it’s a bit tough to make out in the text format.
You are aware that Tree (Vrksasana) does not begin from the Anatomical position and that the elbows are not flexed in the full pose, right? And you’ve not added the leg actions yet, is that correct? Have you looked at The Trail Guide to the Body, Yoga Anatomy, or the Anatomy of Hatha Yoga texts?