Cost–Benefit of Muscle Cocontraction in Protecting Against Spinal Instability

Despite increases in spinal load that had to be stabilized, the margin between stability and spinal compression increased significantly with cocontraction. Antagonistic cocontraction was found to be most beneficial at low trunk moments typically observed in upright postures. Similarly, empirically measured antagonistic cocontraction was recruited less in high-moment conditions and more in low-moment conditions.