Why do our legs shake if we lift our heels whilst sitting down?
In: Biology
I’ll quote what someone quoted a year ago of what someone said 7 years ago. But if you want to look it up, it’s called the Golgi Tendon Reflex.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golgi_tendon_reflex
“Physiotherapist here, OP need not worry…
…it is a reflex response,…
…It’s part of the Golgi tendon reflex. Golgi tendons are small receptors located in every muscle that protect them from over stretching damage. They do this by recognising when a muscle is over stretched and then sending a message to your spinal cord- which then sends a message back telling the muscle to contract to prevent it hurting itself.
When OP goes up onto his tiptoes the Golgi tendons sense his calf (gastrocnemius, soleus and to a lesser degree plantar is) is stretching, so the it sends the message to the spinal cord and we get the contraction reflex. So then his leg rises due to plantar flexion at the ankle and the calf muscles relax. After they relax, his leg drops again- we get the stretch- then the stretch reflex and the cycle repeats, carrying on the continual bounce of his leg…
…Hope this makes sense! TL; DR Golgi tendons.”
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