Get A Better Understanding Of The Muscular Body To Prevent Injuries

The world is very fast transitioning from physical to digital.

Workout, stay fit, workout, eat healthy, stay healthy, eat organic are some of the often-heard and seen idioms and phrases these days. Inculcating the practices reflected by these words in our daily routine is becoming more and more important and essential in this rapid transition from the physical to the digital world.

The digital world has changed the behavior and habits of people all over the world. 'Muscle power' became insignificant before 'byte power.' But all these changes were influencing another aspect of our existence, our body.

Indeed not all in a positive way. The body started reacting naturally and started reminding us that it also needs attention, pampering, care, and love. If ignored, it reminds us again and again about the 'Muscle power.' It has become inevitable not only for the so-called professionals and fitness freaks but for all of us to give specific attention to our bodies. Then why delay? Let's start right away to understand our own muscles.

If you enjoyed reading this article do read more exciting articles like the list of voluntary muscles and biggest muscle in the body, here on Kidadl.

Types

The human body consists of water, around 60% in weight, and organic compounds like nucleic acids, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. The physical substance of the organism called human is made up of live cells and non-cellular or extracellular materials (ECM). The fundamental tissues of the human body, namely, epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, nerve tissue, and connective tissue, are formed by 200 different types of cells, grouped into four basic classes, together with ECM. The muscle tissue is capable of contraction, and muscle tissues together form the musculature of the body.

A structural unit of a collection of tissues serving a common function forms an organ. Such organs, in combinations of two or more, when working together to execute specific body functions, make an organ system. An organ system is also known as a biological system or body system. A muscular system is an organ system that permits the movement of the body. It also does the function of circulating blood throughout the human body and maintains posture. The human muscular system consists of three distinct types of muscles, namely, cardiac muscles, skeletal muscles, and smooth muscles.

The muscular systems in humans, falling under the category of vertebrates, are controlled through another system called the nervous system. However, some muscles like cardiac muscle are capable of being completely autonomous. Skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles provide the human body with strength and balance. They also provide heat to the body to keep it warm. The human body contains around 690 muscles. A muscle is made up of a kind of elastic tissue that consists of several small muscle fibers, and such fibers are formed by tiny strands called fibrils. Such muscle fibers are controlled by the impulses from the nerve cells. Tendons attach skeletal muscles to two bones. Skeletal muscles cause skeletal movements. Skeletal muscles are directed and managed by the central nervous system's (CNS) peripheral portion. Fibers of these muscles act independently of their neighbors and have transverse streaks. Skeletal muscles vary in shape, size, and fiber arrangements and hang from the skeleton. Skeletal muscles are commonly called muscles, and the cells found in the skeletal muscles are longer than those found in other types of muscle tissue. Skeletal muscles show a unique pattern as a result of the arrangement of two contractile proteins, myosin, and actin. Muscle contracts as a result of interaction between myosin and actin.

Smooth muscles are controlled by the autonomic nervous system and are found in the internal organs of the body. However, it acts involuntarily as conscious controlling is not possible. Smooth muscle is found in the bladder, gastrointestinal tract, uterus, blood vessels. Smooth muscle is also found in other hollow internal organs' walls. The smooth muscle cell is spindle-shaped with one central nucleus. They contract rhythmically and slowly. Rectangular-shaped cardiac muscle cells have one central nucleus and are striated. Controlled by the autonomic nervous system, cardiac muscles are found in the walls of the heart with robust, involuntary, and rhythmic contractions. Cardiac muscle is also known as involuntary muscle, which is only found in the heart.

Functions

The muscular system joined with the skeletal system, forms the human musculoskeletal system providing the human body support, stability, form, and movement.

Skeletal muscles are full of nerves and blood vessels which relate directly with its primary function of contraction. Skeletal muscle has a major role in enabling human beings to move and do their daily activities. In addition to protecting the vital organs of the body, the presence of skeletal muscle is essential in some other important functions of the body, like respiratory mechanics and keeping posture and balance. The movement of skeletal muscle happens when the nervous system and muscular system work together. Following contraction, skeletal muscles work as messenger organs helping communication between various body systems by secreting hundreds of small proteins.

The thick middle layer of the heart is created by cardiac muscle or myocardium. Individual cells in the cardiac muscle are named cardiomyocytes, and their primary function also contracts. This contraction mounts pressure and helps to pump blood through the circulatory system. In a process called Lusitropy, simply stopping contraction, but without relaxing, the cardiac muscles prepare for the next heartbeat. Through its presence across the whole body, smooth muscles, that are also known as involuntary muscles, do a variety of functions. In the intestine and stomach, smooth muscle helps in the collection of nutrients. With its presence in the urinary system, smooth muscles work to get rid of the body toxins and help electrolyte balance. In tissue oxygenation and regulation of blood pressure, smooth muscle has a vital role to play, without which the body cannot maintain even its basic functions. The body's disease process is also dependent, to some extent, on the functions of smooth muscle. Some of the basic functions of the smooth muscle in various organ systems are food bolus propulsion, building pressure through vascular resistance and regulation of blood flow, urine flow regulation in the renal system, bronchiole diameter regulation in the respiratory tract, constriction and dilation of pupil and changing lens shape, etc. Involuntary muscles control some of the body functions that can be controlled, such as heartbeat. However, they are not smooth muscles. Smooth muscle tissue available in the walls of many organs helps those organs' movements to facilitate body functions. Cells of smooth muscle contain filaments in the form of a chain. These filaments connect with neighboring cells and form a network like a mesh, and that allows the cells with a uniform contraction.

Functions like digestion and heartbeats are facilitated by the movement of smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. Muscles in the stomach and digestive system contract and relax, allowing food to move through the body. There are four major types of muscle groups in the human body which include muscles of the head, neck, muscles of the upper extremity, muscles of the trunk, and muscles of the lower extremity. The movement of the human body is controlled by the muscle groups working in tandem and in a coordinated fashion. Some of the major functions of the muscles of the head and neck are creating facial expressions, helping to chew food, etc. Laris oculi, frontalis, zygomaticus, buccinator, and orbicularis oris are the muscles that create facial expressions. Four pairs of muscles, including masseter and temporalis, connect to the mandible and are considered among the strongest muscles in the body. Trapezius and sternocleidomastoid are some of the obvious and superficial neck muscles though there are various muscles associated with the vertebral column, throat, hyoid bones, etc.

Trunk muscles include those, which form abdominal and thoracic walls, move the vertebral column, cover the pelvic outlet, and the like. Erect posture is maintained by extending the vertebral column by a large muscle mass belonging to the erector spinae group of muscles. Breathing is managed by the muscles of the thoracic wall. Other major muscles found on each side of the upper chest are called Pectoralis or pectorals, or in short pecs. The muscles of the upper extremity, i.e., muscles situated in the arm or any such limbs of the body, are responsible for the movement of the arm, forearm, wrist, hand, etc. More than 20 muscles located along the forearm cause the movement of the hand, wrist, and fingers.

Muscles of the lower extremity are those located along the thigh, leg, ankle, and foot. Muscles that cause the movement of the leg are those situated along the thigh, whereas movement in the ankle and foot are done by muscles located in the leg. The muscles that move the thigh are connected to the hip bones and the femur. Movements of the thighs and hips are done by a muscle called Gluteus Maximus. Muscle contraction is caused by transmitting signals from motor neurons to muscle fiber through the neuromuscular junction. This activity needs a lot of energy. An organic compound called Adenosine triphosphate serves as the energy source for the cells. Disorders and diseases that affect the human muscle system are basically two types, primary and secondary muscle diseases. Primary muscle diseases are attributable to the direct abnormalities of the muscles. Common indications of muscles disorders or diseases are a decrease in size of the muscles, muscular atrophy, and muscle's inability to produce the expected force, muscle weakness.

Abnormalities in skeletal muscles' function cause medical conditions such as weakness, tremors, paralysis, myopathies, urinary and bowel incontinence, and the like. The non-functionality of the skeletal muscles is influenced by disorders of nerves. Another commonly found issue with skeletal muscles is rupture of muscle/tendon and found acutely occurring in recreational sports personnel and high-level athletes. Muscle cramps result in painful, involuntary, continuous, and localized contraction of an entire muscle group. The same is the case with select muscle fibers or individual single muscle. When human muscles contract faster and undergo a greater stretch are more prone to become injured. Muscle injuries can be caused by stretching, bruising, or laceration. Such injuries are classified into mild, moderate, and severe. Overall, nutrition and muscular conditioning are important to prevent injuries. Musculotendinous injuries can be avoided by balanced strengthening and proper training. Stretching and warm-up to ensure that muscle contracts smoothly and to increase the elasticity of muscles is key to preventing muscle injuries. Muscle injuries can be caused by excessive or improper warming up and stretching.

Nutrition

Substances used by an organism to grow, reproduce and survive are called nutrients. Grouped into macronutrients and micronutrients, there are seven major nutrients. Five of them, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, fats, proteins, and water needed in gram quantities, belong to the macronutrient category and the other two, namely vitamins and minerals required in milligram or microgram quantities, belong to the micronutrient category. Human nutrition refers to the essential nutrients provided by the food sources necessary to support good health and human life. Undernutrition in severe cases can develop into wasting, a process that causes the muscles and fat tissues to waste away.

In terms of nutrition, fat usually means a specific type of organic compound, namely ester, of fatty acids or a mixture of such organic compounds, most commonly contained in living beings and food. In a healthy body, fats are broken down to release their constituents, glycerol and fatty acids, which can be used by many cell types as a source of energy for metabolism. In particular, skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle prefer fatty acids. Muscle contractions are caused by transmitting signals from motor neurons to muscle fiber through the neuromuscular junction. This activity needs a lot of energy. An organic compound called Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) serves as the energy source for the cells. The functional unit of contraction, sarcomere, is contraction's and muscle tissues' structural and functional unit, i.e., striated muscle tissue's smallest functional unit. They contain long, fibrous proteins as filaments. Dark bands that regularly occur, called Z lines, are seen where two filaments, namely myofibril, and myosin, overlap. The regions between two dark bands are called a sarcomere. Thick filaments are composed of bonded units of the protein called myosin, and protein myosin causes muscle contraction.

The process of contraction and relaxation needs a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients to meet the energy requirement of muscles. When cells need energy, it is converted from storage molecules such as glycogen and fats (carbohydrates) into ATP. An important component of nutritional functionality and status is skeletal muscles. The balanced anabolic and catabolic process regulates mass muscle maintenance and is the key determinant of human well-being and health. A process termed sarcopenia causes gradual loss of skeletal muscle and muscle strength with aging and, as a result, increases the possibilities of functional dependence, mortality, and morbidity. Muscle protein breakdown and muscle protein synthesis by their coordinated changes determine the amount of muscle mass. The process of making it available to run cellular activities from the energy contained in food is called metabolism. The metabolic system existing in a particular organism, including humans, determines the nutritious and poisonous substances concerning such organisms.

Amazing Facts About Muscular Body

The human body contains around 650 skeletal muscles doing everything right, from pumping blood to lifting heavyweights. The largest tissue in the body is skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscles consume more calories than other organs. Approximately 320 pairs of muscles are found as a result of the pairing of identical bilateral muscles existing on both sides. The exact number is difficult to define. Unfunctional, vestigial muscles like palmaris longus are present in some people while it is absent in others.

A high body mass index reflects a larger percentage of body fat relative to height. Rapid fatigue and repetitive stress on the musculoskeletal system could be caused by an increase in the intensity of physical activity due to additional fat, and this may add up to injury risk. 45% of the human body weight is comprised of skeletal muscle tissue.

Muscles are named based on their features such as size, shape, the direction of fibers, location, number of origin, origin, and insertion, and action. These muscles are described using anatomical terminology. The terms 'muscle' and 'bone' are omitted in their anatomical terminology except when it is an origin or insertion. The terms 'artery' and 'nerve' are used when these structures are mentioned.

Estrogen is an anti-catabolic hormone and prevents muscle loss. The joints, tendons, bones, etc., of the human body, are protected from injury by the estrogen hormone. Estrogen does not make you fat. On the contrary, estrogen increases your metabolism. An important by-product of muscle metabolism is heat production, and it maintains body temperature. The human muscular system produces a lot of waste heat due to the high metabolic rate of muscle contraction.

Having known so much about the muscles and muscular body, we can say that muscles play a vital role in keeping the body healthy. We also learned that the muscle system is only one of the 11 main systems of the human body. To have a healthy body, it is important that all 11 human systems perform well and in tandem with each other.

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