The Muscular System

- Muscles are responsible for all types of body movement – they contract or shorten and are the
machine of the body
- Three basic muscle types are found in the body
1. Skeletal muscle
2. Cardiac muscle
3. Smooth muscle

Characteristics of Muscles
- Muscle cells are elongated (muscle cell = muscle fiber)
- Contraction of muscles is due to the movement of microfilaments
- All muscles share some terminology
- Prefix myo refers to muscle
- Prefix mys refers to muscle
- Prefix sarco refers to flesh

FUNCTION OF THE MUSCLE

1. Movement
2. Maintenance of posture and muscle tone
3. Heat production
4. Protects the bones and internal organs.

MUSCLE CLASSFICATION
1. Functionally
Voluntarily – can be moved at will
Involuntarily – can’t be moved intentionally
2. Structurally
Striated – have stripes across the fiber
Smooth – no striations

SMOOTH MUSCLE
- Fibers are thin and spindle shaped.
- No striations
- Single nuclei
- Involuntary
- Contracts slowly
 - They fatigue… but very slowly
- Found in the circulatory system
Lining of the blood vessels and helps in the circulation of the blood
- Found in the digestive system
Esophagus, stomach, intestine which controls digestion
- Found in the respiratory system which controls breathing
- Found in the urinary system
Urinary bladder
Controls urination

CARDIAC MUSCLE
- Cells are branched and appear
fused with one another
- Has striations
- Each cell has a central nuclei
- Involuntary

- Found ONLY in the heart

- Contractions of the heart muscles pump blood
throughout the body and account for the
heartbeat.

Skeletal Muscle
- Most are attached by tendons to bones
- Cells are multinucleate
- Striated – have visible banding
- Voluntary – subject to conscious control
- Cells are surrounded and bundled by connective tissue = great force, but tires easily
- Attached to skeleton by tendons
- Causes movement of bones at the joints.
Connective Tissue Wrappings of Skeletal Muscle
Endomysium – around single muscle fiber
Perimysium – around a fascicle (bundle) of fibers
Epimysium – covers the entire skeletal muscle
Fascia – on the outside of the epimysium

Skeletal Muscle Attachments

Epimysium blends into a connective tissue attachment
Tendon – cord-like structure
Aponeuroses – sheet-like structure
Sites of muscle attachment
Bones
Cartilages
Connective tissue coverings

Functions of Skeletal Muscle

1. Movement – muscle move bones by pulling not pushing.
Antagonists – muscles and muscle groups usually work in pairs
Example: The biceps flex your arm and its partner the triceps extend your arm. The
two muscles are antagonists, i.e. cause opposite actions. When one contracts the
other relaxes.
Levators – muscle that raise a body part.
Synergists – any movement is generally accomplished by more than one muscle. All of the
muscles responsible for the movement are synergists.

2. Maintenance of posture or muscle tone

We are able to maintain our body position because of tonic contractions in our skeletal muscles. These
contractions don’t produce movement yet hold our muscles in position.
3. Heat production – contraction of muscles produces most of the heat required to maintain body
temperature.

STRUCTURE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE

- Composed of striated muscle cells (= muscle
fibers) and connective tissue.
- Most muscles attach to 2 bones that have a
moveable joint between them.
- The attachment to the bone that does
not move is the origin.
- The attachment to the bone that moves
is the insertion.
Tendons anchor muscle firmly to bones. Tendons
are made of dense fibrous connective tissue.
Ligaments connect bone to bone at a joint.
 Bursae – small fluid filled sacs that lie between some
tendons and the bones beneath them. They are made of
connective tissue and are lined with synovial membrane
that secretes synovial fluid.

Nervous System and Muscles

- Contribution of the nervous system
- Electrochemical impulses travel from frontal lobes -
motor nerves- muscle fibers and cause them to
contract.
- Coordination = parietal lobes of the cerebrum
(conscious muscle sense) and in the cerebellum
(unconscious)

Structure of Skeletal Muscle

- The membrane that surrounds the muscle cell is called the sarcolemma.
- Muscle cells are filled with 2 types of fine threadlike proteins: MYLOFILAMENTS
myosin (thick)
actin (thin).
- The myofilaments are arranged in the cells in small units called sarcomeres
- Electrical impulse travels down a motor neuron. When it reaches the end, acetylcholine (chemical) is
released into the synapse.
- Acetylcholine bind to special receptors on the muscle cell and causes an electrical impulse to spread
over the cell. The sarcomeres shorten and the muscle cell contracts.
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle

Sarcomere – Contractile
unit of a muscle fiber

Sarcolemma – specialized plasma

membrane
Sarcoplasmic reticulum – specialized
smooth endoplasmic reticulum

- Myosin filaments have heads (extensions, or

cross bridges)
- Myosin and actin overlap somewhat

NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION
- Spot where the axon of a motor nerve nears the muscle fiber.
- The axon terminal does not touch the muscle but comes close. The space between the axon and the
muscle cell is called the synapse.
- Within the terminal end of the axon are small sacs filled with a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.
MOVEMENT OF SKELETAL MUSCLE
- These muscles move when the brain sends messages to the muscle
- Always work in pairs
2 movements of skeletal muscle
Contraction (shorten)
Extension (lengthen)

Properties of Skeletal Muscle Activity (single cells or fibers)

Irritability – ability to receive and respond to a stimulus
Contractility – ability to shorten when an adequate stimulus is received

Contraction of a Skeletal Muscle

- Muscle fiber contraction is “all or none”
- Within a skeletal muscle, not all fibers may be stimulated during the same interval
- Different combinations of muscle fiber contractions may give differing responses
- Graded responses – different degrees of skeletal muscle shortening,
rapid stimulus = constant contraction or tetanus

Muscle Response to Strong Stimuli

- Muscle force depends upon the number of fibers stimulated
- More fibers contracting results in greater muscle tension
- Muscles can continue to contract unless they run out of energy

Energy for Muscle Contraction

Initially, muscles used stored ATP for energy
- Bonds of ATP are broken to release energy
- Only 4-6 seconds worth of ATP is stored by muscles
After this initial time, other pathways must be utilized to produce ATP

1. Direct phosphorylation
- Muscle cells contain creatine phosphate (CP)
- CP is a high-energy molecule
- After ATP is depleted, ADP is left
- CP transfers energy to ADP, to regenerate ATP
- CP supplies are exhausted in about 20 seconds

2. Anaerobic glycolysis
- Reaction that breaks down glucose without oxygen
- Glucose is broken down to pyruvic acid to produce some ATP
- Pyruvic acid is converted to lactic acid
- This reaction is not as efficient, but is fast
- Huge amounts of glucose are needed
- Lactic acid produces muscle fatigue
 3. Aerobic Respiration
- Series of metabolic pathways that occur in the mitochondria
- Glucose is broken down to carbon dioxide and water, releasing
energy
- This is a slower reaction that requires continuous oxygen

Muscle Fatigue and Oxygen Debt

- When a muscle is fatigued, it is unable to contract
- The common reason for muscle fatigue is oxygen debt
Oxygen must be “repaid” to tissue to remove oxygen debt
Oxygen is required to get rid of accumulated lactic acid
- Increasing acidity (from lactic acid) and lack of ATP causes the muscle to contract less

Types of Muscle Contractions

1. Isotonic contractions
- Myofilaments are able to slide past each other during contractions \
- The muscle shortens
EX. walking, running, hiking, swimming, skiing, and dancing
2. Isometric contractions
- Tension in the muscle increases
- The muscle is unable to shorten
EX. Low squat, wall sit

Muscle Tone
- Some fibers are contracted even in a relaxed muscle
- Different fibers contract at different times to provide
muscle tone
- The process of stimulating various fibers is under
involuntary control

Muscles and Body Movements

Movement is attained due to a muscle moving an
attached bone

Muscles are attached to at least two points

Origin – attachment to a moveable bone
Insertion – attachment to an immovable bone

Effects of Exercise on Muscle

- Increased muscle use
- Increase in muscle size
- Increase in muscle strength
- Increase in muscle efficiency
- Muscle becomes more fatigue resistant
Types of Ordinary Body Movements
Flexion – decreases angle of joint and brings two bones closer together
Extension – opposite of flexion
Rotation – movement of a bone in longitudinal axis, shaking head “no”
Abduction – limbs (arms, legs or fingers) are moved away from your body's midline
Adduction – refers to moving your limbs closer to the midline.
Circumduction – he movement of a body region in a circular manner, in which one end of the body
region being moved stays relatively stationary while the other end describes a circle

Supination – is considered turning the palm of the hand or foot upward

Pronation – is considered turning the palm or foot downward.

Types of Muscles
Prime mover – muscle with the major responsibility for a certain movement
Antagonist – muscle that opposes or reverses a prime mover
Synergist – muscle that aids a prime mover in a movement and helps prevent rotation
Naming of Skeletal Muscles
1. Direction of muscle fibers
Example: rectus (straight)
2. Relative size of the muscle
Example: maximus (largest)
3. Location of the muscle
Example: many muscles are named for bones (e.g., temporalis)
4. Number of origins
Example: triceps (three heads)

Location of the muscles origin and insertion

Example: sterno (on the sternum)
Shape of the muscle
Example: deltoid (triangular)
Action of the muscle
Example: flexor and extensor (flexes or extends a bone)

Head and Neck Muscles

Trunk Muscles
Deep Trunk and Arm Muscles

Muscles of the Pelvis, Hip, and Thigh

Muscles of the Lower Leg

Superficial Muscles: Anterior

Superficial Muscles: Posterior

Disorders relating to the Muscular System

Muscular Dystrophy: inherited, muscle enlarge due to increased fat and connective tissue, but fibers
degenerate and atrophy
Duchenne MD: lacking a protein to maintain the sarcolemma
Myasthenia Gravis: progressive weakness due to a shortage of acetylcholine receptors