Download Muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue

Muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue
640 muscles in the body – 40% of body mass. The meat of the body.
Slides x 2
They contract or relax to allow movement in the body around bones and
joints.
Only three types of muscle
Voluntary striated skeletal muscle (most common)
Involuntary smooth muscles (mainly in the digestive tract)
Cardiac muscle (the muscle that never tires)
Muscles work in pairs: The agonist contracts, while the antagonist relaxes eg
bicep and tricep. This is efficient at saving energy as there is no resistance.
Muscles can contract and shorten (concentric), contract and lengthen
(eccentric) or contract and remain the same length (isometric). Cobra,
forward bend, hold a weight. Slides x 3
Skeletal muscles are arranged in layers from superficial (near the surface) to
deep (toward the core of the body). Big movements come from the more
superficial muscles – eg quads and hamstrings.
Some muscles contain fast twitch fibres eg the eye and hands, which can act
and react very quickly, but tire easily. And some contain slow twitch fibres for
endurance – eg back muscles to maintain posture.
Every muscle has a point of attachment. This used to be known as origin
which is fixed, and insertion, which moves.
Some muscles act as synergists – eg supraspinatus getting things going for
deltoids. Eg transverse abdominus and rectus abdominus.
Other muscles can be short and act mainly to stabilise joints. They are known
as fixators. Feel shoulder blade as you push against a wall (triceps)
Muscles like to get their energy from glucose and oxygen carried there by the
bloodstream, where it is metabolised and energy and heat is released in a
chemical reaction which produces the by-produces of carbon dioxide and
water.
Tendons – connect muscles to bones pg 72 slide
Ligaments – connect bone to bone – slide
Connective tissue links it all together (muscle, nerve, epithelial & connective)
Why are we stiff? Role of muscles, connective tissue and nerves.