Download Structure and Function of the Body

Structure and Function of the Body
The Skeleton:
The skeleton has four main functions;
1)
2)
3)
4)
to support your body
to protect your vital organs e.g brain is protected by the skull
it enabled movement to occur
it allows blood to be produced within longer and bigger bones such as the thigh(femur)
The Functions of Tendons, Cartilage and Ligaments:
TENDONS= muscles are attached to the bones of the skeleton by a connective tissue know as tendons.
CARTILAGE= acts as a buffer to protect bones
LIGAMENTS= joins bone to bone & helps to provide stability in joints by preventing over stretching or
over twisting.
Joints:
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Joints allow our body to move.
Where two or three bones meet, we have joints.
Hinge Joints:
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We find hinge joints at the knee and the elbow.
Hinge joints have only one plain of movement (one direction) which is to and fro/open and
close.
Examples of hinge joints in sport:
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The knee hinge joint opens and closes to enable a powerful shot in football.
The elbow hinge joint opens and closes to enable a powerful shot put.
Ball and Socket Joints:
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We can find ball and socket joints at our hips and at our shoulders.
Ball and socket joints enable movement in 3 plains – or every direction. These are side to
side, back and front, and out and in (to the side).
Examples of ball and socket joints in sport:
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The hip enables us to perform a balance on a beam in gymnastics and our performance is
benefitted by the wide range of movement our hip joint provides.
The shoulder enables a powerful overarm serve in volleyball through the ball and socket
joint.
Muscles Working in Pairs:
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The muscles of the body allow movement at joints to take place.
Muscles at joints work in pairs: examples of these are the elbow joint and the knee joint.
Elbow:
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As the tricep muscle relaxes and lengthens, the bicep muscle contracts and shortens.
This allows the elbow joint to flex and open out. When the elbow is required to extend, the
opposite happens: the bicep relaxes and lengthens and the tricep contracts and shortens.
Knee:
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As the knee joint flexes, the quadracep relaxes and lengthens and the hamstring contracts
and shortens.
When the knee joint extends, the opposite happens and the hamstring relaxes and
lengthens and the quadracep contracts and shortens.
Oxygen Intake and Effects of Oxygen Debt:
-As you increase your exercise your lungs also increase which provides you with more oxygen
through deeper breathing.
-The more oxygen you can take into your lungs the greater your capacity for exercise will be.
-The capacity of exercise can be measured through a simple breathing test which calculates your
maximal oxygen intake during just a minute of exercise.
-While resting you usually breathe about 12-15 times per minute, but when exercising this can
increase to 30-40 times per minute.
-“Oxygen Debt” can be a result of exercising for a long period of time and can be defined as when
“the demand for oxygen in the muscles is greater than the supply”.
-By breathing a) more frequently/faster and b) deeper this gets rid of oxygen debt and allows more
oxygen into your body.
-The effects of oxygen debt can be a weak performance and fatigue.
-By doing a warm down this then allows the effects of oxygen debt to slowly disappear.
Respiratory and Circulatory System:
-The Respiratory System enables air to be inhaled which allows the Circulatory System to work
effectively.
-The Respiratory System helps to pump the blood around the body to heart.
-The Circulatory System surrounds the heart and by contracting and relaxing the muscles this allows
blood to be pumped around the body in surges which is our pulse beat.
-Although the Respiratory and Circulatory Systems may have individual jobs their main aim is to
work together to help us exercise, which we couldn’t do with just one of them.
Lactic Acid:
Lactic acid is one effect of oxygen debt. The build-up of lactic acid affects your performance as it
eventually forces you to slow down because your muscles will have fatigued and you won’t be able
to perform to the best of your ability which could affect the outcome of your game/performance.
How Oxygen Reaches the Muscles:
Oxygen reaches the working muscles as it is taken into the lungs when you breathe in and then the
oxygen is absorbed into the blood which is then pumped around the body by the heart to the
working muscles.
Benefits of Training:
Having a good oxygen transport system can benefit your performance as your heart and lungs
increase in size. This enables more blood to be pushed around the body following a contraction of
the heart muscles. This lowers your heart rate and the lower your heart rate, the fitter you become.