Chapter 2: The Muscular System

2.1. Structure and Function of Muscle

 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
Skeletal muscle
Cardiac muscle
Smooth muscle
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 1. Skeletal Muscle
Most are attached by tendons to bones
Makes up 40% of body weight
Responsible for locomotion, facial expressions, posture,
respiratory movements, other types of body movement

Cells are surrounded and bundled by connective tissue

= great force, but tires easily
Voluntary in action; controlled by somatic motor neurons
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• Connective Tissue of a Muscle
Epimysium. Dense regular connective tissue surrounding entire muscle
• Separates muscle from surrounding tissues and organs
• Connected to the deep fascia
Perimysium. Collagen and elastic fibers surrounding a group of muscle
fibers called a fascicle
• Contains blood vessels and nerves
Endomysium. Loose connective tissue that surrounds individual muscle
fibers
• Also contains b.v., nerves, and satellite cells (embryonic stem cells
function in repair of muscle tissue
• Collagen fibers of all 3 layers come together at each end of muscle to form a
tendon or aponeurosis.

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 2. Smooth Muscle
 Found in the walls of hollow organs, blood vessels,
eye, glands, uterus, skin
 Has Single nucleus
 Has no striations
 Some functions: propel urine, mix food in digestive
tract, dilating/constricting pupils, regulating blood
flow,
 In some locations, autorhythmic
 Controlled involuntarily by endocrine and autonomic
nervous systems 5
Smooth muscle structure

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 3. Cardiac Muscle
Found only in the heart
Major source of movement of blood
Autorhythmic
Has striations
Controlled involuntarily by endocrine and autonomic nervous systems
Joined to another muscle cell at an intercalated disc
Involuntary
Steady pace!

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 • Cont….
Muscle tissue produces force through the interaction of its
basic contractile elements-the myofilaments-which are
composed primarily of protein.
The three types of muscle tissue (skeletal, smooth, and
cardiac) have different general functions.
The force of contraction may be used for movement such as
locomotion (skeletal muscle), the movement of materials
through hollow tubes such as the digestive tract or blood
vessels (smooth muscle), or the pumping action of the heart
(cardiac muscle).
Regardless of type, all muscle tissue can produce force.
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 2.1.1. General Muscular System Functions
Body movement (Locomotion)
Maintenance of posture
Respiration
Diaphragm and intercostal contractions
Communication (Verbal and Facial)
Constriction of organs and vessels
Peristalsis of intestinal tract
Vasoconstriction of blood vessels and other structures (pupils)
Heart beat
Production of body heat (Thermogenesis)
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 2.1.2. Characteristics of Muscle Tissue
The unique characteristics of muscle tissue are specifically suited
to its primary function: converting an electrical signal into a
mechanical event (contraction of muscle fibers). These
characteristics include irritability, contractility, extensibility, and
elasticity.
Irritability refers to the ability of a muscle to receive and respond
to stimuli.
Contractility refers to the ability of a muscle to shorten in
response to a stimulus. This shortening produces force. Muscle
tissue is the only body tissue that can generate force.
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 Cont…
Extensibility refers to the ability of a muscle to be stretched
or lengthened. Stretching occurs when a muscle is
manipulated by another force.
Elasticity refers to the ability of a muscle to return to its
resting length after being stretched.
• Together, these characteristics of muscles allow for human
movement.

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 2.2. Skeletal Muscle and Exercise
Muscles move our body with the help of bones. Blood is
pumped throughout our body by the heart muscles.
Exercise involves a series of sustained muscle contractions, of
either long or short duration, depending on the nature of the
physical activity.
Effects of exercise on muscles can be considered short-term or
immediate, both during and shortly after exercises; as well as
long-term, lasting effects.
Several movements activities of our body require many
muscles working together.
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 2.2.1. Muscle Action…
1. Agonist or prime mover-A muscle that contracts
to create the desired action (move’t).

2. Synergist- A muscle that helps the agonist

3. Antagonist- A muscle that opposes the action of

the agonist.
• Example: During Elbow Flexion
-Prime mover- biceps brachi
-Antagonist- triceps brachi
-Synergist- brachialis
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Muscle Action…

Brachialis

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 2.2.2.Types of Muscle Contractions

There are three major contractions namely:

 Isotonic Contractions,
 Isometric Contractions and
 Isokinetic Contractions
• The term ‘muscle contraction’ refers to the development of tension
within the muscle.

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 Cont.…
1. Isotonic or dynamic or concentric contraction is muscle
contraction in which the muscle shortens with varying
(different) tension while lifting a constant load.
2. Isometric or static or eccentric contraction is muscle
contraction in which tension is developed but there is no change
in the length of the muscle.
3. Isokinetic contraction is muscle contraction executed
(performed) at a constant speed and in such a manner that the
tension developed by the muscle while shortening is maximal
over the full range of joint motion.
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 2.2.3.Exercises

• The types of exercise that most people undertake essentially fall into
two categories: aerobic (e.g. jogging, running , swimming, cycling,
walking) or resistance exercise (i.e. strength training, such as weight-
lifting).

• There are also several variations of these that attempt to introduce a

component of one form into the other (such as some circuit or cross-
training)
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 2.2.3.1. Aerobic exercise
• This is the most common form of exercise that many of us will undertake. It
can be low or high intensity and of variable duration, but the key aspect is
that the muscles increase their use of oxygen to generate increased
amount of energy to allow the muscles to contract.

• The major effects of regular aerobic exercise on our skeletal muscles are
therefore to “train” them to improve their ability to use oxygen and
improve the efficiency by which we use energy sources such as fats.

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 Cont.…

• What is therefore seen in muscles that have been trained

using aerobic exercise is an increase in the blood flow to
muscles, an increase in the amount of energy stores such as
fat and glycogen that are held in the muscle, and an increase
in proteins that are required to efficiently use these energy
stores (e.g. the glycolytic and Kreb’s cycle enzymes).
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 2.2.3.2. Resistance Training
• Research has shown that this includes relatively frail older individuals
who can benefit from a carefully designed resistance training
programme.
• Physical exercises/training, particularly resistance or weight training,
affects our muscular system to a great extent. Many parameters of
muscular system get changed after resistance training. These are
described here as under:
• Hypotrophy of the Muscle
• An increase in thickness in individual muscle fiber is called hypertrophy.
Gains in strength and muscular endurance usually depend on the size of
individual muscle fibers.
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 • Cont.…
• In the hypertrophy (increase in size) of muscle the physical training
especially with training causes the following effects:
1) Due to resistance training the size of muscle fibers increases.
2) Total amount of proteins increases, which is essential for muscle
growth.
3) Capillary density per fiber also increases which causes more energy
production.
4) Amount of connective tissues increases.
5) Blood supply in the muscles increases.
6) Due to hypertrophy muscular strength and muscular endurance
increases.

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 Caring for Muscles
• Muscles that remain unused for long periods of time will atrophy –
decrease in size and strength
• To care for your muscular system and maintain muscle tone:
Get regular exercise
Eat high protein foods to build muscle
Practice good posture to strengthen back muscles
Use proper equipment and wear appropriate clothing to protect
muscles during physical activity
Warm up properly and stretch before exercising and cool down after
exercising to prevent injuries
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 2.3. Skeletal Muscle Fibers and its contraction
Each muscle fiber is a single, long, cylindrical muscle cell.

Beneath the sarcolemma (cell membrane) lies sarcoplasm (cytoplasm) with

many mitochondria and nuclei; the sarcoplasm contains myofibrils.

Myofibrils are separated into compartments called sarcomeres that contain

thick filaments and thin filaments.

. Thick filaments of myofibrils are made up of the protein

myosin.

. Thin filaments of myofibrils are made up of the protein actin.

. The organization of these filaments produces striations.

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 Cont.…
Sarcomere: is the contractile unit
of skeletal muscles.
It extends from Z line to Z
line.
. I bands (light bands)
made up of actin filaments
are anchored to Z lines.
. A bands (dark bands) are
made up of overlapping
thick and thin filaments.
. In the center of A bands
is an H zone, consisting of
myosin filaments only.
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Structure of a Sarcomere (and associated banding pattern)

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 Cont.….

• Beneath the sarcolemma of a muscle fiber lies the

sarcoplasmic reticulum (endoplasmic reticulum), which
is associated with transverse (T) tubules
(invaginations of the sarcolemma).
o Each T tubule lies between two cisternae of the
sarcoplasmic reticulum and is open to the outside of
the muscle fiber.
o The sarcoplasmic reticulum and transverse tubules
activate the muscle contraction mechanism when the
fiber is stimulated.
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 Cont.…
 The site where the motor neuron and muscle fiber meet is
the neuromuscular junction.

 The muscle fiber membrane forms a motor end plate in

which the sarcolemma is tightly folded and where nuclei and
mitochondria are abundant.

 The cytoplasm of the motor neuron contains numerous

mitochondria and synaptic vesicles storing neurotransmitters.

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 Cont.….

Motor Units
.A motor neuron and the muscle
fibers it controls make up a
motor unit; when stimulated to
do so, the muscle fibers of the
motor unit contract all at once.

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 2.3.1. Muscle Contraction
Muscle contraction involves several components that result in the
shortening of sarcomeres, and the pulling of the muscle against
its attachments.
• Myosin and actin has a great role; Myosin consists of two twisted
strands with globular cross bridges projected outward along the
strands.
• Actin is a globular protein with myosin binding sites;
tropomysosin and troponin are two proteins associated with the
surface of the actin filaments.

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 Cont…
According to the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction, the
myosin crossbridge attaches to the binding site on the actin filament
and bends, pulling on the actin filament; it then releases and attaches
to the next binding site on the actin, pulling again.
Energy from the conversion of ATP to ADP is provided to the cross-
bridges from the enzyme ATPase, causing them to be in a “cocked”
position.
• The motor neuron must release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine
from its synaptic vesicles into the synaptic cleft in order to initiate a
muscle contraction.

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 Cont.…
• Protein receptors in the motor end plate detect the
neurotransmitters, and a muscle impulse spreads over
the surface of the sarcolemma and into the T tubules,
where it reaches the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
• Upon receipt of the muscle impulse, the sarcoplasmic
reticulum releases its stored calcium to the sarcoplasm
of the muscle fiber.
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 Cont.…
The high concentration of calcium in the sarcoplasm interacts with the troponin and tropomyosin
molecules, which move aside, exposing the myosin binding sites on the actin filaments.

Myosin cross-bridges now bind and pull on the actin filaments, causing the sarcomeres to shorten.

After the nervous impulse has been received, acetylcholinesterase rapidly decomposes the
acetylcholine.

Then, calcium is returned to the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and the linkages between myosin and actin
are broken.
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Diagram Showing Summary of Muscle Contractions

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2.4. Sliding Filament Theory of Contraction
Sliding Filament Theory of Contraction states that
muscle contraction occurs when the thin filament
(actin) slides over the thick filament (myosin).

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 Cont…

Sarcomere shortens, Z-discs/lines close together, I bands & H

zone get narrow (disappear) & A band remains the same
(unchanged).
Thin & thick filament don’t shorten but slide one over the
other

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Cont…

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 2.5.Fiber Type and Athletic Success
• The propagation of a single action potential down a single muscle fibre
produces a single contraction, known as a muscle twitch
Based on the velocity of contraction, predominant energy system
and fatigability, skeletal muscle fibers can be categorized in to 3
classes:
1. Type IIx fibers/fast-twitch fibers
2. Intermediate fibers/ Type IIa
3. Type I fibers/slow-twich fibers
 The percentage of muscle fibers contained in the skeletal muscle
can be influenced by:
 Genetics & Exercise habit of individuals
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 Cont…
Intermediate fibers

Fast-twitch fibers-sprinters Slow –twitch fibers- endurance runners

Fatigue resistant (aerobic)
Fatigue sooner (anaerobic) 41
 Cont.…
Power athletes generally posses a large % of fast
fibers (type IIx & IIa) and low % of slow fibers
(type I).

Endurance athletes typically posses a high % of

slow fibers (type I) and low % of fast fibers.

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