THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM  Cells are surrounded and bundled  Arranged in two sheets or layers

by connective tissue. Cardiac Muscle Characteristics

 Muscles are responsible for all Connective Tissue Wrappings of Skeletal  Has striations
types of body movement. Muscle  Usually has a single nucleus
 Joined to another muscle cell at an
 Endomysium - connective tissue intercalated disc
Three basic muscle types are found in the
around single muscle fiber  Involuntary
body
 Perimysium - around a fascicle  Found only in the heart.
1. Skeletal Muscles
(bundle) of fibers.
2. Cardiac Muscle
 Epimysium - covers the entire Function of Muscles
3. Smooth
skeletal muscle. 1. Produce movement
 Fascia - on the outside of the 2. Maintain posture
CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSCLES
epimysium. 3. Stabilize joints
Muscle cells are elongated (muscle cell
4. Generate heat
= muscle fiber)
Skeletal Muscle Attachments
 Epimysium blends into a Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle
Contraction of muscles is due to the
connective tissue attachment. 1. Cells are multinucleate
movement of myofilaments - the muscle
1. Tendon - cord-like structure. 2. Nuclei are just beneath the
cell equivalent of the microfilaments of
2. Aponeuroses - sheet-like sarcolemma - plasma membrane.
cytoskeletons
structure. 3. Sarcolemma - specialized plasma
membrane.
All muscles share some terminology
4. Sarcoplasmic reticulum -
 Prefix myo refers to muscle
 Sites of muscle attachment specialized smooth endoplasmic
 Prefix mys refers to muscle
1. Bones reticulum.
 Prefix sarco refers to flesh
2. Cartilages 5. Myofibril 
3. Connective tissue coverings  Bundles of myofilaments
Skeletal Muscle Characteristics  Myofibrils are aligned to give
 Most are attached by tendons to distinct bands
Smooth Muscle Characteristics
bones.  L band = light band
 Has no striations
 Cells are multinucleated and cigar-  A band = dark band
 Spindle-shaped cells
shaped. 6. Sarcomere
 Single nucleus
 Striated - have visible banding.  Contractile unit of a muscle fiber
 Involuntary  - no conscious control
 Voluntary - subject to conscious
 Found mainly in the walls of
control.
hollow organs - visceral
  Organization of the sarcomere;  
Thick filaments = myosin filaments
Composed of the protein myosin.
Has ATPase enzymes
7. Myosin filaments have heads
(extensions, or cross bridges)
8. Myosin and actin overlap
somewhat
9. At rest, there is a bare zone that
lacks actin filaments - the H zone
10. Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) - for
storage of calcium.
Properties of Skeletal Muscle Activity
 Irritability - ability to receive and
respond to a stimulus.
 Contractility - ability to shorten
when an adequate stimulus is
received.   Potassium ions (K+) diffuse out of
Nerve Stimulus to Muscles
 Skeletal muscles must be
stimulated by a nerve to contract.
 Motor unit
1. One neuron
2. Muscle cells stimulated by that
neuron
 Neuromuscular junctions - heads (cross bridge) to attach to
association site of nerve and
muscle.
 Nerve and muscle do not make
contact
 Area between nerve and muscle is
filled with interstitial fluid
Transmission of Nerve Impulse to Muscle
 Neurotransmitter - chemical
released by nerve upon arrival of
nerve impulse.
 The Neurotransmitter for skeletal
muscle acetylcholine (ACh)
 Neurotransmitter attaches to
receptors on the sarcolemma.
 Sarcolemma becomes temporarily
permeable to sodium (Na+) that
rushes into the ell giving it a
positive charge.
 Sodium rushing into the cell
generates an action potential.
 Once started, muscle contraction
cannot be stopped
 To return to resting state;
the cell.
 Sodium-potassium pump pumps
sodium and potassium back to
their original positions.
The Sliding Filament Theory of Muscle
Contraction
 Activation by nerve causes myosin
binding sites on the thin filament.
 Myosin heads then bind to the
next site of the thin filament when
ATP is present
This continued action causes a
sliding of the myosin along the
action.
 The result is that the muscle is
shortened (contracted)
 Calcium ions are required for the
attachment of myosin cross
bridges to actin.
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 contraction may give
differing responses
 Graded responses - different
degrees of skeletal muscle
shortening
1. Changing frequency of stimulation
2. Changing number of muscles cells
stimulated
Types of Graded Responses
 Twitch
1. Single, brief jerky contraction
2. Not a normal muscle function
 Tetanus (summing of
contractions)
1. One contraction is immediately
followed by another
 2. The muscle does not completely
return to a resting state
3. The effects are added
 Unfused (incomplete) tetanus
1. Some relaxation occurs between
contractions
2. The results are summed
 Fused (complete) tetanus
1. No evidence of relaxation before
the following contractions
2. The results is a sustained muscle
contraction
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.
1. Bonds of ATP are broken to
release energy
2. Only 4-6 seconds worth of ATP is
stored by muscles
 After this initial time, other
pathways must be utilized to
produce ATP
 Direct phosphorylation
1. Only muscle cells contain creatine
phosphate (CP)
2. CP is a high-energy molecule
3. After ATP is depleted, ADP is left
4. CP transfers energy to ADP, to
regenerate ATP
5. CP supplies are exhausted in about
20 seconds
 Aerobic Respiration
1. Series of metabolic pathways that
occurs in the mitochondria  to contract less
2. Glucose is broken down to carbon
dioxide and water, releasing
energy
3. This is a slower reaction that
requires continuous oxygen.,
 Anaerobic Glycolysis
1. Reaction that breaks down
glucose without oxygen
2. Glucose is broken down to pyruvic
acid to produce some ATP
3. Pyruvic acid is converted to lactic
acid
 Anaerobic glycolysis (continued)
1. This reaction is not as efficient, but
is fast
2. Huge amounts of glucose are
needed
3. Lactic acid produces muscle
fatigue
Muscle Fatigue and Oxygen Debt
 When a muscle is fatigued, it is
unable to contract even when
stimulated
 The common reasons for muscle
fatigue is oxygen debt
1. Oxygen must be “repaid” to tissue
to remove oxygen debt
2. Oxygen is required to get rid of
accumulated lactic acid.
 Increasing acidity (from lactic acid)
and lack of ATP causes the muscle
Types of Muscle Contractions
 Isotonic contractions - “same
tone” or tension
1. Myofilaments are able to slide
past each other during
contractions
2. The muscle shortens
 Isometric contractions - “same
measurement” or length
1. Tension in the muscles increases
2. The muscle is unable to shorten
MUSCLE TONE
 Some fibers are contracted even in
a relaxed muscle
 Different fibers contract at
different time to provide muscle
tone
 The process of stimulating various
fibers in under involuntary control
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON MUSCLE
 Results on increase muscle use;
 1. Increase in muscle size
2. Increase in muscle strength  
3. Increase in muscle efficiency
4. Muscle becomes more fatigue
resistant.
MUSCLES AND BODY MOVEMENTS
 Movement is attained due to a
muscle moving attached bone
 Muscles are attached to at least
two points
1. Origin - attachment to an
immovable bone.
2. Insertion - attachment to a
movable bone.
TYPES OF ORDINARY BODY MOVEMENTS
 Flexion - brings 2 bones together.
 Extension - increases distance
between 2 bones
 Rotation
 Abduction - moving a limb away
from the midline of the body
 Adduction - moving a limb toward
the midline
 Circumduction - combination of all
of the above except rotation.
SPECIAL MOVEMENTS
 Dorsiflexion - lifting the foot
 Plantar flexion - depressing the
foot
 Inversion - turn foot inward
 Eversion - turn foot outward
 Supination - hand facing upward  Example: biceps, triceps,
Pronation - hand facing downward quadriceps (two, three or four
 Opposition - touching thumb to origins or heads)
other finger  Location of the muscle’s origin and
insertion
TYPES OF MUSCLES  Example: sterno (in the sternum),
 Prime mover - muscle with the cleido (clavicle), mastoid (on the
major responsibility for a certain mastoid process)
movement.  Shape of the muscle
 Antagonist - muscle that opposes  Example: Deltoid (Triangular)
or reverses a prime mover.  Action of the muscle
 Synergist - muscle that aids a  Example: flexor and extensor
prime mover in the same (flexes or extends a bone)
movement and helps prevent
rotation or unwanted movement.
 Fixator - stabilizes the origin of a
prime mover so all tension can be
used to move the insertion bone.
NAMING OF SKELETAL MUSCLES
 Direction of muscle fibers
 Example: rectus (straight) and
oblique (slanted)
 Relative size of the muscle.
 Example: maximus (largest),
minimus (smallest), longus (long)
 Location of the muscle
 Example: many muscles are
named for bones  (e.g.,
temporalis, which is near the
temporal bone)
 Number of origins