Muscles: Actions, Movements,

and Terminology
 Overview
• Muscle 101
• Role of Skeletal Muscle
• Muscle Terminology
• Muscular Contractions
– Concentric
– Eccentric
– Isometric

• Muscle Movement Classification or Defining a

Muscle’s Role in Producing Movement
– Agonist or Prime mover
– Antagonist
– Synergist
– Stabilizer
 Muscles
• Three types of muscle in the human body
– Skeletal
• Voluntary
– Cardiac (heart)
– Smooth (internal organs)
• Consists of contractile cells (muscle
fibers)
• Muscles can only pull; they can not push
• Tendons attach muscles to bone
– ligaments attach bone to bone
 Role of Skeletal Muscle
• Gives form to the body
• Provides heat
• Produces skeletal movement
• Assists in maintaining joint stability
• Maintains posture
• Maintains balance over center of gravity
–55% of height in women
–57% of height in men
 Muscle Terminology
Uniarticulate Biarticulate Triarticulate
• A muscle that • A muscle that • A muscle that
crosses one joint crosses two can move
• Ex: joints three joints
Brachioradialis • Sartorius • Ex: Wrist
crosses the Flexors
elbow joint
 Muscle Terminology
• Muscle Action:
– Specific movement of the joint
• Flexion, Extension, Ad/Abduction, etc.
• Muscle Origin:
– The end of the muscle attaching to the
relatively fixed (or least moveable) bone of its
joint.
– The more proximal attachment site
• Muscle Insertion:
– The end of the muscle attaching to the freely
moving bone of its joint.
– The more distal attachment site of the muscle.
 O:Medial
Origin: Epicondyle of
Anterior Humerus (2 heads
Deltoid: Lateral medial and
posterior)
1/3 of clavicle I: Pisiform,
Middle Deltoid: Hammate, and
Acromion Base of 5th
metacarpal
Process of
Scapula
Posterior
Deltoid: Spine
of Scapula

Insertion:
Deltoid
tuberosity of
humerus
 Muscle Terminology
• Nerve Innervation: The segment of the
nervous system responsible for providing a
stimulus to muscle fibers.
• Muscle Palpation: Examination by touch
• Muscle length: The distance between bony
attachments
 Muscular Contractions
• Muscular Contractions
–Isotonic (Movement with constant
external resistance-Bicep Curl)
• Concentric
• Eccentric
–Isokinetic (Movement with varying
external resistance/control for velocity-
Tubing?)
–Isometric (no joint movement)
 Concentric Muscle Contraction
• Muscle shortens in length while
developing tension
– Muscle tension is greater than the load
• Examples:
– The upward phase of a bicep curl
– The upward phase of a bench press
– The upward phase of an abdominal
crunch
– The upward phase of a squat
– The downward phase of a lat pull-down
 Eccentric Muscle Contraction
• Muscle lengthens under tension.
– Resistance is greater than muscle
tension.
• Examples:
– The downward phase of a biceps
curl
– The downward phase of a squat
– The downward phase of a lunge
– The upward phase of a lat pull-down
• Eccentric muscle contractions are what
makes you sore
• Most injuries occur in the eccentric
phase
 Isometric Muscle Contraction
• No movement
– Tension equals the load.

• Examples:
– Wall Sit
– Plank
 Isokinetic muscle contraction
• Action that occurs when the
speed of shortening of the
muscle remains constant over
the entire range of movement
• Maximum force can also be
exerted at all joint angles of the
movement
 Types of contraction
Isometric

Concentric

Deltoid holds arm in

________________

Eccentric

Deltoid shortens to
move arm into
________________ Deltoid lengthens to
lower arm into
________________
Muscle Movement Classification
A muscle’s role in producing movement
can be defined as that of the:
• Agonist or Prime Mover
• Antagonist
• Synergist
• Stabilizer
 Agonist or Prime Mover
• A muscle or group of muscles that causes a
motion
– Muscle contracts concentrically or eccentrically
• Examples:
– Knee Extension
• Quadriceps, through concentric
contraction, extend the knee
– Elbow Flexion
• Biceps work concentrically to bend arm
 Antagonist
• “The Opposer”
• Resists the motion caused by the prime mover
• Contracts to prevent, slow or control a motion
– Helps protect the agonist

• Examples:
– Knee Extension
• Hamstring muscles, through eccentric
contraction, help to slow the rate of knee
extension
– Elbow Flexion
• Triceps work eccentrically to slow the rate that
the arm is bent
– Rotator Cuff Muscles
 Synergist
• Assists the movement of a prime
mover but is less effective
– These muscles are considered to have a
functional relationship with the prime
mover
– However, the assisting muscle cannot
perform the motion at a functional level.
• Example: As a portion of the
quadriceps crosses the hip joint, it can
help produce hip flexion. However, it is
incapable of producing hip flexion
alone.
 Stabilizer
• Muscles contract (frequently by an isometric
contraction) to hold a body part immobile while
another body part is moving.
– Your wrist while doing a dumbbell bench press
– Core muscles
• Proximal Stabilization: In most normal activities, the
proximal joint is stabilized while the distal joint
performs the action.
– To perform isolated elbow flexion the proximal
shoulder joint must be stabilized by
flexors/extensors, abductors/adductors and
internal/external rotators.
– The quadriceps may stabilize the knee in an
extended position to permit plantar flexion of the
ankle
 Putting It Together

starting position ending position

 Putting It Together
Exercise
• Standing Cable Triceps Extension
Agonist or Prime Mover:
• Triceps Brachii
– Triceps Brachii is a Biarticulate
Muscle
Muscle Origin
• Scapula and Humerus
Muscle Insertion
• Ulna
Muscle Action
• Elbow and Shoulder Extension
Putting It Together
Synergist
• Anconeus
Antagonist
• Elbow Flexors (Biceps Brachii, Brachialis and
Brachioradialis)
Stabilizers:
• Latissimus Dorsi
• Teres Major
• Pectoralis Major
• Deltoid
• Rotator Cuff Muscles
• Erector Spinae
• Rectus Abdominis
• Obliques
• Wrist Flexors
 Putting It Together
Concentric Contraction Eccentric Contraction
• Down phase of exercise Up phase of exercise
 Breathing
• Exhale during the working phase of a
movement
• You are moving against the force of
resistance
Direction of Agonist- Antagonist-
Movement Contraction Contraction

Progravity Eccentric Concentric

Antigravity Concentric Eccentric

Gravity Concentric Eccentric

Eliminated
 Take Home Points
• Skeletal muscle plays many roles in the
body including producing skeletal
movement, heat and joint stability
• Muscles can be uni, bi or triarticulate
• Muscle action is the specific movement of
the joint
• A muscles origin is proximal and relatively
fixed while the insertion is more movable
and distal
 Take Home Points
• There are three key types of muscular
contractions
–Concentric, eccentric and isometric
• A muscle’s role in producing
movement can be defined as that of
the:
–Agonist/prime mover, antagonist,
synergist or stabilizer