THE STRENGTH OF MUSCLE

CONTRACTION
Syeda Amna Iqbal
Lecturer Kinesiology
ICPR
 Factors Affects Muscle Performance

Power : When muscles contract or stretch in

moving a load they do work, and energy is
transferred from one form to another.
• The power of muscles refers to how quickly the
muscles can do this work and transfer the energy.
• Strength: The muscle’s ability to produce
tension (intra-muscular-tension)

• Endurance: Muscle endurance refers to how

well the muscles can exert and hold maximum
force over and over and over again.
 Strength of Contraction
• The muscle’s ability to produce tension (intra-
muscular-tension)

• Strength varies in proportion to the tenion

exerted by the forces

• Strength of contraction depends on the

system of motor units.
 Strength

• Result of the combination of three factors:

• Physiological strength, depends on factors such
as
- muscle size,
- The cross-sectional area of the muscle
- Responses to training.
• Neurological strength, how weak or how strong
the signal is that tells the muscle to contract.
• Mechanical strength, which refers to a
muscle’s pulling force and the way those
forces can be changed using bones and joints
as levers.
 Motor Unit

• Consists of a single neuron and the group of

muscle fibres it supplies.
• When the unit is activated by stimulation of its
cells (anterior horn cell) all fibres contracts.
OR
•
• A motor unit is a motor neuron and all of the
muscle cells (muscle fibers) it stimulates.
•
• When one neuron fires, all of the muscle cells
which are stimulated by that one neuron will
contract.

• Each muscle fibre is made up from the

considerable no. Of motor unit.
• Strength of contraction largely depend on the
no. of its motor units activated at one time.

• Greater the no. Of motor units activated,

stronger the contraction.

• Weak contraction requires few motor units

active.
• On activation of motor unit, number of muscle
cells within a motor unit determines the degree
of movement.

• Vary in size.

• Small motor units are used for precise, small

movements.

• Large motor units for gross movements.

• On this diagram each of the two motor
neurons shown have only a few junctions with
the muscle cells.

• Actual number can vary from four to several

hundred muscle cells per motor neuron.
• Average number of muscle cells in a motor
unit is 150.
• When the nerve impulse gets down to the
branches, it separates and goes down each
branch.

• Only the muscle cells that have neuromuscular

junctions with one of the branches of that
particular neuron will contract.
• Motor neuron A stimulates fewer muscle cells
than motor neuron B. When you clicked on
motor unit A, the force of contraction was less
than with motor unit B as evidenced by the
height the red weight moved toward the bell.

• Motor neuron A & B do not stimulate muscle

cells in just one location within the muscle.
The muscle cells stimulated are spread out.
This causes an even muscle contraction.
 Muscle Recruitment
• Increasing the number of active motor units.

• Recruitment occurs when a strong contraction

is needed and additional motor units are
stimulated.
• Some muscles such as the quadriceps, have a
high ratio of muscle fibers to motor neurons.
This is because they are a powerful muscle
group responsible for displaying force very
quickly.