By Bavina Sookdeo
Everyone wants more muscles and less fat, however, in order to build muscles you must understand the workings of the muscles, the types of muscles and what actions could help to strengthen each type of muscle. There are more than 600 muscles in the human body and they can be considered the body’s engine since they turn energy into motion. Muscles do everything from pumping blood to enabling you to sit and stand. They permit lots of movement and maintain posture. Muscles are quite efficient since they are long lasting and they heal themselves too.
There are three types of muscles in the human body. They are:
- Smooth muscle – This type of muscle is capable of stretching and maintaining tension for long periods of time. These muscles contract involuntarily (meaning you cannot control them. The brain and body tell them what to do without you thinking about it) and are found in the hollow parts of the body like the digestive system, blood vessels, bladder, airways and the uterus. Smooth muscles are arranged in sheets, or layers, with one layer of muscle behind the other.
- Skeletal muscle - This is the type of muscle you can see developing when you start working out at the gym. They are also referred to as striated muscle since light and dark parts of the muscle fibres make them look striped. Skeletal muscles are actually attached to the skeleton and come in pairs. One muscle works to move the bone in one direction and other works to move it back. By simply lifting your hand to scratch your head you can observe this action. These muscles generally contract voluntarily. How are skeletal muscles connected to bones? They are connected by tendons which are cords made of tough tissue. When you move and a muscle is contracted, these tendons move along with the bone.
- Cardiac muscle – This type of thick muscle, also known as myocardium, is found only in the heart, and is built for endurance. They are self-contracting and must move in a rhythmic motion for your entire life. A group of cells within the heart called the pacemaker enables this.
All muscles are made of the same material - a kind of elastic tissue. Thousands of small fibres make up each muscle. While there are many muscles in the body, there are some major ones:
Deltoid: located in each shoulder
The pectoralis: Found on each side of your upper chest. These are what we refer to as ‘pecs’.
Rectus abdominus – located below the pectorals, under the ribcage. These are what we call ‘abs’.
Biceps - located in the arm. This is the bulge you see when you bring your fingers to touch your head.
Quadriceps: located at the front of the thighs
Gluteus maximus – These are the muscles found in your butt.
Muscles can also be found in the face. Smiling, frowning, wiggling your nose or raising an eyebrow, are all enabled by my muscles.
But what enables muscles to move and why do they need a blood supply? In muscle fibres there are cells where energy is produced. These cells are supplied with oxygen and nutrients such as glucose or fatty acids (via the blood), through capillaries that go directly into the muscle. Oxygen is needed in large amounts because in order to create energy, the muscles need to break down an enzyme called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). In order to refill the used ATP a great amount of oxygen will be needed. The blood also removes the waste which occurs during this energy production.
It is extremely important to keep our muscles in good working order and even to stretch them. Why? Well, healthy muscles could mean a healthier body. Healthy muscles will enable you to move freely and will also help to keep your joints in good working order. If you are clumsy and fall all the time, developing strong muscles will help you to have good balance and decreases your chances of falling. In addition, your heart will be happy and healthy.