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Introduction to the muscular system

Foundational Sciences Anatomy Introduction to anatomy
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The human body consists of hundreds of muscles, which come in all different shapes and sizes. Each muscle’s particular
structure allows it to perform a specific function.
The muscles are attached to bones or other tissues, to help us maintain position, perform movements and even protect some
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Introduction to the muscular system

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Content Reviewers
Andrew Horne, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Contributors
Lahav Constantini, Jake Ryan, Alaina Mueller, Ursula Florjanczyk, MScBMC

The human body consists of hundreds of muscles, which come in all different shapes and sizes. Each muscle’s
particular structure allows it to perform a specific function.

The muscles are attached to bones or other tissues, to help us maintain position, perform movements and even
protect some organs.

Ok, now muscle tissue is made up of contractile cells, often called muscle fibers. Muscle tissue can be grouped
into 3 types; skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle.

Skeletal muscles connect to the skeleton and other structures like the eyes to help with movement and stability
of the body.

These muscles are voluntary, meaning that we have active control of them to perform movements, like flexing
your elbow.

Cardiac muscle is the muscle tissue that makes up the walls of the heart. These muscles contract in a rhythmic
way to pump blood to the whole body and they are involuntary meaning that we can’t consciously control this
type of muscle.

Lastly, is smooth muscle, which mainly lies in the walls of blood vessels and hollow organs. In blood vessels,
smooth muscle helps contract the vessel walls to alter their diameter, which helps control blood flow.

In hollow organs, smooth muscles perform rhythmic contractions called peristaltic contractions, which moves the
contents of these organs in one direction, like food in the stomach or small intestine.

Smooth muscle is also under involuntary control. Alright, now muscles come in a variety of shapes that help
serve their specific functions.

For example, a flat muscle has parallel fibers, and often has a flat sheet-like tendon called an aponeurosis - as is
the case for the external oblique muscle covering the abdomen.

Next is a quadrate muscle, which describes a square muscle with four equal sides. An example of a quadrate
muscle is the famous six pack, anatomically called the rectus abdominis, which is a long paired muscle that is
divided into square-like portions by bands of connective tissue.
Pennate muscles, on the other hand, have their fibers attaching obliquely to a tendon. These muscles can be
grouped into unipennate, bipennate or multipennate muscles depending on the relationship between the muscle
fascicles and the tendon.

Unipennate muscle fibers go in one direction, and merge on one side of its tendon, like the extensor digitorum
longus muscle in the leg.

Bipennate muscles look more like a feather, having oblique fibers on both sides of the tendon, like the rectus
femoris of the anterior thigh.

And multipennate muscles have fascicles in different directions, attaching to a branched central tendon, like the
deltoid muscle, covering the shoulder.

Next are fusiform muscles, which have a thick muscle belly that becomes tapered at both ends. An example of a
fusiform muscle would be the biceps brachii.

Speaking of bi-ceps brachii, multiheaded or multibellied muscles have more than one head of attachment or more
than one contractile belly.

Both the biceps brachii and triceps brachii muscles, have two and three fusiform heads, respectively, and thus
could also be referred to as multiheaded.

Examples of multibellied muscles include the gastrocnemius muscle in the leg, or the digastric muscle under the
jaw which both have two bellies.

Next up are the convergent muscles, which are large muscles that arise from multiple points, but their fibers
converge to insert into a single point.

A good example is the pectoralis major muscle of the anterior chest wall. This muscle arises from the sternum,
ribs, and clavicle, but inserts into a single spot on the humerus.

Lastly, are circular or sphincteral muscles, which are indeed shaped like a circle. Typically, these muscles surround
a body opening, and their circular shape causes constriction of the opening during contraction.

For example, the orbicularis oris surrounds the mouth and when contracted, it helps constrict the oral opening,
seen when puckering your lips when whistling.

Okay, now let’s take a deep breath and have a quick quiz! Can you identify the shapes of these muscles? Alright,
now muscles attach to different body parts, including bones, cartilage, skin or even other muscles.

For example, many facial muscles attach to the skin of the face, which allows facial muscles to move the skin of
the face to produce facial expressions like smiling.

Now, every muscle arises from a point, called the origin, and inserts into a point, called the insertion. Typically,
the origin is proximal meaning that it is closer to the trunk of the body.

Also, typically the origin does not move, meaning that it stays fixed when the muscle contracts. On the other
hand, the insertion is distal, meaning that it is further away from the trunk.

Also, the insertion point is movable, meaning that it gets pulled towards the origin to produce a movement.
However, this is not always the case.

Depending on which end of the muscle is fixed, some muscles can act in both directions, which means the
proximal attachment is sometimes the movable end of the muscle.

That’s why some sources may prefer using the terms proximal and distal attachments – instead of origin and
insertion - when describing the muscles’ points of attachment.
In some cases, the terms medial and lateral may be used instead to illustrate the proximity of the attachment to
the midline of the body, medial meaning closer to the midline, and lateral meaning further away.

Now, understanding the attachments of muscles is important in understanding the action a particular muscle may
have.

For example, the medial and lateral heads of the triceps brachii originate on the posterior aspect of the humerus
and insert onto the olecranon process of the ulna, meaning they cross the elbow posteriorly.

So, when they contract, the muscle bellies shorten to pull the insertion - or distal attachment - towards the origin
- or proximal attachment - which in this case produces extension of the elbow joint.

Now, let’s talk about muscle function. The function of each muscle can be described using terms, like prime
mover or agonist, synergist and antagonist.

The prime mover, also called the agonist, is the muscle that provides the major force for producing a particular
movement. This agonist often has a synergist, which is another muscle that helps the agonist directly or
indirectly.

Direct support means that the synergist performs the same movement as the agonist, but in a weaker manner.

In indirect support, the synergist acts as a fixator, making sure that the proximal parts of a limb are fixed in place,
which leaves the distal section free to move.

In some cases, an agonist may have several synergists helping it out to make sure the right movement is
executed.

Now, like a good story, every agonist has an antagonist, which opposes the action of an agonist. Let’s walk
through an example.

To perform flexion of the elbow joint, like when you do an arm curl at the gym, three arm muscles have to
collaborate: the brachialis in the anterior arm, the biceps brachii muscle which lies superficial to it, and the triceps
brachii muscle in the posterior part of the arm.

The brachialis is our agonist, or prime mover, since it shortens as it contracts and produces the majority of the
force involved in flexing the forearm towards the arm.

The biceps brachii is an important synergist aiding significantly in this movement, and the triceps brachii on the
posterior arm is the antagonist that helps coordinate and control the flexion by slowly relaxing as brachialis
contracts.

And finally, the deltoid is an example of a fixator as it stabilizes the humerus as brachialis contracts.

Ok, now let’s finish up by talking about tendons, which are the tough fibrous bands that connect muscles to
bones.

Their main function is to transmit the force produced by the muscle contraction into the bone they attach to,
which allows for joint movement.

A good example is the calcaneal - or Achilles - tendon; a common tendon for both the gastrocnemius and soleus
muscles at the back of the leg, inserting onto the calcaneus, or heel bone.

Tendons can also play a positional role, meaning they can fix parts of the body in a certain position, like the
fingers when writing.

Alright, as a quick recap. Muscles are the contractile tissues that help us perform movements and maintain body
position.
There is skeletal muscle, which are striated muscles attached to the skeleton; cardiac muscle, which is found in
the heart, and smooth muscle, which are found in the walls of blood vessels and hollow organs.

Skeletal muscles come in various sizes and shapes that correspond to their function. They work in a coordinated
manner with the tendons that attach them to bones, and with other neighboring muscles, to perform particular
movements and functions.

Summary

Humans' muscular system consists of hundreds of muscles that carry out many different functions. It is made up
of skeletal muscles, which are voluntary muscles that we can control, and smooth muscles, which are involuntary
muscles that we cannot control. Skeletal muscles are attached to bones by tendons, and when they contract,
they pull on the bones and move the body. Smooth muscles line the walls of blood vessels and organs such as
the stomach and intestines, and they contract to move substances through these vessels or organs.

Sources

1. "Clinically Oriented Anatomy" Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (2013)

2. "Atlas of Human Anatomy" Saunders/Elsevier (2014)

3. "Anatomy, Bone Markings" undefined (2020 Jan)

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