LESSON 4: Muscle tissue

This tissue has the power of contraction and relaxation.

Three types of muscle tissue:

Skeletal/striated tissue - called striated muscle because when under a microscope,

the muscle fibre appears to be striped. This tissue is under voluntary control i.e. it
does not contract itself. A normal human male weighing 70kg has about 25-35 kg of
skeletal muscle.

Cardiac muscle/ striated muscle - These tissue cells are found in the heart. This tissue
is under involuntary control, and is regulated by an internal mechanism (pacemaker
tissue) within the walls of the heart as well as hormones and the autonomic nervous
system.

Smooth/visceral muscle - This tissue makes up the walls of organs such as the
stomach and arteries. This muscle lacks striations, and is under involuntary control,
being regulated by hormones and the autonomic nervous system.

Muscle structure
The gross morphology of a muscle comprises bundles within bundles separated from
each other by a layer of connective tissue, as follows:

 Epimysium surrounds full muscle belly.

 Perimysium surrounds muscle bundles or fasicles.
 Endomysium surrounds muscle cells/ fibre.
 Muscle fibres consist of strands of myofibrils. Fifty percent of the total body
protein stores are stored in muscle fibre.
 Myofibrils comprise many sarcomeres in series creating the striated
appearance of the muscle.
 A section of the myofibril is made up of thin myofilaments (actin) and thick
myofilaments (myosin filaments) which slide over one another producing a
muscle contraction.

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Muscle shapes
Four muscle shapes:

 Pennate (Bipennate, Multipennate, and Unipennate)(

 Parallel
 Convergent
 Circular

Convergent
The origin (the attachment to a fixed bone, usually the
proximal attachment) of these muscles is wider than
the point of insertion. This fibre arrangement allows for
maximum force production. An example is Pectoralis
Major. Convergent muscles are sometimes known as
triangular muscles.

Circular
These muscle appear circular in shape. Contraction of
this muscle will either close or reduce the size of the
opening and relaxation will make the opening wider.
Example of circular muscles are those around the
mouth,
Parallel
Parallel muscles have fibres which, as the name
suggests, run parallel to each other and are
sometimes called strap muscles.

They are normally long muscles that cause large

movements, are not very strong but have good
endurance. Examples include the Sartorius muscle.
Bipennate
Bipennate muscles have two rows of muscle fibres,
facing in opposite diagonal directions, with a central
tendon, like a feather. This allows even greater power
but less range of motion. An example is the Rectus
Femoris

Multipennate
As the name suggests multipennate muscles have
multiple rows of diagonal fibres, with a central tendon
which branches into two or more tendons. An
example is the Deltoid muscle which has three
sections, anterior, posterior and middle.

Unipennate
This is a type of pennate muscle wherein the muscle
fibers or fascicles are all in one side of the tendon.
Examples include the flexor pollicis longus muscle.

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Muscle fibre types
Two distinct types of muscle fibres have been identified in human skeletal muscle.
These fibres may either be slow twitch or fast twitch and determine the speed at
which a muscle will contract. The fast twitch is divided into three groups, so called
Types IIa, IIb & IIc. Slow Twitch(Type I) fibres are characterised by a slow response to
stimulation. Fast twitch(Type II) fibres are characterised by a quick response to
stimulation.

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The fibre type seems to be genetically determined, but this does not mean that their
metabolic capacity is unresponsive to training. All fibre types are trainable and
adapt to the exercise stimuli. Different training intensities will cause particular fibre
types to adapt more than others (i.e. endurance training will increase the oxidative
capacity of Type IIa more so than Type IIb, although there will be some increase in
the oxidative capacity of the Type IIb fibre).

Because of differences in the enzymes and protein molecules in the different fibre
types, fast and slow twitch muscle fibres differ in colour.

Athletes in short-term, sprint-like activities use predominantly fast twitch fibres, but
they are also important in the stop and start or change in pace sports, like football
that requires energy from oxygen independent pathways.

Slow twitch fibres, on the other hand, have a slower contraction speed than fast
twitch fibres, but are very well adapted for oxygen delivery and have a great
number of oxidative enzymes. This is due to the large amount of mitochondria in
slow twitch fibres that enables them to oxidise lipids and carbohydrates in the
presence of oxygen. Long distance running is an example of an activity most suited
to slow twitch fibre types. A combination of fast and slow twitch fibres occurs in
every individual, and the ratio of fast to slow twitch fibres in an individual is
genetically determined. Activities such as middle distance running require a blend
of both oxygen independent and oxygen dependent capacities, and they activate
both types of muscle fibres in different proportions. Because of differences in the
enzymes and protein molecules in the different fibre types, fast and slow twitch
muscle fibres differ in colour. Slow twitch fibres are darker, usually red, reflecting
greater use of the oxygenated blood supply, whereas fast twitch are usually white.

Muscle contraction
Muscle is entirely surrounded by connective tissue that extends from the tendons,
which connect muscle to bone. There are various sub-layers of connective tissue
which firstly divide the muscle into muscle bundles or fasciculata and then into
myofibres (musclefibres/cells). The individual muscle fibre is composed of several
hundred to a thousand myofibrils arranged in parallel. Each myofibril has about1500
myosin filaments (thick) and about 3000 actin filaments (thin). These are the
contractile proteins, and it is the arrangements of these filaments that give the
muscle its striated appearance.

Tiny projections called cross-bridges (myosin heads) extend from the myosin filament
to the actin filament. The myosin head binding site on the actin is distant to the
myosin head during relaxation. As a result of an incoming nerve signal calcium is
released and unblocks the myosin binding site to allow for the myosin head to bind
to the actin. Muscle contraction occurs when the cross-bridges extending from the
myosin filaments attach to the actin filaments and pull them over the myosin
filaments. The actual mechanism of contraction is not well understood, but the
process is as depicted in Fig 1.

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Fig 1 The process of muscle contraction

Three types of muscle contraction, namely isotonic, isometric and isokinetic. Isotonic
or dynamic muscle contraction occurs when a muscle contracts and there is
movement of the skeletal system (i.e. a joint). The isotonic contraction can be
divided into concentric and eccentric muscle contractions:

 With a concentric muscular contraction, the muscle shortens as it develops

tension to overcome an external resistance (e.g. on the upward phase of a
bicep curl).
 Eccentric muscle contraction occurs when the external resistance is greater
than the muscle force and thus the muscle lengthens (e.g. on the downward
phase of a bicep curl).

Although the absolute weight or external resistance lifted during contraction remains
constant, the skeletal lever system causes an ever-changing resistance through the
full range of motion. The greatest force is generated at the muscle's optimal length.
A muscle's optimal length is the muscle length at which the actin and myosin
myofilaments are aligned so that the maximal amount of cross-bridges can bind to
actin simultaneously.

An isometric muscle contraction is a muscle contraction where there is tension within

the muscle, but no joint movement or change in muscle length. An example of this
is when force is applied without movement occurring (e.g. pushing against a wall).

Isokinetic contraction requires a special machine to alter the resistance placed on

the muscle during its entire range of motion. The isokinetic contraction is very similar

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to an isotonic contraction except that, during an isokinetic contraction, maximal
tension is maintained throughout the entire range of the movement regardless of the
joint angle, length of muscle or speed of contraction. Isokinetic contractions can
only be done on specialised machinery incorporating dynamometers connected to
computers. Such machines can be prohibitively expensive and are thus only
available at specialised institutions.

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