Review: Introduction to the Muscular System

Here is what we have learned from Introduction to the Muscular System:

  • One of the most predominant characteristics of skeletal muscle tissue is its contractility and nearly all movement in the body is the result of muscle contraction.
  • Four functions of muscle contraction are movement, posture, joint stability, and heat production.
  • Three types of muscle are skeletal, smooth, and cardiac.
  • Each muscle fiber is surrounded by endomysium. The fibers are collected into bundles covered by perimysium. Many bundles, or fasciculi, are wrapped together by the epimysium to form a whole muscle.
  • Muscles are attached to bones by tendons.
  • Muscle features such as size, shape, direction of fibers, location, number of origin, origin and insertion, and action are often used in naming muscles.
  • Four major muscle groups of the body include:
    • Muscles of the head and neck;
    • Muscles of the trunk;
    • Muscles of the upper extremity; and
    • Muscles of the lower extremity.