I love to know the story.....So, when I exercise what motivates me is to have an understanding of the science. Information is power. So here is a small lesson in anatomy. With respect, I am keeping this simple. We are, after all, not studying surgery. I don't see the need to give the full Latin names to the muscles when we discuss them in exercise class, but rather use the common names for the sake of understanding. Nonetheless, I do think, for those who want to exercise, it is helpful to understand some very basic bio mechanics.
Our skeletal muscles are those which move the limbs and joints of the body. when they do, the skeletal muscles cross over one or more joints in order to flex or extend a particular joint. For example, bending the elbow requires biceps contraction, straightening the elbow requires the contraction of triceps. Muscles are attached to bones by virtue of tendons. The tendon which attaches to the bone closer to the centre of the body is called the origin and the tendon at the far end of the muscle is called the insertion. As a general rule, the origin site is fixed, and does not move, and the insertion site does the moving.
And another thing, muscles work when they contract, and a muscle is designed to contract. When they do so they exert force on the bones. Thus we see an increase in bone density at the origin and insertion sites. For example, there are muscles that assist us in standing by contracting at the hip. Although we do talk about stretching muscles, say, at the end of a workout or in a yoga class, muscles do not stretch themselves they are stretched by the contraction of their opposing or "antagonist" muscle.
Here is a link to a great little anatomy class on line, which includes helpful, easy-to-understand video clip. < origin and insertion>
I loved studying this stuff, it is fascinating. For those who love the science, there are many opportunities to study, A TAFE course, or of course, on line.
Keep those skeletal muscles moving, you know you want to..
No comments:
Post a Comment