Types of Human Muscles – Talking about humans feels very complex, starting from the things that are in their bodies to their behavior. In the human body itself there are many organs that work. There are even organs that play an important role when humans carry out their daily activities or you could say when humans move.
One characteristic of living things (humans) is movement. By moving, we will be able to do various kinds of activities that we want to do. In this case, moving is not just what is seen by ourselves or others, but also what is seen by us, such as the movement that occurs in the heart when it pumps blood throughout the body.
Every human being who moves is due to the presence of muscles and bones. The two organs of the body work together with each other, so that humans can move according to their wishes. As for movements that are always related to bones and muscles, such as bending the elbows, throwing the ball, kicking the ball, bending the body, and so on.
Bones and muscles cannot be separated from the movements made by humans, but generally muscles have a more important role in moving the organs of the body. This can happen because when humans move, it will definitely create contractions in the muscles. In other words, muscles are organs that humans rely on when moving.
Although bones and muscles are organs that can play a role in human movement, on this occasion, we will discuss the types of muscles. Not only the types of muscles, but this article will also discuss the meaning of muscles, muscle function, and muscle fuel. So, read this article to the end, Sinaumed’s.
Understanding Muscles
Before discussing the types of muscles, we will discuss the meaning of muscles first, so that it will be easier to understand the types of muscles later. The muscles that exist in humans can move because of orders from the brain which then the brain gives orders, so that when the brain is still functioning properly, the movement of the muscles is still functioning properly too.
In the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI) muscle is a springy tissue in the body of humans and animals that functions to move the body. From the definition of muscles based on KBBI, it can be said that they play an important role in the movements carried out by humans.
This tissue-shaped muscle will look like bundles of fibers attached to bones or other organs. When the muscles carry out their duties, especially when moving the body, the muscles will not push. In other words, muscles will contract when moving bones or other organs.
As previously explained that muscles play an important role in human movements, so muscles can be said to be one of the organs of the human body as an active means of movement. Therefore, when someone has a muscle injury, the movement will be less than optimal.
In the human body itself there are muscle tissues which, if calculated, are approximately 35-40 percent of the mass of the human body. In other words, almost half of the mass of the human body is muscle tissue. In addition, the size of this muscle can be reduced or enlarged depending on the movements performed by the human.
So, it can be said that when a muscle contracts or moves a body organ, that part of the body will look bigger. Meanwhile, when the muscles relax or do not move other organs, they will appear smaller.
It would be nice, we determine the right time when to move the muscles and when to rest the muscles. By doing so, the injury to the muscles can be properly minimized.
After discussing the meaning of muscles, what will be discussed next is the types of muscles in humans.
Types of Muscles and Their Characteristics
Basically, there are a lot of muscles in the human body. However, usually the muscles in humans are divided into 3 types, including:
1. Smooth Muscle
Smooth muscle is a type of muscle in the human body which contracts in an unconscious or involuntary way . Therefore, this smooth muscle can move even when humans are asleep. Even so, smooth muscle can move regularly. Not only regular, regular, smooth muscles also don’t tire quickly when they contract.
This type of muscle can indeed work tirelessly, so this muscle can work continuously. However, smooth muscles do not require so much energy even though they have to move continuously and tirelessly, why is that? This can happen because the power released by smooth muscles is not so much.
Smooth muscle is not only located in one organ of the human body, but is located in many organs of the human body. As for the location of this smooth muscle, such as in the digestive tract, in the blood vessels, in the eyes, in the uterus or bladder, and so on.
Each location of smooth muscle has a different function. For example, smooth muscle in the digestive tract functions to maintain every peristaltic movement, while smooth muscle in the eye functions to move the size of the pupil. In the bladder, smooth muscle functions to excrete urine, and in the blood vessels, smooth muscle functions to regulate blood pressure.
Every muscle in humans certainly consists of many cells, as well as the type of smooth muscle which consists of many cells. The cells in smooth muscle can be described as spindles which are quite large in the middle and tapered at both ends of the smooth muscle.
Smooth muscle consists of two types of smooth muscle single unit smooth muscle and double unit smooth muscle, so what are the differences between the two types of smooth muscle? The difference between the two types of smooth muscle lies in the way the muscle cells work. Single unit smooth muscle cells work in a collective manner. Meanwhile, double unit smooth muscle cells work individually or work independently.
To understand more about smooth muscle, you can get to know its characteristics below.
Characteristics of Smooth Muscles
- Smooth muscles work tirelessly.
- Smooth muscle can work unconsciously and can work while sleeping.
- Smooth muscle is more elastic than striated muscle.
- The length of smooth muscle is about 20 to 30 micrometers.
- Can do contractions in a fairly long period of time.
- It is located in almost all parts of the body.
- When working, smooth muscles are very dependent on the nervous system and hormones.
- It has a round shape in the middle and is tapered at the ends.
- Has a thickness that can reach about 5 micrometers.
That’s a discussion of smooth muscle and its characteristics, the next discussion is the type of cardiac muscle.
2. Cardiac Muscles
As the name implies, the heart muscle is located in the organ part of the heart. Cardiac muscle is a type of muscle that is located as a constituent of the heart wall and has a function to pump blood from all over the body to the heart or from the heart to the rest of the body. Therefore, when this heart muscle cannot function properly, the blood flow to be pumped by the heart becomes less than optimal, which can cause several diseases that are quite dangerous, such as difficulty breathing.
Cardiac muscle consists of many cells which are generally elongated in shape. In addition, the heart muscle also has many cell nuclei which are located in the center of the heart muscle. Because of its location which is only in the organs of the heart, the heart muscle is often known as a special muscle. What’s more, the role of the heart muscle is very important because it can affect all organs in the body.
As with smooth muscle, this heart muscle can also move unconsciously, so it will work continuously without tired. That way, the heart muscle can work even though the brain is not ordering it or when we are asleep.
As for how the heart muscle works, that is when it contracts, the heart muscle pumps blood out of the heart throughout the body. Meanwhile, when the heart muscle relaxes, it indicates that blood from all over the body will return to the heart. Simply put, the heart muscle functions to carry out blood circulation in the human body.
In addition, the heart muscle also functions to control the contraction of the heart. This can happen because in the heart muscle there is a special cell which is often called a pacemaker or more precisely a pacemaker . With these cells, the heart rate can be accelerated and slowed down to match the contractions.
The heart is a very important organ of the human body because it can affect other organs of the body. Therefore, it is the same with the heart muscle which has a very important role, especially in maintaining blood circulation and pumping blood.
Characteristics of Cardiac Muscles
The characteristics of the cardiac muscle as follows.
- It has a cylindrical and branched shape.
- It is located on the heart wall and as a constituent of the heart wall.
- Can work at any time without having to be ordered by the brain (can be when sleeping).
- Have a cell nucleus that is located in the middle or center of the heart muscle.
3. Striated Muscles
Striated muscle is a type of muscle that is attached to the framework of the organs of the human body, so this type of muscle functions to make movements in the body. Therefore, striated muscles are also often known as skeletal muscles. With this muscle, a human can move his body according to the commands of the brain.
As the name implies, this type of muscle also has a striated or cloth-like appearance. The color of this muscle is dark or actin and light or myosin. Of the two colors, it then forms an alternating pattern and its shape resembles a cylinder. In addition, the length of striated muscle is about 2.5 cm with a diameter of about 50 micrometers
The number of cell nuclei in striated muscles is very large, which are located on the edges, so that this type of muscle can work hard. Even though it can work hard, these striated muscles need rest so they don’t get tired or even cause an injury. Therefore, we should not force ourselves to do something too much when we feel tired.
This striated muscle is different from cardiac muscle or smooth muscle, where is the difference? The difference lies in the way it moves, striated muscles must be moved according to instructions from the brain, while smooth and cardiac muscles can work without a command from the brain. Therefore, when we sleep, the striated muscles cannot work optimally.
Not only is it often referred to as skeletal muscle, but striated muscle is also often referred to as skeletal muscle with its pigment which is the color myoglobin. This type of muscle is often found in almost all parts of humans. In fact, this type of striated muscle can also be found in animals.
For those of you who want to see striated muscles, there are biceps and triceps. The location of these two muscles is on the upper arm of the hand. The amount of striated muscle is about 40 percent of the mass or weight of the human body. This striated muscle also has several parts, such as sarcoplasm, sarcolemma, myofilaments, and myofibrils.
This striated muscle works by contracting and relaxing. The function of relaxing striated muscles is to restore strength to the muscles after heavy movements.
Characteristics of Striated Muscles
Following are the characteristics of skeletal muscles.
- The striated muscles have a large number of cell nuclei that are located on the edges
- The color of the striated muscles is like cloth where the dark and light colors form alternating patterns.
- Striated muscles can work according to orders from the brain or move consciously.
- Has a length of about 2.5 cm with a diameter of 50 micrometers.
- Easy to contract and when contracting the muscles will become constricted.
- Consists of thousands of fibers that form a muscle tissue.
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Muscle Function
After discussing the types of muscles in the human body, overall these muscles have several functions including:
- Helps the respiratory system.
- Helping the process of the human circulatory system, so that it can move optimally.
- Helps the human digestive tract.
- Maintain balance between the organs of the human body.
- Move the part of the body you want to move.
- Maintain posture
- Protects the vital organs of the body.
Muscle Fuel
From the explanation above, there are types of muscles that work according to orders from the brain and there are also those that can work without awareness. However, when the muscles work, they definitely need fuel, so that the role of each type of muscle can run optimally. The fuel for muscles is oxygen.
Of that oxygen, then distributed throughout the body through the blood. Therefore, when doing a movement that is quite heavy, we will need more oxygen so that blood can be delivered to the muscles of the body that we want to move.