Muscular System - General Notes
The muscular system is responsible for movement, posture, heat production, and stability of the
body. It works with skeletal, nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems. 1. Systems involved in
movement: Muscular system produces force, skeletal system provides support and levers, nervous
system controls movement, circulatory system supplies oxygen and nutrients, and respiratory
system provides oxygen for respiration. 2. Muscle structure: Muscles consist of muscle fibers
containing actin and myosin. Fibers form bundles called fascicles. Tendons connect muscles to
bones and transmit force. 3. Muscle coordination: Antagonistic muscles work in opposite pairs while
synergistic muscles work together to produce smooth and controlled movement. 4. Nervous control:
The brain and spinal cord send impulses through motor neurons to muscles causing contraction
and movement. 5. Muscle tone: A continuous partial contraction of muscles at rest that maintains
posture, stabilizes joints, and prepares muscles for action. 6. Types of exercise: Isotonic exercise
involves muscle shortening or lengthening with movement. Isometric exercise involves muscle
contraction without movement. 7. Muscle strength and proprioception: Muscle strength is the
maximum force a muscle can produce. Muscle sense (proprioception) is awareness of body
position and movement. 8. Energy for contraction: Muscles use ATP produced from glucose, fats,
proteins, and creatine phosphate. Cellular respiration provides energy: C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 +
6H2O + ATP 9. Oxygen transport: Hemoglobin carries oxygen in blood while myoglobin stores
oxygen in muscles. 10. Oxygen debt and lactic acid: Anaerobic respiration produces lactic acid
causing fatigue. Oxygen debt is the extra oxygen required after exercise to remove lactic acid and
restore normal conditions. 11. Neuromuscular junction: A synapse between motor neuron and
muscle fiber using acetylcholine to trigger contraction. 12. Sliding filament mechanism: Actin
filaments slide over myosin filaments using ATP and calcium ions, shortening the sarcomere and
producing contraction. 13. Electrical changes: Polarization is resting state, depolarization occurs
when sodium enters, and repolarization occurs when potassium leaves restoring the resting state.
14. Body responses to exercise: Increased heart rate, breathing rate, sweating, and blood flow
maintain homeostasis by supplying oxygen and removing wastes. 15. Major muscles: Include
biceps, triceps, deltoid, pectoralis major, trapezius, rectus abdominis, quadriceps, hamstrings, and
gastrocnemius. 16. Disorders: Include muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, cramps, strains,
tetanus, and fibromyalgia.