In the mid-70s, this girl with pigtails, living in a small Belarusian ...
With the help of muscles, a person is able to move various parts of the body. In the human skeleton, muscles, or as we also call them muscles, are attached to his bones with the help of tendons. When this or that muscle contracts, the bones of our skeleton, to which these muscles are attached, begin to move.
Most human muscles work in pairs, which means that if one of them contracts, the other reflexively relaxes. For example, the biceps muscle of our shoulder, contracting, shortens and bends the arm, while the triceps muscle relaxes. If a reverse movement is necessary, the triceps muscle contracts, and the biceps relaxes, and the arm straightens.
Indeed, scientists all over the world are still arguing how many muscles a person has, but they still have not come to a consensus regarding the number of muscles in our body. The fact is that a person has a lot of muscles and each one either independently performs its function, or works in tandem with the rest. Therefore, it is not clear how to count them - individually or as components of a larger muscle. As a result the number of muscles ranges between 660 and 850... Some of them are controlled by a person himself, reduce or relax at will, while others work “automatically”. For example, the heart pumps blood, and the intestines move food, even if we don't think about it.
It really is. When a person frowns, he has to strain a lot more facial muscles than when he is happy and smiling. Our face uses only 17 muscles to smile, and to frown, you have to use 43 muscles. The conclusion is obvious - smile as often as possible!
Muscles account for a significant part of body weight: in men - about 45% of the dry mass, in women - up to 35%. If you know the anatomy of muscles, the structure of your body, understand the meaning and system of training, then this increases the effect of training many times over!
Every movement, every sporting effort is accomplished with the help of muscles. As we have already noted, muscles make up a significant proportion of body weight. Performing physical activity, especially planned strength training, you increase the specific gravity of the muscles, and physical inactivity, on the contrary, decreases it.
What muscles do humans have?
The human body consists of 3 types of muscles. The composition of human muscles is as follows:
- Skeletal (cross-striped).
- Smooth.
- Heart muscle (myocardium).
Cross-striped
The first type (skeletal) is responsible for maintaining the body in balance, as well as for the implementation of a variety of movements. Do you feel like you are just sitting in a chair and relaxing? In fact, at this moment, dozens of your skeletal muscles are in action. The work of skeletal muscles is controlled by willpower. The peculiarity of striated muscles is that they are able to quickly contract and relax just as quickly. But intense work quickly leads to fatigue.
Smooth
They are aimed at forming the walls of internal organs and capillaries. A distinctive feature is that this organ functions independently of the human subconscious. They cannot be stopped by an effort of will, for example, rhythmic contractions of the intestines do not lend themselves to human control. The movement of these muscles is slow and monotonous, but they work throughout life without rest.
Heart muscle
The myocardium is a unique combination of the qualities of smooth and skeletal muscles. Like skeletal muscles, the myocardium works intensively and contracts. Like smooth muscles, the heart works almost tirelessly throughout life, and does not depend on the will of a person.
Do you know how many muscles are in the human body? In the structure of the human body, there are 640 of them (the number depends on the method of counting, the total number is determined from 639 to 850).
Skeletal muscles and their functions
It is noteworthy that during strength training you not only "sculpt" the relief, but also increase the strength of the skeletal muscles - it also indirectly improves the quality of functioning of the heart and smooth muscles. Moreover, this works according to the type of feedback: the heart muscle, strengthened and developed during endurance training, performs the work more intensively and more efficiently, therefore, blood circulation in the body improves. The blood flow also better flows into the skeletal muscles, which can thus take on an even greater load.
Trained, developed skeletal musculature forms a powerful "corset" that supports the internal organs, and this is important in the normalization of the digestive tract.
The nutrition of all organs of the body, including the muscles, depends on digestion.
Skeletal muscle anatomy
We smoothly approached the question of what human muscles are made of. The muscle cell (myocyte) is the basic structural unit of muscle tissue. A distinctive feature of the myocyte is that it is hundreds of times longer than its cross section. It is also called muscle fiber. From 10 to 50 fibers are connected in a bundle, which actually forms the muscle. For example, it consists of a million fibers.
The main substance contained in the muscle cell is sarcoplasm. It contains thin muscle threads (myofibrils), due to which the contractions occur. The myofibril, in turn, consists of elementary particles - sarcomeres. Their main feature is to contract under the influence of a nerve impulse.
Here are the fibers of the muscle (muscle bundle):
- Nuclei.
- Contractile threads.
- Covering membrane.
- The connective tissue sheath (fascia) is a muscle group that acts in one direction.
- Blood vessels.
Through targeted strength training, you increase both the number of myofibrils and their cross-section. Initially, this process increases the strength of the muscles, then - its thickness. But moreover, the number of muscle fibers themselves does not change. It is due to the genetic characteristics of the organism and remains the same throughout life. From this we can conclude what the anatomy of sports is: athletes whose muscles consist of more myocytes are more likely to increase muscle thickness during strength training than those whose muscles contain fewer fibers.
Thus, the strength of the skeletal muscle depends on the cross-section, namely the thickness and number of myofibrils. It is noteworthy that the indicators of strength and muscle mass increase unequally: with an increase in muscle mass by 2 times, muscle strength increases by 3 times. Scientists cannot yet explain this phenomenon.
What is muscle attachment based on
The shape of the muscles is varied and difficult to classify. By their form, there are 2 main groups:
- Thick (fusiform).
- Thin (lamellar).
Any human muscle includes the abdomen and tendons. What is the abdomen of a muscle (definition - the fleshy part, which, when contracted, does work).
And the tendons serve as an attachment point for human muscles. They are necessary to transfer the force that the muscular abdomen develops to bones or skin folds. The tendon consists of dense and loose connective tissue.
Muscle location patterns
- According to the anatomy of the body and taking into account the principle of bilateral symmetry, the muscles are paired or consist of 2 symmetrical halves.
- The human body, in particular the trunk, consists for the most part of segments (separate independent units). That is, this is not some one common layer (although the abdominal muscles look exactly like that), they are clearly divided into sections. For example, the rectus abdominis muscle is conventionally divided into 2 sections (upper and lower).
- Muscles are located at the shortest distance between their attachment points. The movements produced are performed in a straight line. Therefore, if you know the attachment points of the muscles and the fact that the moving parts are attracted to the fixed ones, it is possible to predetermine the side of movement and the function of the muscles in advance.
Muscle Anatomy: Everything You Need to Know
So, the most important aspects of the material covered:
- Study the information on all muscle groups in the body in more detail to understand the effectiveness of their work.
- Feel the work of all your muscles during the exercise.
- Take into account the types of muscle fibers (white and red), involve them in the work to achieve the required muscle volume.
- Remember that muscle strength depends on the number of myofibrils included in its structure, build them up.
- Work with antagonistic muscles working in mutually opposite directions, as well as synergists working in the same direction.
- Stimulate your own nervous system in your resistance sets to engage as many strands as possible.
- Remember that a branched circulatory system is essential for proper nutrition of tissues, so give up bad habits (smoking, drinking alcohol).
- Don't use your muscles, they should function whenever possible.
To each beginner a bodybuilder, and just curious people, it will be useful to know the anatomy of the human skeletal muscles in order to navigate power training programs, especially when it comes to, as well as so that we understand each other when you ask questions about how you can pump up a particular muscle group.
In addition, knowledge of the musculature will help you better in the future. work out with the help of selected exercises all parts of the body, due to the fact that you will no longer have one-sided understanding devices of muscle groups.
For example, many athletes are still in pursuit of spherical shoulders, do not know that the deltas consist of the front, middle and back heads, so in order to pump up the shoulders like a ball, you need to do everything exercisesthat develop all three beams of deltas, and not just your favorite bar / dumbbell press up with an emphasis on the front and middle deltas.
In total, the body contains more than 600 skeletal muscle, and they all consist of fibers of different lengths (up to 13 cm) and thicknesses (from 40 to 80 microns), but we will consider only the main groups, since knowledge of the rest does not carry any practical benefits for bodybuilding.
Major muscle groups in humans Anatomy and function of the main human skeletal muscles, as exemplified by a bodybuilder, with colorful drawing and the numbering of the muscles for even greater clarity. And at the end, a single photo with the captions of muscle groups bodybuilder.
Neck
Neck connects the head to the body, main function - Ensuring balance and movement of the head, as well as assistance in swallowing and making sounds.
- Scapular-hyoid muscle
- Sternohyoid
- Sternocleidomastoid
- Trapezius muscle
Human neck muscles (side view and back view) Chest
Pectoral muscles occupy a large part of the front of the body, they are attached to the humerus, collarbone, and ribs. Carry out rotating the arms inward, pulling up the torso while climbing, pulling the scapula forward and downward, and helping the diaphragm to breathe.
- Pectoralis major muscle
- Pectoralis minor
- Serratus anterior muscle
- Subclavian muscle
- Intercostal muscles
Human pectoralis anatomy Deltas
In shape they resemble triangle, Greek letter "delta". Participate in abduction of the arm to the sides, as well as extension and flexion of the shoulder. The front bundles of deltas pull the hand forward, and the rear bundles backward.
- Front delta
- Middle delta
- Rear delta
Human delta (shoulder) anatomy Biceps
Muscle biceps consist of a long and short head, joining together to form abdomen, which is attached to the tuberosity of the radius with a tendon.
Anatomy of the biceps (short and long head) Function biceps - to provide flexion of the shoulder at the shoulder joint, and the forearm at the elbow.
- Long head (on the outside of the arm)
- Short head (on the inside of the arm)
Forearm
Muscle forearms - small muscle groups located between the elbow and the wrist, they are divided into a posterior front group, each of which has its own superficial and deep layers.
Carry out extension and flexion of the hand and fingers, as well as the penetrating and supinating movement of the radius.
- Radial extensor of the wrist
- Long abductor thumb muscle
- Round pronator
- Palmar muscle
- Short radial extensor of the wrist
- Short extensor of the thumb
- Flexor of the hand
- Brachioradialis muscle
- Elbow wrist flexor
Forearm anatomy (brachialis, radialis, flexors) Press
Abdominal Press rotates the body to the side (sideways, forward, backward), creates intra-abdominal pressure, protecting the internal organs from damage, forms posture, keeps the spine in a straightened position.
Human abdominal anatomy - Rectus abdominis muscle
- External oblique muscle of the abdomen
- Internal oblique muscle of the abdomen
- Transverse abdominal muscle
Thigh muscles
Carry out abduction, extension and rotation of the thigh outward, pulling the thigh to the body, extension of the lower leg at the knee and its rotation inward, and also hold the body in equilibrium and stretch the wide fascia of the thigh, thereby strengthening the knee joint.
Anterior thigh muscle group
- Tailor
- Quadriceps (quadriceps)
- Straight
- Lateral wide
- Medial wide
- Intermediate wide
Anatomy of the muscles of the front of the thigh Posterior thigh muscle group
- Biceps (hamstrings)
- Common tendon
- Semitendinosus
- Semi-membranous
Muscle anatomy of the back of the thigh Medial thigh muscle group
- Thin
- Comb
- Long leading
- Short leading
- Large leading
Anatomy of the muscles of the medial part of the thigh Shin and calves
Shin occupies a part of the leg, from the knee to the heel, consists of the tibia and fibula. Main function extension of the foot and toes, as well as adduction and rotation of the turn of the foot outward.
Calf muscles refers to two-headed, consist of a medial and lateral head, thanks to them a person takes a stable position in space, keeps the body balance, balance, can rotate ankle joint, raise the heels, bend the feet.
- Peroneus longus muscle
- Medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle
- Tibialis anterior muscle
- Flounder muscle
- Short peroneal muscle
- Long finger extensor
- Upper extensor retainer
- Tibialis anterior tendon
- Lower extensor retinaculum
Calf muscle anatomy (posterior and anterior group) Back
Back muscles perform a supporting role for fixing the spine in a stationary state, by giving a stable position vertebrae, thanks to which it is possible to perform torso turns, flexion, extension and bending, and also support the natural bends (curvature) of the back and play the role shock absorbers when performing movements that create vibration and concussion of the spine.
- Small round muscle
- Big round
- Abdominal muscle
- Rhomboid muscle
- Trapezius muscle
- Spine extensor
- Latissimus dorsi
- Thoracolumbar fascia
- External oblique muscles
Human back muscles anatomy Triceps
Anatomical structure of the human triceps Triceps has three heads, so it is called three-headed muscle of the shoulder, attached to the olecranon of the ulna with a flat wide tendon.
Provides extension of the forearm, as well as bringing the hand to the body and moving the hand back.
- Lateral (lateral) head
- Long (back) head
- Middle (medial) head
Buttocks
Rectangular large gluteal muscles are attached symmetrically to the bones of the spine, pelvis and femur. Carry out function extension of the hip at the hip joint, turning the hip outward, abducting to the side and bringing the hip to the center, as well as helping to straighten the torso while securing the thigh and stabilize knee joint (due to the tension of the fascia lata of the thigh).
- Gluteus maximus muscle
- Gluteus medius muscle
- Gluteus maximus muscle
Human gluteus anatomy Proportionally well-balanced, beautiful muscles are the goal of any bodybuilder, especially when it comes to competitive a level where proportion can decide whether an athlete becomes a champion or not. That is why, below, we want to give a list of effective exercise, for each muscle group, with the help of which, you will be able to "carve out" your own muscle size, such as you want.
Bodybuilder (bodybuilder) body anatomy Exercises for Skeletal Muscle Development
All developmental exercises skeletal muscle can be conditionally divided into two types, insulating (involve one joint), and basic (use two or more joints). You should first of all focus on the basic training of a particular muscle group, because they are most effective. raise muscle mass.
Human skeletal muscle anatomy Isolation exercises are good for separation, muscle relief, which is initial the level of training of a bodybuilder should not care at all.
Trapeze
Muscle trapeze refers to the upper back, are involved in raising and lowering the shoulders.
The best trapeze workout exercise -.
Exercises for the muscles of the trapezium Latissimus dorsi
Attach triangular the shape of the back (especially when the waist is narrow), the wider the back, the more the broadest muscles.
Main function - adduction and extension of the shoulder, internal circular motion (rotation) of the shoulder, and also helps to lower the shoulder girdle.
The best back exercise is.
Exercise for the latissimus dorsi Long back muscle
This muscle group is one of the strongest in the human body, located in the form of two " pillars"That stretch along the lumbar spine.
Main function - holds the muscle corset, and is also responsible for flexion and extension of the trunk.
If you have problems with the spine, or just a weak back, then you just need strengthen these muscles.
The best exercise to strengthen the "pillars" -.
Long back muscle hyperextension Pectoral muscles
Pectoral muscles are involved in the process of inhalation, and also pulls the scapula forward, downward and inward and indirectly contributes to raising the ribs.
Basic pectoral exercise Abdominal Press
Press - one of the most "capricious" muscles in the human body. What would be a beautiful embossed press, it is necessary not only often train him but also watch out food (a layer of fat can corny hide embossed cubes). To anyone interested, you can read in detail about how to build a beautiful press.
Main function - stabilization of the abdominal muscles.
One of the most effective and proven exercise - at an angle downward and.
Gym abdominal exercise Deltas or shoulders
Deltas are divided into three main beams anterior, middle and posterior.
Function in the body - raising, lowering, and rotating the arm.
If you want to have big, pumped ones shoulders do the barbell lift sitting / standing from behind the head and with free weights, as well as for additional, isolated loading of the rear deltas use.
Basic exercise for deltas (shoulders) Biceps
Biceps participates in bending the arm, includes from a long (outer) and short (inner) head.
One of the most effective exercise gym for building big and strong arms - (with a straight bar).
Exercise for the development of biceps Triceps
Triceps performs the function of extending the arm, consists of 3-ex major bundles: internal, medial and lateral.
The best exercises for pumping the mass (volume) of the triceps - on a horizontal bench and push-ups on the uneven bars.
Basic Triceps Exercise Forearms
Forearm is responsible for the movement of the fingers, rotates the hand and clenches the hand into a fist.
Than stronger forearm, the more weight the athlete can lift in a separate exercise, when the load is on the corresponding muscles, for example, in, and also with the help firm grip you can hang on the horizontal bar for a long time, which will greatly facilitate the process of pull-ups.
The best exercises to increase the strength of the forearm, there is no, since they must be trained in a complex manner, in different directions and at different angles (as they do armwrestlers), concerning volume forearms, the leading position is taken by the exercise and extension of the arms at the wrists.
Exercise to develop powerful triceps Gluteal muscles
Buttocks - some of the largest muscles in the body, are involved in bending and straightening the trunk, and is also responsible for turning the hips in and out.
Consists of the gluteus maximus, medius and gluteus maximus muscle.
The best an exercise for pumping elastic buttocks - deep.
Basic glute exercise Hip biceps
Hip biceps participates in the rotation and flexion of the lower leg, as well as in the extension of the thigh and together with the gluteus maximus muscle of the trunk.
Biceps femoris, includes of two heads - long and short.
Isolated Hip Biceps Exercise Quadriceps
Quadriceps consists of 4-ex heads - straight, medially wide, laterally broad, and intermediate broad thigh muscles, therefore it is called quadriceps.
Four-headed the muscle is involved in the extension of the lower leg in the knee joint and hip flexion.
Everything is the same as with the hamstrings - first you pump up the rough muscle mass of the legs by squatting with a barbell on your shoulders, and then start hone her.
The best isolation exercise for pumping large quads is considered.
Effective quadriceps relief exercise Caviar
Calf muscle the most enduring in our body, it is responsible for flexion and extension of the foot, as well as for stabilizing the body when walking and running.
It is quite difficult to enlarge it in size, because our body made it anatomically hardy... And as you know, hardy muscles are not famous for their volumes, therefore, in order to increase the calf muscles, it is necessary to load them with heavy weights, shock them with a load, this is the only way to stimulate muscle growth of the lower leg.
Match the weight on the machine within the range 15-20 repetitions in 3-4 approaches so that the last reps are difficult to complete.
The best exercise for pumping up your calves is in the machine.
Exercise for the calf muscles These skeletal muscle exercises are some of the most effective of their kind, so they should definitely be included in your training program for bodybuilding.
The more muscle group, the more time it takes to recovery her after the training. That is why we strongly recommend that you train in cyclical method, when trying to progress in heavy basic exercises (deadlift, squats with a barbell, bench press), that is, use light, medium and heavy training, or build workouts according to split system (suitable for advanced athletes).
number repetitions in weight exercises, should be in the range 6-12 , in 3-4 approaches, with break 2-2.5 minutes. If your goal is to increase strength, then reduce the number of repetitions to 2-4 , and increase the rest time between sets to 3-5 minutes.
Clear presentation and understanding, training process, will bring you the best results in bodybuilding, your workouts will be more efficient and safer.
Muscles are made up of long muscle fibers that are attached to bones by tendons. Fibers are made up of millions of muscle cells, which are fed by capillaries to nourish them and nerve endings to control their work.
When people say "muscles" they usually mean skeletal muscle. There are also smooth muscles that make up the walls of some internal organs, as well as the heart muscle. The heart muscle is very similar in structure to the skeletal muscle, but it is built into it, thanks to which the heart works continuously throughout a person's life.
The muscle cell is made up of many small sections called sarcomeres. The sarcomere looks like a tube, to the side walls of which long filaments of myosin protein are attached inside, like the bristles of a toothbrush. And in the middle, parallel to these filaments, are actin protein filaments, which consist of many chains ending in a head. They look like small caterpillars with legs.
When an impulse comes to the nerve endings, this is a signal for action, the muscle must be contracted. A chemical reaction is triggered that attracts the actin heads to the myosin filaments, after which the head bends and pulls the myosin and actin filaments towards each other.
As a result, myosin filaments are pulled together and the sarcomere contracts. It turns out that the little caterpillars walk along the bristles of two toothbrushes with their feet and attract them to each other.
The force of contraction of each individual such cell is very small. But since there are a lot of them in the muscle, and the strength is added, the muscle as a whole can develop a lot of effort.
In a relaxed state, the actin heads are detached from myosin and the sarcomere moves back.
This is how it looks in motion:
Why do muscles hurt?
There is a very unpleasant pain in the muscles - when it brings the leg down at night or in the water. This is usually associated with impaired metabolism, lack of potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium or water, poor circulation.
Very often, after serious exertion, the muscles begin to ache the next day. Previously, lactic acid was blamed for this - a product of a chemical reaction during muscle work. But in fact, all the lactic acid leaves the muscles almost immediately after exercise.
Under heavy loads, some of the muscle cells are damaged. But this is not a big deal if there are no really serious injuries: the muscles quickly recover and even then increase in volume and build strength. This restorative activity results in unpleasant dull pain. The masochistic pleasure of muscle pain is justified: you are getting stronger during this time.
When a person moves, he usually does not even suspect that a huge number of mechanical and chemical processes are taking place in his body.
Thousands of reactions add up to the contraction of muscle cells, and we go to work or do something more enjoyable.
Actually, even when a person is sleeping, the muscles work: the sleeping person breathes, his heart beats.
So how do our muscles work?
ATP and ADP
The main thing that is needed for muscle work is energy... The conservation law has not been canceled.
The only source of energy located right in the muscles is a substance with a difficult to pronounce name adenosine triphosphoric acid... For the convenience of the uninitiated, chemists call it three letters - ATP. During the splitting of ATP, quite a lot of energy is released and adenosine diphosphoric acid... Or abbreviated - yes, that's right, ADP.
Three more letters
But here's the trouble - the stock of ATP in the muscles is enough literally for a split second. The reserve of ATP in the muscles is also monitored by a special substance, creatinine phosphate... It is also called with three letters: KrF. It restores ADP to ATP and allows it to hold out for a while. This is an anaerobic process, it runs without oxygen.
But the KrF does not last long - only 5-6 seconds. But the process of energizing muscles with the help of CRF the most efficient and fastest... And these seconds are enough for the starting jerk, for the initial movement, until the rest of the processes of supplying energy to the muscles have time to turn on. The more muscle mass, the more CrF. It is clear why the "pitching" is so strong - and why so briefly.
Glycogen
If we need to work for more than 5-6 seconds (I understand that usually laziness - but we have to), then the next system turns on. It is called glycolytic... Its essence is that the body begins to break down glucose and stored mainly in the liver reserve carbohydrate glycogen. That is, carbohydrates.
This process is also happening without breathing... But even it is enough for about three minutes. Therefore, if you are chasing someone, try to catch up with him during this time, otherwise it will be more difficult.
Aerobic oxidation
If we have to work more than three minutes (it happens in life and this), then we have to breathe. For the continuous work of muscles is provided by a process called oxidative phosphorylation.
It is possible only with an adequate supply of oxygen to the muscles... In this process, both carbohydrates and fats are broken down. If our work is intense and powerful, then carbohydrates are burned, and, if the work is low-intensity and long-term, then fats are burned.
