The three types of muscle found in the human body are skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle. Skeletal muscle Skeletal muscles attach to bones. Their main function when they contract is the movement of the skeleton. Sometimes we call skeletal muscle types striated muscle. This is because of their striped appearance caused by bands of Actin […]
Anatomical planes are the three planes of motion in which we move. Here we explain the frontal, transverse and sagittal planes as well as the anatomical position. Sports scientists and medical professionals use the terminology to describe how the body moves. If you think about it, most of our movements are not straight up and
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Within skeletal muscles, there are three muscle fibre types. Type one (I), type two A (IIa) and type two B (IIb). Each fibre type has different qualities in the way they perform and how quickly they fatigue. Type I muscle fibres Type I muscle fibres are slow-twitch. They are red in colour due to large
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The sliding filament theory of muscle contraction is the mechanism by which muscles are thought to contract at a cellular level. It explains the steps in muscle contraction. A good understanding of skeletal muscle structure is useful when learning how sliding filament theory works. What is sliding filament theory? At a very basic level, each
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Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. All of which, with the exception of the pulmonary artery, carry oxygenated blood. The most widely known artery within the human body is the Aorta. This is the largest of all blood vessels and transports blood away from the left ventricle of the heart
Capillaries are the smallest of all blood vessels and form the connection between veins and arteries. As arteries branch and divide into arterioles and continue to reduce in size as they reach the muscle they become capillaries. Here the capillaries form a capillary bed, which is a vast expanse of very small vessels forming a network throughout the
Veins are blood vessels that carry deoxygenated (or very low levels of oxygen) blood back to the heart. The exception to this rule is the pulmonary vein, which carries oxygenated blood, from the lungs, back to the heart, ready to be pumped around the rest of the body. Venous return At the tissue level, capillaries drain blood
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The heartbeat is caused by impulses arising from two specialised groups of cells within the heart muscle. The Sino-Atrial (SA) node, situated in the wall of the right atrium initiates the beat, and the Atrioventricular (AV) node which is positioned between the ventricles and continues to distribute the wave of impulses. The heartbeat There are
The cardiac conduction system refers to how electrical impulses enable the heart to beat. The heart is unique in that it never tires and is able to generate its own electrical impulses without the need for stimulation from the central nervous system. On average the heart beats approximately 70 beats per minute. Skeletal muscles need
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The heart is a strong, powerful organ, consisting of cardiac muscle. The heart pumps continuously, without resting and without becoming fatigued. Its function is to pump blood to the lungs and around the body. The heart is one of the key organs in the Circulatory System. Anatomy of the heart The heart consists of four chambers and
