Anatomy and Physiology of

Muscular System

By
 Arivarasan
 Karthi
 Dhana Lakshmi
 Lakshmi
 Nargunan
 Selvam
Introduction
The muscular system is the fleshy covering of the body. The body has
more than 700 muscles that give it form and shape. All body movement
are controlled by the muscle which work by pulling against the
skeleton. Muscles in the body are responsible for moving bones,
pumping blood, moving food through digestive system, and controlling
air movement in and out of the lungs.
 Main function of Muscular system
1. The muscular system creates movement
The primary function of muscular system is to produce voluntary gross and fine movements.
Large movements include walking, standing, running, playing sports and lifting weights and
smaller movements include chewing, closing the eyes, writing and talking are all produced by
the muscular system of the body.
2. It protects the organs
The abdominal muscles and the muscles of the lower back help protect the vital organs of the
body. For instance, bones do not protect the abdominal cavity like the rib cage protects the
heart and the lungs. The rectus abdominus, or “six pack” muscle, the obliques found at the
sides of the torso and the transverse abdominus running side to side across the front of the
abdominal cavity protect the organs from the front and sides. Similarly, the lats,. quadrates
lumborum and the psoas muscles, which run from the bottom area of the ribs to the pelvic
bones protect the organs from the back of the abdominal cavity
3. The cardiac muscle pumps blood
The contraction of the heart muscle is involuntary and primarily controlled by the
heart’s own electrical system. In the human body, the heart is responsible for receiving blood
back from your muscles, pumping it into the lungs then pumping it out into the arteries to
supply the entire body.
4. Smooth muscle aids digestion
The smooth muscles of the stomach and intestines work to process the food we ingest.
The involuntary contractions in the stomach and intestines aid in digestion and in moving the
food along the digestive tract, ultimately directing indigestible substances to the rectum.
5. Smooth muscle ensures blood flow
There are smooth muscles in the walls of the blood vessels. When the heart contracts,
the arteries expand to accept blood. The smooth muscles in your arteries contract to push the
blood throughout the blood vessel systems in the body. This is why when plaque builds up on
the inside of the walls of the arteries, the arteries harden and the muscles in your arteries do
not contract properly
Major Properties of the muscular system
1. Contractility is the ability of muscle cells to forcefully shorten. For instance,
in order to flex (decrease the angle of a joint) your elbow you need
to contract (shorten) the biceps brachii and other elbow flexor muscles in the
anterior arm. Notice that in order to extend your elbow, the posterior arm
extensor muscles need to contract. Thus, muscles can only pull, never push
2. Excitability is the ability to respond to a stimulus, which may be delivered
from a motor neuron or a hormone.
3. Extensibility is the ability of a muscle to be stretched. For instance, let's
reconsider our elbow flexing motion we discussed earlier. In order to be able
to flex the elbow, the elbow extensor muscles must extend in order to allow
flexion to occur. Lack of extensibility is known as spasticity.
4. Elasticity is the ability to recoil or bounce back to the muscle's original length
after being stretched
Types of Muscle Movement
Flexion – is a bend that decrease angle at two bones.
Extension – is a movement which straightens there by increasing the
angle at a joint (opposite of flexion).
Rotation – is a movement where the bone is moved around the central
axis.
Abduction – is the movement of a bone away from the center line of
the body.
Adduction – is the movement of a bone towards the center line of the
body
Circumduction – this is all five movements done (possible at the
shoulder when we move our arm in circular
Based on their structure, functioning and occurrence
three different types of muscles tissues have been
identified. They are the
1.Skeletal muscle
2.Smooth muscles
3.cardiac muscles
1) Skeletal muscles or striped muscles
These muscles are attached to the bones. The muscle cells are long
and cyclindrical. The voluntary muscles cause body movements.

2) Visceral muscles or Nonstriated muscles

These are found in the walls of the inner organs such as blood
vessels, stomach and intestine. The muscle cells are spindle shaped.
The are involuntary in nature.

3) Cardiac muscle
These are found in the wall of the heart. The muscles cells are
cyclindrical and branched. The muscles are involuntary in nature.
Shapes of muscles.
There is a wide variety of shapes and sizes in muscles. Based on
general shape and the orientation or muscle fibres in relation to the
direction of pull, they can be grouped into two classes.

1. Parallel : These muscle fibres are parallel to the line of pull. The
muscles may be flat, short, quadrilateral or long and strap like. The
individual fibres run the entire length of the muscle.

2. Oblique : These muscle fibres are oblique to the line of pull. The
muscles may be triangular or pennate (feather-like). The pennate forms
may be unipennate, bipennate, multipennate or circumpennate. Some
muscles have a spiral or twisted arrangement
 Naming of muscles.
The muscles are named according to their size, shape, position and action.
Shape Size
deltoid - triangular major - large
quadratus - square minor - small
gracilis - slender longus - long
lattismus - broadest
Number of Heads Position
biceps - 2 heads dorsi - of the back
triceps - 3 heads pectoralis - of the chest
quandriceps - 4 heads brachii - of the arm
anterior, posterior.
Depth Action
superficialis - superficial extensor
internus - internal, flexor constrictor
profundus - deep Flexor.
Distribution of muscles
I. Muscles of the head
There are two groups of muscles. They are craniofacial and masticatory
muscles. The craniofacial muscles are related to eye orbital margins, eyelids, nose,
nostrils, lips, cheeks, mouth, pinna, and the scalp. These muscles are also known as
muscles of facial expression. Among these muscles those that are related to the lip
movement are significant. The facial expression is mostly due to lip movement and
positioning of the lips. Such thought related movements are caused by several
muscles associated with lips and the skin around the mouth. Since orbicularis oris
and buccinator muscles provide lip movement for kissing posture they are known as
“kissing muscles”. Smiling is accomplished by zygomasticus major and minor,
levator anguli oris and risorius. The muscles of the lips can also provide expressions
such as sneering and frowning. The chin dimples are located between the mentalis
muscles.
 The masticatory (or speech) muscles move the mandible of the lower jaw.
The muscles responsible for this movement are masseter temporalis and pterygoid.
Tongue movements are caused by intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. Swallowing of
food is facilitated by several muscles related to the mouth, roof of pharynx, uvula
and other regions.
II. Muscles of the Neck region.
The movements of the neck region are caused by cervical, suprahyoid,
infrahyoid and vertebral muscles.
III. Muscles of the Trunk region.
The muscles of the vertebral column help to bend and rotate the body.
These are strong back muscles that help the trunk to maintain erect
posture. The most prominent muscles of this region are the erector
spinae, longissimus and spinalis.
Four important thoracic muscle groups are associated with the process
of breathing. While the process of inspiration is due to scalene and
external intercostal muscles, the expiration is performed due to internal
intercostals and transverse thoracis. Major breathing movement is due
to diaphragm, a curved musculofibrous sheet that separates thoracic
and abdominal cavities.
Abdominal muscles can aid in forced expiration, vomitting,
defaecation, urination and childbirth.
 The inferior opening of the pelvic bone is covered by pelvic diaphragm muscles.
Below these muscles perineum is pressent. The perineum and other “subfloor”
muscles form the urogenital diaphragm. Pelvic and urogenital diaphragm may get
strecthed in pregnancy due to weight of the foetus. However by specific exercises
they can be strengthened.
IV. Muscles of the upper limb.
The hands are attached to the pectoral girdle and to the vertebral column by
large conspicuous muscles such as trapezius, rhomboid major and minor, levator
scapulae and lattissimus dorsi.
The trapezius is a flat, triangular muscle. It extends over the back of the neck
and upper thorax. It maintains the level and poise of the shoulder. It helps to
rotate the scapula forward, so that the arm can be raised above the head. It helps
to bend the neck backwards and laterally.
Latissimus dorsi is a large flat triangular muscle. It is a conspicuous muscle
stretching over the lumbar region and lower thorax. This muscle is useful in
adduction, extension and medial rotation of the humerus. It helps in the
backward swinging of the arm. By raising the arm above the head it helps to pull
the trunk upwards and forwards. It is useful in violent expiratory activities such
as coughing or sneezing. It helps in deep inspiration.
 Serratus anterior and pectoralis major connect the ribs to the scapula.
Pectoralis major extends from the upper thorax and abdomen to act on the
humerus. It is a fan shaped muscle. It spreads between the clavicle and the 7th
costal cartilage in the front of the chest. It helps to swing the extended arm
forward and medially. It helps in climbing. It is active in deep inspiration. The
muscles of the upper arm are the coracobrachialis, biceps, triceps and brachialis.
The coracobrachialis arises from the coracoid bone in the shoulder and ends in
the humerus of the upper arm. It helps to move the arm forward and medially.
The biceps brachii is a large fusiform muscle. It has two proximal heads for
attachement. They are connected to the coracoid and shoulder joint. The lower
head ends in the radius of the lower arm. It is a powerful muscle causing flexing
of the hand. The triceps arises by three heads from scapula and upper part of
humerus on the posterior side. The wrist, hand and finger movements are caused
by several extrinsic and intrinsic hand muscle
 V. Muscles of the lower limb.
Thigh movements are caused by anterior, postereolateral and deep muscles. The
anterior muscles are the iliacus and psoas major which help to flex the thigh.
The gluteus maximus form the mass of the buttocks region. Leg movement is
caused by the anterior thigh muscles, quadriceps femoris and sartorius. The
sartorius is the longest muscle of the body. It runs from the hip to the knee.
Muscle movement of ankle foot and toe are caused by several groups of
extrinsic and intrinsic muscles. A detailed study of them could be made in
higher classes.