Muscular System Facts

In case you ever wondered how living organisms move, it is due to muscles. Muscles are responsible for the movement of all humans as well as animals. The human muscle system is basically a network of tissues which control movement of and inside the body. Every action done by the body like walking, smiling, running, sitting, standing and even frowning happens only due to contraction and relaxation of muscles.

Cells present in muscles help them contract and then relax them to the actual size. Like a sliding glass door which opens and shuts again, small microscopic fibers present in the cells slide past each other to compress it. When you eat food, muscle cells use up the chemical energy from it to contract and relax.

One of the interesting facts of the muscular system is that some of the muscles are voluntary, while other are involuntary. Voluntary muscles can be controlled by us, while involuntary muscles function by themselves and are controlled by the nervous system. Muscles which control your heart movement, digestive system, respiratory system and other internal organs are involuntary, giving you no control over them. Muscles present in hands, feet and on the face give you total control on their functioning.

Interesting Muscle Facts

There are three types of muscles found in the human body - Skeletal muscles, smooth muscles and cardiac muscles.

Skeletal Muscle

• The human body contains about 650 skeletal muscles.
• All skeletal muscles are attached to the skeleton.
• Skeletal muscles function in pairs - one makes the body part go in one direction while the other one gets it back again to the original position.
• These type of muscles are voluntary muscles. It means that when we think about moving the muscle, the message is transferred to the concerned muscle via the nervous system, which makes it contract.
• Short, long and single are the three types of contractions these muscles are capable of.

Smooth Muscles

• Smooth muscles are present in the body's internal organs like the digestive and respiratory system.
• Smooth muscles are capable of stretching and also maintaining tension over a considerable period of time.
• These muscles are involuntary muscles. It means we do not have control over them and they are controlled directly by the body's nervous system.

Cardiac Muscles

• As the name suggests, cardiac muscles are present only in the human heart.
• Cardiac muscles are capable of contracting like skeletal muscles and also stretching like smooth muscles.
• Cardiac muscles are largely twitch muscles, which means it only shows short single contractions.
• Similar to smooth muscles, cardiac muscles are also involuntary and hence we do not have any control over them.

Muscle System Facts for Kids

• There are more than 30 facial muscles which help create looks of happiness, surprise and sadness on your face.
• It takes 17 facial muscles to smile while 42 facial muscles are used up when you frown.
• The busiest muscles in your body are the eye muscles, which approximately move more than 100,000 times in a day.
• The gluteus maximus muscle, located in the buttocks, is the largest muscle in the human body.
• About 40% of your body weight is accounted for by muscles.
• Contrary to what people assume, muscles do not push, but can only pull.
• There are muscle cells in the longest body muscle which are more than a foot in length.
• Muscles in the middle of the ear are the smallest muscles present in the human body.
• Masseters or chewing muscles are the strongest muscles in the body.
• Whenever you get goose bumps, it is due to tiny muscles present in the bottom of your hair.
• Muscles have about 640 individual names and require food and oxygen to function properly.
• Your eyes move due to the presence of a muscle in there.
• Starorious is the longest muscle in the human body.
• Most of the muscles in the human body are attached to bones.
• As the body gets cold, heat is generated due to shivering which causes rapid muscle contractions.
• One of the important facts of the muscular system is that they can tear in a similar manner like you tear your ligaments or break your bones, and over a period of time with minimal help, mend by themselves.

These facts are both interesting and enlightening too. You realize the importance of your body muscles when you go through these facts of the muscle system. Hence, it is important for your overall health to maintain healthy muscles by eating well and exercising regularly.