Thursday, July 24, 2008

Three Types of Skeletal Muscle Contraction

Skeletal muscle contractions can be concentric or positive, eccentric or negative or isometric. Many skeletal muscle contraction involve muscle fibers shortening, as described in the previous card. Eccentric muscle contractions involve the lengthening of muscle fibers. Individual muscle fibers contract, but the resistance is greater than the force generated, and the muscle lengthens.

During isometric muscle contraction, individual fibers contract, but there is no muscle fiber length change. Usually the pressure exerted by the muscle is equal to the pressure exerted by an outside mass such as another person or a wall.
For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Sliding Filament Theory of Muscle Contraction

Adenosince triphosphate is needed for energy near the actin and myosin muscle fiber filaments. When a nervous impulse comes from the brain or spinal chord, myosin projections called myosin heads attach to actin and form an actinomyosin cross bridge, pulling the attached actin filament. The actin slides to the center of the sarcomere. When the attached actin filament The sacromeres shorten together. The length of the muscle fiber decreases. The muscle fiber length decreases during contraction because the muscle fibers shorten in length.

For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Three Types of Skeletal Muscle

Skeletal muscle can be slow twitch or type I or red, or fast twitch or type II white muscle fiber muscles.
Slow twitch muscles contract slower, contain more mitochondria, and use more oxygen than fast twitch muscles. The slow twitch muscle are fatigue resistant and their fibers are smaller in diameter compared to those of fast twitch muscles. Fast twitch muscle fibers are divided into IIA and IIb types. Type IIa fibers are called fast twitch oxidative because they have more mitochondria than Type IIb, or fast-twitch glycolytic muscles. Most bodybuilders have fast twitch white muscle fibers, while top marathoners have mostly slow twitch red muscle fibers. It is possible to change fast twitch type II to slow twitch type IIa muscle fiber.

For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Types of Muscle

One way to classify muscles is to divide them into three groups: skeletal, smooth and cardiac. Each of these muscle types have different types of cells.

Skeletal muscle, also called voluntary muscle, is attached to bone by tendons and moves the b ones. Skeletal muscles usually move by conscious control.

Smooth muscles lines organs such as the stomach and the intestines. It is under involuntary control.

Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart. This type of muscle, and skeletal muscle are striated. They are made up of sarcomeres which are multi-protein complexes that are myofibril units, composed of three different filament systems.
In skeletal muscle, sarcomeres are arranged into regularly-arranged bundles. Smooth muscle is arranged in uneven irregular angles or intercalated discs. Compared to smooth muscle, skeletal muscle contracts in bursts. Smooth muscle contracts in longer, more steady contractions.

For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Summary of How the Heart Works

The heart muscle is made up of cardiac fibers and is the pump that sends blood to the body cells. It is composed of two upper chambers, or atria, and two lower chambers, ventricles. Blood comes from the body to the atria and is pumped to the body by the ventricles. The atria are primer pumps, and the ventricles are power pumps. The right atrium receives blood from all parts of the body except the lungs. The left atrium receives blood from the lungs. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs and the left ventricle pumps blood to the rest of the body.

Oxygen-depleted blood comes back from the lungs through the vena cava to the right atrium. It then passes through the tricuspid or right atrioventricular (AV) valve into the right ventricle. When the right ventricle contracts, blood is forced from the heart into the pulmonary artery through the pulmonary semilunar valve back to the lungs. Oxygenated blood returns to the left atrium, goes through the mitral or left AV valve to the left ventricle where it is pumped through the largest body artery, the aorta, to all parts of the body besides the lungs. The left ventricle walls are thicker and more powerful than those of the other three heart chambers.

For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hip Rotators

The hip joint is a very complex and powerful one. Hip rotators are used every time you rotate you legs toward or away from the midline of your body. They lie under your gluteus muscles. You can exercise your hip rotators with a large "rubber band" exercise device.

Internal Hip Rotators: Rotate your right ankle to the left 45 degrees. Place the "rubber band" under your right foot and hold the other end with your hands. Keep your left leg straight, but do not lock your knees. Extend your right leg "inward" from your midline, over your left shin, for five sets of ten repetitions. Repeat with your left foot. This foot would be rotated 45 degrees to the left.

External Hip Rotators: Rotate your right ankle to the right about 45 degrees. Place the "rubber band" under your right foot and hold the other end with your hands. Keep your left leg straight, but do not lock your knees. Extend your right leg outward from your midline for five sets of ten repetitions. Repeat with your left foot. This foot would be rotated 45 degrees to the left.

For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Sweat

Sweat is essential to losing weight, especially the first few months that you start on an exercise program. Sweat gets rid of excess water buildup, such as the kind that is there because of carbohydrates latching onto water particles, as well as many toxins such as ammonia and urea from protein breakdown, and excess glucose and salt. Chlorides and minerals are also present in sweat. It destresses the body. When you do a hard workout where you sweat a lot, drink water to replace the water you lose from sweat. You will still be getting rid of toxins.

When your temperature rises too high, your hypothalamus, an endocrine gland in your lower brain, releases a hormone top your pituitary gland which releases another hormone to sweat glands in your skin. The sweat helps your skin cool down. It leaves the body through skin pores. ùWhen it evaporates, you feel cool. It is the body air conditioning system in a sense.

Do not work out in excess heat. See the heat stroke Web log.

For the past several blog posts, I have not created exercise programs. Look to past posts or search by muscle group, and you will find them!

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.