The Muscular System

Chapter 10 Section 3
 Muscle Action
 Involuntary muscles- muscles that are
not under your conscious control
 Involuntary muscles are responsible
for activities such as breathing and
digesting
 Voluntary muscles- muscles that are
under your control
 Types of Muscles
Skeletal Muscle
  Smooth Muscle
 Skeletal muscles are  Smooth muscles are
attached to the bones involuntary muscles
of your skeleton  Smooth muscles function
 Skeletal muscles provide automatically to control
the force that moves many types of
your bones movements
 Tendon- a strong Cardiac Muscle


connective tissue that  Cardiac muscle has

attaches muscle to characteristics in
bone common with both
 Skeletal muscle appears smooth and skeletal
banded, or striated muscles
 Skeletal muscles are  Cardiac muscle is
voluntary muscles involuntary muscle and
 Muscles at Work
 Muscles can only contract, not extend,
therefore skeletal muscles must
function in pairs
 While one muscle contracts, the other
muscle in the pair returns to its
original position
 Taking Care of Your
Skeletal Muscles
 Exercise helps to maintain muscular
strength and flexibility
 Exercise makes individual muscle cells
grow wider, and in turn, causes the
whole muscle to become thicker.
 Warming up increases the flexibility of
joints as well as muscles to prvent
injury
 Muscle strain occurs when muscles are
overworked or overstretched
 Tendons can be overstretched or
partially torn
 Review
 Name the three types of muscle tissue. Where is each
type found?
 Skeletal muscle- attached by tendons to bones;
smooth muscle- walls of internal organs; cardiac
muscle- heart
 Describe how the muscles in your upper arm work
together to bend and straighten your arm
 To bend the arm, the biceps shortens, pulling the
forearm up toward the shoulder while the triceps
lengthens. To straighten the arm, the triceps contracts
while the biceps lengthens.
 How do voluntary and involuntary muscles differ in
structure and function?
 Skeletal muscles are striated and smooth muscles
are not striated Skeletal muscles are voluntary, react
quickly, and tire quickly. Smooth muscles are
involuntary, react more slowly, and tire more slowly.