All Movement Is the Result of Contraction of Skeletal Muscle Across a Movable Joint
All body movement is the result of contraction of skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle consists of a central, tieshy, contractile muscle “belly” and two tendons, one on each end of the muscle.
The muscle and its tendons are arranged in the body so that they originate on one bone and insert on a different bone while spanning a joint. As the muscle contracts, shortening the distance between the origin and insertion tendons, the bones move in relation to each other, bending at the joint (Figure 6-1). When activated by a motor nerve, a skeletal muscle can only shorten. Most joints have one or more muscles on both sides, either to decrease its angle (flexion) or to increase its angle (extension).All movement performed by an animal is the result of contraction of skeletal muscle across a movable joint. It is therefore important to understand the anatomy and physiology of skeletal muscle before discussing how the nervous system choreographs the contraction of groups of muscle cells to perform an impressive array of body movements.
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