We all know exercise is important for our health, and that having strong flexible muscles is important... But
What exactly is a muscle?
A muscle is connected to (usually) two bones, which then acts as a level to create movement.
The above picture demonstrates this pretty clearly. The bicep muscle shown is used to move the forearm.
Once we understand this we can go into the next level of what a muscle is. The best way to visualise it is to look at is as a rope.
The whole muscle is the rope.
It is made up of the smaller pieces of string (Fascicles) bundled together.
The finer strings are made up of even smaller strands, known as muscle fibers.
When lifting lighter weights, less individual fibers need to be used to move the weight. When lifting very heavy weight the entire muscle needs to be recruited to complete the movement.
This information can then be used to determine how muscles grow. !The number of fibers increase, and the thickness of the fibers increase.!
And there you have it, big muscles!
Here you can even see the faint outline of this man's muscle fascicles
But how does the muscle know how to move?
The muscle receives electrical signals to move. This gets a bit technical but the best way to visualise it is electricity powering an appliance. The motor neuron (nerve) being the power cord and the muscle being the toaster :’)
The blue part is in your brain, and the tail runs alllllll the way to the muscle! Some nerves are over 1 meter long (from the brain to the big toe!)
The bigger the muscle group (e.g. legs) the more electrical signal is needed. Not only has this but the more weight that has to be moved the larger the electrical signal required (to power more muscle fibers).
Hopefully this gives you a solid understanding of what it is that is going on within your body when you are exercising or just going about your day! For those seeking further information on the nitty gritty of muscle function, I recommend researching the Sliding Filament Theory.
Thank you for giving my article a read!
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Yours in strength, Harry Newman