The Muscular System
Functions
One major function of the muscular system is to move your body. These movements are anything from walking to blinking. Muscles work in pairs in order to pull your bones. The central nervous system gives your muscle fibers to either contract or relax and that is how muscles move. Another function of the muscular system is to pump blood. Cardiac muscle specifically pumps blood and are responsible for getting blood throughout the body. . Heat generation is also a function for the muscular system. When muscles contract, and the bones move, heat is produced. This is why we shiver when we are cold because moving our muscles produces heat. The muscular system also helps us to maintain good posture. We are able to sit or stand for a long amount of time because our muscles are constantly contracting and relaxing. Finally the muscular system stabilizes your joints because tendons spread across your joints. Joints are where two bones meet and when tendons are held tightly by muscles the joints stabilize.
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Cardiac muscle tissue is involuntary and striated with long branching fibers and a centrally located nucleus. They attach to each other rather than toward bone. This type of tissue makes up the Mydocardium in the heart.
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Skeletal muscle tissue is striated and voluntary. It usually attached to bone and it is single long strand. It also has large cells with many nuclui. These muscles make up the musculoskeletal system, which is the combination of muscles and boned.
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Smooth muscle is found in the digestive system, stomach, your eyes, and the arterial walls. It is non-striated and usually in sheets or layers behind each other. They are involuntary and appear spindle-shaped. They are smaller than skeletal muscles and they only have one nucleus. Smooth muscle is also non-striated.