1 C H A P T E R Muscle Physiology
Chapter Outline Skeletal muscle macrostructure and microstructure Sliding-filament theory of muscular contraction Fiber types Types of muscle action Force production
Three Types of Connective Tissue: Epimysium, Perimysium, and Endomysium
A Motor Unit
Sectional View of a Muscle Fiber
Detailed View of Myosin and Actin Protein Filaments in Muscle
The discharge of an action potential from a motor nerve signals the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum into the myofibril, causing tension development in muscle.
Contraction of a Myofibril: Stretched Muscle
Contraction of a Myofibril: Partially Contracted Muscle
Contraction of a Myofibril: Completely Contracted Muscle
Calcium and ATP are necessary for myosin cross-bridge cycling with actin filaments.
Type II, or fast-twitch, muscle fibers are capable of developing higher forces than Type I, or slow-twitch, muscle fibers— especially at higher velocities of muscle action.
The number of cross-bridges that are attached to actin filaments at any instant in time dictates the force production of a muscle.
Force-Velocity Curve for Eccentric and Concentric Actions
Three Arrangements of Muscle Fibers Fibers parallel to tendon Unipennate muscle Bipennate muscle
Many factors may affect rate of cross-bridge cycling and thus force, including neural activation, calcium concentration, myosin ATPase activity, preloading, prestretch, muscle fiber type and ultrastructure, fatigue through a variety of mechanisms, and number of contractile components (myosin and actin) in parallel.