In this assignment, I will be describing, explaining and analysing muscle fibres, types of muscular movement, antagonistic muscle action,

and the structure, functions and characteristics of all three.

Structure > How something is made Characteristics > ways to identify something or what it does

Muscle Fibres
Muscle creates movement in the human body. The muscle pulls on a tendon, which then creates force to pull the bone in the desired direction. There are three different types of muscle fibre in the human body, Type 1, Type 2a, Type 2b.

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Type 1 Muscle Fibres

These are anatomically referred to as, Slow Oxidative Fibres or SO for short. These fibres operate with oxygen. Structure These fibres have an incredibly good blood supply due to the dense capillary network surrounding them. Capillaries are the narrowest type of blood vessel, all body cells lie close to capillaries so they can receive the food and oxygen they require from the capillaries, this means these fibres will receive more oxygen than any other type. They have the correct enzymes to produce energy for long periods of time. They have large amounts of myoglobin and large amounts of mitochondria meaning the fibres will be able to produce energy over a long period of time. These are connected to slow firing nerve cells meaning the amount of force produced will be low. Characteristics These fibres are able to work at a low intensity but for a long duration before becoming fatigued. These are highly suited to sub-maximal aerobic work. This means that they are specifically tailored to working just below maximum effort in the aerobic training threshold. They contract slowly but repeatedly and exert low levels of force. These fibres are extremely resistant to fatigue and so can work for prolonged periods of time. This is suited to aerobic activities such as marathons due to the low intensity work over a prolonged period of time without rest.

Type 2a Muscle Fibres

These are anatomically referred to as, Fast Oxidative Glycolytic Fibres or FOG for short. These fibres operate with and without oxygen. Structure This fibre is referred to as being the hybrid muscle fibre out of the three as it has a similar structure to both. They are seen as being a combination of Type 1 and Type 2b muscle fibres. They have the ability to use aerobic and anaerobic metabolism rather than just one or the other. The fibre contracts faster than Type 1 fibres as they have a much larger nerve cell but not as fast type 2. These fibres dont fatigue as easily as

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Type 2 fibres, but easier than type 1. They have a fairly large amount of mitochondria for energy. Large amounts of myoglobin and a fairly good surrounding of blood capillaries for continuous delivery of nutrients.

Characteristics This fibre is completely suited for games players such as footballers and rugby players. This is because these sports require a combination of jogging at low intensities for a prolonged period of time, while they require short bursts of speed at times during a match.

Type 2b Muscle Fibres

These are anatomically referred to as, Fast Glycolytic Fibres or FG for short. These fibres operate without oxygen. Structure Type 2B fast twitch fibres are referred to as being the classic fast twitch muscle fibre due its primary use of producing quick, powerful bursts of force over a short period of time. It uses only anaerobic metabolism to work. This muscle fibre has the fastest rate of contraction of the muscle fibres, but it also fatigues the fastest/ easiest, these fibres also require longer periods of rest to be able to go again at full potential. It's able to carry out the fast powerful movements due to the large nerve cells that it has. Due to the small amount of capillaries, mitochondria and myoglobin facilitating the cells, the fibres fatigue very easily. Characteristics These fibres are specifically tailored to activities such as the 100m sprint Olympic event and Olympic weightlifting. This is because these sports work at higher intensity by using powerful bursts of force/ speed for a short period of time.

Here is a table showing the different characteristics of the muscle fibre types:-

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Characteristic
Contraction Speed Motor Neurone Size Force Produced Fatigability Mitochondria Myoglobin Glycogen Store Capillaries Aerobic Capacity Anaerobic Capacity Elasticity

Type 1
Slow Small

Type 2a
Fast Large

Type 2b
Fast Large

Low Long Duration High High Low Dense Network High Low

High Medium Duration Medium Medium Medium Medium Density Medium Medium

High Short Duration Low Low High Low Density Low High

Low

Medium

High

Antagonistic Muscle Action

All muscles in the human body work in pairs. Only one of these two muscles can be working at a time, this is called the agonist or prime mover. The antagonist is the other muscle that must relax while the agonist is working. Antagonistic muscle action is required in human skeletal muscle as muscles can only exert a force that pulls, and so cannot push themselves back in their original positions, so the other muscle must carry
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this task out for it by pulling in the opposite direction. The best example to demonstrate antagonistic muscle action is at the upper arm also known as the humerus. The two muscles that work in unison are the biceps brachii and triceps brachii. When the bicep is the agonist it is contracting and shortening under tension, the biceps tendon pulls on the radioulnar joint to move the lower arm. To do this, the triceps must lengthen and relax to allow the biceps to do its job and provide force in that direction. However, if the triceps were to become the agonist, then the bicep would lengthen and relax to allow the tricep to contract, and shorten under tension, this creates the force to pull on the triceps tendon. Muscular imbalance can occur in a muscle or muscle group if one muscle in the pair, a muscle is overdeveloped by contracting one muscle in the pair a lot with resistance, while the other doesnt barely ever contracts against resistance. A common mistake by for new gym members is too overtrain their biceps, and never training their triceps. The bicep will become a lot stronger and it will exert too much force for the tricep to handle and could result in injury such as a muscle tear.

Muscle Fibre Differentiation Percentages

All people on earth are born with a different percentage of each muscle fibre; this is primarily down to acquired genetics from parents. There are many famous quotes related to this topic when referring to sport. One could be, I am the perfect sports person as I chose my parents. This is obviously flawed as it is impossible to choose your parents. Our anatomy suggests that a sports person is determined by their

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genetics rather than skill and experience. Here are a few examples of genetically determined muscle fibre differentiation:-

Marathon Runner
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Type 1 Fibre Type 2a Fibre Type 2b Fibre Marathon Runner

Powerlifter
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Type 1 Fibre Type 2a Fibre Type 2b Fibre Powerlifter

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An athlete can train the fibres to their optimum performance and efficiency, but you cant gain any more fibres than you are born with.

Fixators and Synergists

Fixators or Synergists are muscles that stabilize a part of the body to so that another other can create movement in a certain direction, isolating movements for a specific joint. Synergists allow prime movers or agonists to do their job. Everyone needs stability and flexibility at their joints. Without stability, a joint will be weak and wont operate fully functional. Two primary synergists of the body are the deep trunk muscles of the transverse abdominis and multifidus. These work to stabilize the spine so the body can stay upright. An example of the rectus abdominis acting as a synergist is during a bicep curl, the anterior deltoid also acts as a synergist preventing the shoulder from moving during the movement. The rectus abdominis is constantly contracting under tension to keep the torso straight, this allows the biceps brachii to contract and cause flexion at the elbow. Other smaller synergists such as small muscles at the knees and ankles work to stabilize the joints so the primary muscle groups can work more efficiently; this allows humans to balance on their feet.

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Types of Muscular Contraction

There are different types of contraction that muscles can perform. Concentric A concentric contraction is one which causes the muscle to shorten as it contracts to generate force. The best example would be the biceps brachii when making flexion at the elbow. As the biceps contracts to pull on the tendon which pulls on the radioulnar joint, the muscle itself shortens to generate the force required. These contractions are the most common type of muscular contraction. These contractions happen all the time during day to day activities. A sporting example would be during a shoot at goal in netball. As the triceps create extension of the humerus, the triceps shorten to generate the force. Eccentric An eccentric contraction is one which causes the muscle to lengthen as it contracts to generate the force. This is the opposite of a concentric contraction. This is a lot less common than its opposite and usually happens due to muscles contracting against gravity like in the lowering or reverse phase of a bench press. The triceps are lengthening to lower the bar, but must do so under tension to stop the triceps lengthening too quickly, eccentric muscular contractions have been heavily linked to the involvement of injuries in sport such as football. Isometric An isometric muscular contraction is one which the muscle contracts under tension, but creates no movement at a joint, the muscle stays in a static position. This means that there is no change in the length of the muscle, and no movement at the joint. One example of an isometric contraction is pushing against a static object such as a wall. Isometric contractions have been beneficial to rehabilitation of muscles and joints as no stress is put on the joint and the muscle does not change its length. Some sports are known for their high involvement of isometric contractions and muscular strength. One honourable mention would be in downhill skiing, performers quadriceps need to be able to hold an isometric contraction for prolonged periods of time.

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Huxleys Sliding Filament Theory

This theory describes a process used by muscles to contract. It was developed by Andrew F. Huxley, Rolf Niedergerke and Jean Hanson in 1954. Here are the five stages of the process of muscular contraction according to the theory, all information was taken and referenced from, (www.elitefts.com/documents/sliding_filament.htm).

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1. Myosin heads bind to the passive actin filaments at the myosin binding sites. 2. Upon strong binding, myosin and actin undergo an isomerization (myosin rotates at the myosin-actin interface) extending an extensible region in the neck of the myosin head. 3. Shortening occurs when the extensible region pulls the filaments across each other (like the shortening of a spring). Myosin remains attached to the actin. 4. The binding of ATP allows myosin to detach from actin. While detached, ATP hydrolysis occurs "recharging" the myosin head. If the actin binding sites are still available, myosin can bind actin again. 5. The collective bending of numerous myosin heads (all in the same direction), combine to move the actin filament relative to the myosin filament. This results in muscle contraction.

All images were taken from, (www.google.com/images).

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Toby Campbell - 12MJL