The Biomechanics of Human Skeletal

Muscle
Types of muscles

 Cardiac muscle: composes the heart

 Smooth muscle: lines hollow internal organs
 Skeletal (striated or voluntary) muscle: attached to skeleton
via tendon

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Skeletal muscle
• Muscle is the only tissue capable of actively developing
tension
• skeletal, muscle performs the important functions of
maintaining upright body posture, moving the body limbs,
and absorbing shock
• the human nervous system and the muscular system are
often referred to collectively as the neuromuscular system
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit
• Behavioral properties of muscle tissue:
1. Extensibility
2. Elasticity
3. Irritability
4. Ability to develop tension

• Behavioral properties common to all

muscle:
 Cardiac, smooth, skeletal
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit

1) Extensibility: ability to be stretched or to

increase in length
2) Elasticity: ability to return to normal
resting length following a
stretch
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit
Two Components of elastic behavior:
a) Parallel elastic component - passive elasticity
derived from muscle membranes
b) Series elastic component - passive elasticity
derived from tendons when a tensed muscle is
stretched
Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit

From a mechanical perspective, the musculotendinous unit

behaves as a contractile component (muscle fibers) in
parallel with one elastic component (muscle membranes)
and in series with another elastic component (tendons).
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit
• Contractile component
Muscle property enabling tension development by
stimulated muscle fibers

• The elasticity of human skeletal muscle is believed to be

due primarily to the SEC
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit
• Viscoelastic: Having the ability to stretch or shorten over time
• Both the SEC and the PEC have a viscous property that enables muscle to
stretch and recoil in a time-dependent fashion.
• Muscle’s viscoelastic property enables it to progressively lengthen over time
when stretched.
 Behavioral Properties of the
Musculotendinous Unit
3) Irritability
 The ability to respond to electrical or mechanical
stimulus.
4) Ability to develop tension
 Response to stimulus is the development of
tension.
 Not necessarily a contraction
Structural Organization of Skeletal
Muscle
• In Human body
 40-45% of total body weight in adults
 75 muscle pairs responsible for bodily movements and posture

1. Muscle Fibers
2. Motor Units
3. Fiber Types
4. Fiber Architecture
 1. Muscle Fibers
• A single muscle cell is termed a muscle fiber
• The
membrane surrounding the muscle fiber is
sometimes called the sarcolemma.
• The specialized cytoplasm is termed sarcoplasm
 1. Muscle Fibers
Structure & organization
o Several layers of connective tissue provide the superstructure for
muscle fiber organization
o Each sarcolemma, is surrounded by a thin connective tissue called
the endomysium
o Fibers are bundled into fascicles by connective tissue sheaths
referred to as the perimysium.
o Groups of fascicles forming the whole muscles are then surrounded
by the epimysium, which is continuous with the muscle tendons

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1. Muscle Fibers
 1. Muscle Fibers

• A network of membranous channels known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum is

associated with each fiber externally
• Internally, the fibers are transected by tiny tunnels called transverse tubules that
open only externally.
1. Muscle Fibers

• The sarcoplasm of a muscle fiber contains parallel,

threadlike myofibrils, each composed of myosin and
actin filaments
 1. Muscle Fibers
Sarcomere

The sarcomere is the basic

structural unit of the muscle fiber.
The alternating dark and light
bands give muscle its striated
appearance. The A bands contain
thick, rough myosin filaments
surrounded by six thin, smooth
actin filaments. The I bands
contain only thin actin filaments.
 1. Muscle Fibers
• Sliding filament theory: relative movement of actin & myosin
filaments yields active sarcomere shortening
• Myosin heads or cross-bridges generate contraction force
• Sliding of actin filaments toward center of sarcomere: decrease
in I band and Z lines move closer

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2) Motor Units

• Motor unit: A motor unit consists of a single neuron and all

muscle fibers innervated by that neuron.
2) Motor Units
• The axon of each motor neuron subdivides many times so
that each individual fiber is supplied with a motor end
plate
• Motor units are typically confined to a single muscle and
are localized within that muscle
• Single motor unit may contain 100 to 2000 fibers
2) Motor Units
• 1 end plate for single fiber.
• Motor units confined to a single muscle called motor pool
• Precisely controlled movements are produced by motor
units with small numbers of fibers
• Gross, forceful movements are usually the result of the
activity of large motor units.
 Characters of fiber contraction
• Twitch Type
 Impulse reaches the peak valve in less then 100msec
• Tonic Type
 Summation occurs and tension is progressed
 Summation: (Building on an additive fashion)
• Tetanus type:
 state of muscle producing sustained maximal tension resulting from
repetitive stimulation
 Prolonged tetanus leads to decline in tension development
 3) Fiber type
• The fibers of some motor units contract to reach maximum
tension more quickly than do others after being stimulated.

• Based on this fibres are distinguished as:

1. fast twitch (FT)

2. slow twitch (ST).

 Structural Organization of
Skeletal Muscle
Tension FT ST
Twitch

Time

Fast twitch (FT) fibers reach peak tension and relax more
quickly than slow twitch (ST) fibers. (Peak tension is
typically greater for FT than for ST fibers.)
 3) Fiber type
1. Fast Twitch (White)
 Absence of myoglobin and a reliance on glycolytic enzymes
 Type IIa = fast-twitch oxidative glycolytic (FOG)
fatigue resistant, characteristic of ST fibers
 Type IIb = fast-twitch glycolytic (FG)
fatigues more rapidly, larger in diameter (than type IIa)
 Important contributors to success in activities that require powerful muscular
contraction, ex: sprinting and jumping.

2. Slow Twitch(Red)
 a fiber that reaches peak tension relatively slowly
 Type I= slow-twitch Oxidative (SO), use oxidative metabolism to generate ATP
 Important for endurance events that require effective functioning of fatigue-
resistance, ex: swimming,
 Differences between FT and ST
Which is Thicker?
• FT fibers are larger in diameter than ST fibers, and because of this,
they usually fatigue more quickly than ST

Which is more powerful?

 Differences between FT and ST
Variations?
• Athletes involved in events that require strength and power tend to have
unusually high proportions of FT fibers, and those involved in endurance
events have high proportions of ST fibers.

What is the speed difference?

• Peak tension reached in FT in 1/7 time of ST

What is the percentage of these fibers in ordinary person?

• Percentages of each range from muscle to muscle and individual to individual .
e.g. soleus (postural muscle) contains mainly ST fibres and gastrocenemius
contains FT more than ST
Elite sprint cyclists are likely to have muscles composed of
a high percentage of FT fibres
 Differences between FT and ST
• Slow twitch (ST) fibers are easier to activate than fast
twitch (FT) fibers

• ST fibers are always recruited first Increasing speed, force,

or duration of movement.
 Differences between FT and ST
• Two factors known to effect muscle fiber type composition
are:
1. Age

2. Obesity

• There is a progressive age related decline in number of

motor units and muscle fibers and in the size of type II
fibers
Differences between FT and ST
4) Fiber Architecture
• Muscle fibers are organized as:
• Parallel fiber arrangement: fibers are
roughly parallel to the longitudinal axis of
the muscle; examples?
• Sartorius,rectus abdominis, and biceps brachii
• Pennate fiber arrangement: short fibers attach to
one or more tendons within the muscle; examples?
• Tibialis posterior, rectus femoris, and deltoid
4) Fiber Architecture
4) Fiber Architecture

• Pennate fiber arrangement promotes muscle force

production, and parallel fiber arrangement
facilitates muscle shortening
4) Fiber Architecture
Parallel fiber arrangement Pennate fiber arrangement

Fibers may not extend through whole Fiber lie at an angle to muscle
muscle longitudinal axis.

Interconnection with neighboring

fibers.

parallel fiber arrangement facilitates Pennate fiber arrangement promotes

muscle shortening muscle force production

Sartorius,rectus abdominus,biceps Tibialis posterior, rectus

brachii,quadratus lumborum , digastric femoris,deltoid,extensor digitorum
logus
4) Fiber Architecture
Pennate fibers

• The angle of pennation increases

as tension progressively increases
in the muscle fibers.

Relaxed With tension

development

• Greater the angle of pennation,productive force will be less effective

• If angle exceeds 60 degree effective forces transferred to the tendon is half of
the force produced
4) Fiber Architecture
• Although pennation reduces the effective force generated at a
given level of fiber tension, this arrangement allows the
packing of more fibers than the amount that can be packed
into a longitudinal muscle occupying equal space.
• therefore, pennate muscles can generate more force than
parallel fibered muscles of the same size.
Summary
• Muscle fibers
• Motor units
• Fiber type
• Fiber composition
References
• Hall, S. J. Basic Biomechanics, (5th ed.), (Chinese,
Korean, and Portuguese editions also published) (2006).
Dubuque: McGraw-Hill.