Learning fascinating stuff
- In physiology the muscles in the body are viewed a lot like actual machines. These muscles (skeletal muscles to be exact) have an efficiency of only about 25% and waste a lot of energy from food as heat. They act on a fulcrum system (eg; the elbow joint is the pivot and biceps muscles acts at a distance of 2mm from the ‘fulcrum’). We can map force-extension maps of muscle fibers like any other physical material like steel (although muscles are a bit more complicated). So yeah, there is a lot of math and physics while studying muscle physiology.
- We all know about red meat and white meat regarding diet. What’s interesting is: Red meat is actually made up of slow muscle fibers that need to contract slowly for extended periods of time (eg; the muscles that keep your back straight). They have high levels of myoglobin for long term oxygen supply hence they are red in color. In contrast, white meat is made up of fast muscle fibers that contract and relax fast (like muscles controlling your eye ball movement). They are white because they lack myoglobin molecules (because they don’t really need them).
- The word tetany, tetanus and tetanization mean different things but are related to each other! Tetany is a condition of involuntary muscle contraction. Tetanus is a bacterium that causes muscle cramps. Tetanization is physiological process when frequency of contraction of each muscle fiber increases, by the summation of which, the muscle seems to contract as a single body. These terms mean different things, but they are all related to muscle contractions. Don’t be confused!
- Muscles show significant grow when put into sufficient stress (a process called hypertrophy) within 6 to 10 weeks with just a few strong contractions a day. Hence workout everyday even if it’s for a short time. Consistency is the key for muscle hypertrophy!
- Similarly, if you don’t exercise enough, then your muscles naturally start to degrade and loose mass; a process called atrophy. This happens naturally, but in some genetic diseases and cases of paralysis, this process is especially acute and can cause deformity to the body. If the atrophy is really bad, then your muscles will be replaced by fibrous and fatty tissues (a process called, contracture).
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