How Skeletal and Muscular Systems Connect Together to Create Body Movement
Skeletal muscles are attached to bones by tendons, which use the bones as levers to move the body and its parts. Skeletal muscle needs to pass over a joint to create movement. Muscle contraction pulls one bone towards another and thus moves the limb. Muscles never work alone, any movement results from the actions of several muscles. Muscles mostly work in pairs. Each pair contains an agonist (the contracting muscle) and an antagonist (the opposing, relaxing muscle). The agonist and the antagonist must contract and relax equally to ensure a smooth, non-jerky movement. An example of an agonist/antagonistic pair is the bicep and triceps. All muscles work by contraction but each muscle performs a specific action (type of movement) in order to move the body. There are several different actions including:
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the sole of the foot)
• Eversion (turning outwards away from the centre e.g. the sole of the foot)
• Dorsiflexion ( flexing/bending the foot upwards, with the toe up and the heel down)
• Plantarflexion (flexing/bending the foot downwards towards the ground, with the toe down and the heel up e.g. walking)
• Rotation (rotating the head at the neck)
• Supination (turning a limb to face upwards)
• Pronation (turning a limb to face