Obstacles Muscular System

Major muscles, muscular system and fibre types

I am the captain of a local sports team and preparing for the up and coming season. My coach and I have spoken and noticed some players have a lack of knowledge of how the muscular system works. My coach has asked me to complete a document outlining the different functions and different fibre types each human body has to broaden the knowledge of the players.

Agonist: A muscle whose contraction moves a part of the body directly, for example when your arm is flexed your bicep is the agonist

Antagonist: The antagonist is the muscle within the pair that relaxes when the other is contracted. An example of this will be when your arm is flexed your tricep is the antagonist.

Fixator: The fixator is the muscle that stabilises the agonist and the joint in order to help the agonist function most effectively. In the

Synergist muscles also help to create the movement. In the bicep curl the synergist muscles are the brachioradialis and brachialis which assist the biceps to create the movement and stabilise the elbow joint

Type of contraction

Concentric Contraction

From the Sport and PE book by Kevin Wesson, Nesta Wiggins-James, Graham Thompson and Sue Hartigan I have gained some extra information on concentric contraction. Within the book it explains that this type of contraction involves the muscle shortening while contracting. A main example of this would be that this occurs during the upward phase of a bicep curl in the tricep.

Eccentric Contraction

An eccentric muscle contraction is a type of muscle activation that increases tension on a muscle as it lengthens. Eccentric contractions typically occur when a muscle opposes a stronger force, which causes the muscle to lengthen as it contracts.

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