Muscular System Function
Movement
The most obvious function of the muscular system is movement. Organisms
have adopted a variety of methods to use the contractile function of the
muscular system to move through the environment. The most basic
movements of fish include contracting muscles on opposite sides of the body
in succession. This action propels them through the water.
In organisms with limbs, tendons and other connective tissues are
used to secure muscles to the joints and skeleton. Skeletons may be
internal like the human skeletons, or they may be external like
the exoskeleton of crabs. The nervous system coordinates the contraction of
the muscular system to synchronize the movement of the limbs. Animals like
the cheetah, swordfish, and bat have obtained speeds above 60 miles per
hour or more through the power of their muscles alone.
In general, the muscular system has a basic structure which allows muscles to
move limbs and create force. A muscle is always situated between two bones,
connected to the bones via tendons, which are fibrous and flexible tissues that
can attach to bones. The action of each individual cell shortening
causes the muscle to shorten as a whole. This pulls on the tendon on
each side of the muscle, causing a force on the bones. The bones, if they are
connected to a joint, can move in response to this force.
Some bones are stationary, which allows the muscle to pull against them. This
is the case with muscles like the diaphragm, which is connected to two
stationary bones. When the diaphragm contracts, it forces the air out of the
chest cavity because all of the force is directed upward.
Together, the many different types and connections of muscles function to
allow your body a complete range of movement. Thus, many muscles cross
over each other or are on opposite sides of a bone to move it in different
directions.
Circulation
The second and less obvious function of the muscular system is to assist with
circulation. Visceral and cardiac muscle tissues surround the blood
vessels and lymph vessels that carry crucial nutrients and oxygen to
the cells of the body. Cardiac muscle makes up the heart and supplies the
main force for blood traveling through the body.
Large arteries and veins have associated muscles which can contract or relax
to control blood pressure. The actions of large skeletal muscles also help
pump the blood and lymph fluid throughout the body. While you exercise and
contract large and small muscles, they push vessels aside, which works like a
pump to move fluids around your body.
Digestion
Much like its ability to move fluids through vessels in the circulatory system,
the muscular system also aids in moving food through the digestive system.
Most digestive organs are surrounded by smooth muscle tissue. Although
the tissue cannot be voluntarily contracted like skeletal muscles, it is
controlled subconsciously. When food needs to be moved through the
gut, the muscles contract in a synchronized fashion in a wave through the
digestive system. These wave-like muscular contractions are called peristalsis.
