Steve Rogers did what?

I would first off like to say that Chris Evans is body goals. This man is not only the definition of a handsome, but I mean c'mon, look at those chiseled abs, defined chest, and V-shaped body. Others probably have this dream of obtaining this body as well, however some people will turn to performance enhancing supplements in order to achieve this goal. On such P.E. that can help in doing so is androstenedione. This steroid can be injected into the body and is naturally found in the adrenal glands, testies and ovaries. This steroid is suggested to increase muscle mass and blood cell mass, as well as allow endurance athletes to work harder and longer by reducing catabolic effects of heavy training. Personally I might be tempted to take these supplements to achieve that ^ sexy body up there. What prevents me from taking them though is the fact that I don't want to mess with my bodies chemistry..... is it worth it..... that is the question that I ask my self everyday. "My minds telling me no, but my body, my body is telling me yes!" 

The Value Held in Stretching

"This triggers the stretch reflex (also called the myotatic reflex) which attempts to resist the change in muscle length by causing the stretched muscle to contract" 

I chose this quote because I had previously not fully considered the tension that occurs within the muscles. After reading over the sentence I grasped the concept that the contraction of muscle is a mechanism to prevent over exertion. 

"Hence when you stretch, the muscle fiber is pulled out to its full length sarcomere by sarcomere, and then the connective tissue takes up the remaining slack. When this occurs, it helps to realign any disorganized fibers in the direction of the tension. This realignment is what helps to rehabilitate scarred tissue back to health."

I chose this quote as I had previously never thought about connective tissues role in muscle tension before. Apparently it takes a major role that I would have otherwise have missed.

"lasts for only a moment and is in response to the initial sudden increase in muscle length. The reason that the stretch reflex has two components is because there are actually two kinds of intrafusal muscle fibers"

I chose this quote because it really made me think about what really happened on a microscopic level. It helped bring the realization that there are more than just one type of muscle fiber and each type specializes in different functions. So not only are the muscle fibers different, anatomically, from what I had previously conceived, but is their physiology.

R&R

In this reading we learned the anatomical and physiological effects of stretching. Although the reading dives into the specific details about the fibers and their names, the reading didn't mention the long term effects of over stretching. The reading remarks that, "Only consummate professional athletes and dancers at the top of their sport (or art) are believed to actually possess this level of muscular control". What I was wondering was what specifically makes it so that these athletes are superior in their sport, for instance, would a swimmer be genetically superior in regards to flexibility than a gymnast. I was also wondering how exactly stretching could negatively impact performance. I was also wondering the effects of a warm down. We already know that by doing a warm down, our lymphatic system cleans the body, but what about the fibers in the muscle? 

Unit 6 Reflection

During this unit we learn about the bones and the processes they undergo to maintain structural integrity as well as the anatomical features of the bone. Bones are made of many parts, namely, osteons (the portion of the bones that house the osteo, -cytes, -blasts, and -clasts. Osteons also contain the blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatic vessels of the bones. This conglomeration of various vessels, canals, and cells is called the Haversian system), spongy bone, compact bone, nutrient arteries and the periosteum. There is a lot of detail that could go into the function and classification of the bones, however these are some of the more notable anatomical features. The spongy bone for instance, comes in two forms, red and yellow. Yellow contains fat and red contains blood cells. Compact bone is composed of osteons and collagen as well as several different minerals. The minerals is what gives bone its hardness and the collagen is what gives them an elastic element.

The way they keep this integrity is through constant degradation and regeneration of bones through specialized cells.These cells are known as the osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Osteoblasts are the cells that regenerate the bone cells that were destroyed by the osteoclasts. These cells not only maintain bone strength but also help in repairing breaks in the bones. They do this through connecting the separate pieces and then evening out the curves. Not only did we learn about the bones but the joints of bones and how they work. Labs that we did include the Owl Pellet Dissection Lab (previously blogged about) in which we dissected an Owl pellet and identified key structures.

Through the lab we were challenged on our knowledge of common structures as well as general locations of these structures. As we attempted to create a basic skeletal formation of the bones of the pellets, we were also being tested on our ability to acknowledge common joints.

These joints could come in many forms, for instance, the bones of the ribs and the sternum are connected by cartilaginous synarthroses joints. These joints are virtually immovable and are joined by cartilage. We also learned the effects of the knee cap which was really cool. Ultimately I have no further questions. I would just like to say I loved doing these labs.