Unit 7 Reflection

In this unit we learned about the muscular system. We learned the physiological effects, as well as the anatomical features. We even learned about performance enhancing supplements affected the body.

So from an anatomical standpoint, we all know what muscles are and or do on a basic level. ‘They are the long stringy things that allow us to lift stuff? Right?’. Well yes, muscle fibers are essentially very long, thin, tubular cells, but they are not all just, “tubular’ dude” (smooth muscle). What is tubular however, are the components of the skeletal muscles. The skeletal muscles contain tubes, inside of tubes, inside of tubes. It’s tubeception! Anatomically speaking, the epimysium is the fascia that surrounds the entire muscles, the alpha tube if you will. Within the epimysium, muscle fibers are further contained in perimysium. The perimysium separates the bundles into 10- 100 muscles. Within the perimysium lies the endomysium, fascia that surround and capture individual muscle fibers. This structure allows the muscle's major  functions such as contractility and elasticity. Other characteristics of muscle include a pulley/lever system which reduces strain on muscles and allows for greater range of motion. A key example of such a system is shown in this gif, depicting the tensions of muscles required to move with and without the kneecap (the small rock represents the kneecap). A common theme that I’ve noticed is that where a limbs connect, there is usually such a system.

We also learned about how to properly name the muscles and such. Personally this subject was little bland and has little substance that can be commented on other than the fact that the muscles are named off of their form, function, and location. For example, the bicep has 2 origins, therefore, the bi- in bicep. We did a lab in which we explored the muscles and their joints and labeled them appropriately.

Then we learned how muscles move during stretches, notably the steps of contraction. One of the many steps include the chemical signals transferred through the neuron. This reminded me of the myelitis sheets and how these membranes allow the signal to be sent faster throughout the cell’s axon terminal. (check out our video here to see how contractions work)

After that we learned about the effects of muscle enhancements. This was probably my favorite section as we were able to talk about the pro’s and con’s of using such enhancements. A common theme I noticed was that the negative effects of the drugs will stay, while the positive effects will diminish with time. To enforce this idea, I made an advertisement.

In regards to my twenty time progress, you can click on the hyperlink to follow my progress. Other than missing a week of school, I really don’t have any questions as the unit answered most of them.