What are muscles?
Muscles are soft tissues. Many stretchy fibers make up your muscles. You have more than 600 muscles in your body. Different types of muscles have different jobs. Some muscles help you run, jump or perform delicate tasks like threading a needle. Other muscles allow you to breathe or digest food. Your heart is a hard-working muscle that beats thousands of times a day.
Many disorders, injuries and diseases can affect how muscles work. These conditions can cause muscle pain, muscle spasms or muscle weakness. More severe disorders can lead to paralysis. Cardiomyopathy and other kinds of heart disease make it difficult for the heart to pump blood through the body.
Living a healthy lifestyle helps your muscles work like they should. You can keep your muscles strong by maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet and getting plenty of exercise. Be sure to see your provider regularly to screen for diseases and conditions that can lead to muscle problems.
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What are the types of muscles?
You control some muscles voluntarily with the help of your nervous system (your body’s command center). You make them move by thinking about moving them.
Other muscles work involuntarily, which means you can’t control them. They do their job automatically. In order to work, they take cues from other body systems, such as your digestive system or cardiovascular system.
There are three types of muscle tissue in the body. They are:
- Skeletal: As part of the musculoskeletal system, these muscles work with your bones, tendons and ligaments. Tendons attach skeletal muscles to bones all over your body. Together, they support the weight of your body and help you move. You control these voluntary muscles. Some muscle fibers contract quickly and use short bursts of energy (fast-twitch muscles). Others move slowly, such as your back muscles that help with posture.
- Cardiac: These muscles line the heart walls. They help your heart pump blood that travels through your cardiovascular system. You don’t control cardiac muscles. Your heart tells them when to contract.
- Smooth: These muscles line the insides of organs such as the bladder, stomach and intestines. Smooth muscles play an important role in many body systems, including the female reproductive system, male reproductive system, urinary system and respiratory system. These types of muscles work without you having to think about them. They do essential jobs like move waste through your intestines and help your lungs expand when you breathe.
