200 muscles are included in the work with just one step. The heart, the most enduring muscle in the body, works constantly. Muscles grow a...
200 muscles are included in the work with just one step. The heart, the most enduring muscle in the body, works constantly. Muscles grow and train and tons of sports literature have been written about them. We will tell you the most interesting.
1. How many muscles are in total?
In total, there are from 640 to 850 muscles in the human body. During a simple walk, the body uses up to 200 muscles. Muscle tissue is 15% denser and heavier than fat, so a trained person can outperform a full but unathletic person of the same height in weight. Muscles account for an average of 40% of body weight.
2. The most-most muscles
The most enduring human muscle is the heart, and the shortest is the stirrup (it strains the eardrum in the ear). Its length is 1.27 mm. The longest muscle in the human body is the sartorius. The fastest muscle is the blinking muscle. There are different opinions about which muscle of the body is the strongest. It is often said that the most powerful muscle is the tongue, but the tongue is made up of several muscles, so this view is false. Chewing muscles are very strong (their pressure can reach 100 kilograms), as well as calves and gluteal muscles.
3. Such different muscles
Human muscles are not the same. Therefore, they need to be trained in different ways, and the recovery time for different muscle groups is different. The triceps recover the fastest, and the back muscles the slowest. This must be taken into account during training, the muscles need rest no less than the load since the growth of muscle fibers occurs due to the effect of super-compensation. Full muscle recovery occurs only 48 hours after intense exercise.
4. Muscle Endurance
Endurance - the ability of a muscle to maintain performance over time. The most enduring muscle of the human body, as we have said, is the heart. According to doctors, the "margin of safety" of the average heart is at least 100 years. Muscles begin to tire when they run out of glycogen, and fatigue is also due to a large amount of calcium in the muscles.
Previously, it was believed that the main culprit of fatigue is lactic acid. Columbia University conducted a study in which mice swam daily for three weeks and cyclists exercised for three days. It turned out that after exercise in the chemical structure of the ryanodine receptor, which is responsible for muscle contraction, serious changes occurred - a gap appeared in the cell membrane through which calcium seeped into muscle cells.
5. Muscles and emotions
It is known that the movement of facial muscles is directly related to human emotions. At the beginning of the last century, the Russian scientist Ivan Sikorsky compiled a classification of facial expressions: the muscles around the eyes are responsible for the expression of mental phenomena, the muscles around the mouth are for the expression of acts of will, and all the muscles of the face express feelings.
In 2011, scientists managed to discover that human facial expressions occur long before birth. Even during the prenatal period, the child is already able to move facial muscles, smile, and raise eyebrows in surprise, or frown. The facial muscles make up 25% of the total number of muscles, while smiling, 17 muscle groups are involved, during anger or crying - 43. One of the best ways to maintain smooth skin on the face is kissing. With them, from 29 to 34 muscle groups work.
6. Muscles and genes
Amazingly, muscle training has an impact not only on the person himself but also on his genes. They undergo modifications that further help the muscle fibers to be ready for new loads.
In order to prove or disprove this, scientists from the University of Aarhus recruited a focus group of 20 volunteers and conducted a 20-minute aerobic exercise on an exercise bike with them. After the study, a quadriceps biopsy was taken from the subjects to see how the genes had changed in their cells. It turned out that physical activity activates genes related to muscles.
This is because cells store DNA with the help of methyl groups. If they are removed, the gene information is converted into enzymes and proteins, which are necessary for burning calories, gaining muscle mass, and consuming oxygen. After the experiment, the number of methyl groups decreased in all participants in the study - that is, the muscles adapted to an increase in metabolism.
7. Muscles and telepathy
A simple person is not able to establish control over all the muscles of the body, therefore, unconscious muscle contractions can serve as an indicator of hidden thoughts or intended actions for knowledgeable people. High-level psychologists and "telepaths" can benefit from the knowledge of these processes. Wolf Messing, one of the most famous telepaths, explained his phenomenal abilities not by magic, but by a thorough knowledge of the work of human muscles. He said: “This is not mind reading, but, so to speak, “muscle reading” ... When a person thinks hard about something, brain cells transmit impulses to all the muscles of the body.”
8. Long palmar muscle
Only one in six people on earth have long palmar muscles on both hands. Some have them on only one of their hands. These muscle fibers are responsible for the release of claws in animals. A person, of course, does not need such a function. The long palmar muscles are thus a vestige used by surgeons, if necessary, as a material for muscle transplantation.
9. Muscles and chocolate
Oddly enough, one of the most beneficial foods for the heart and muscles, in general, is dark chocolate. Research conducted at Wayne University in Detroit revealed the effect of the substance epicatechin contained in dark chocolate on the growth of mitochondria in muscle cells.
Scientists at the University of L'Aquila also conducted a study in which they gave subjects 100 grams of chocolate for 15 days and measured their blood pressure. During the experiment, blood pressure normalized in people, and blood circulation improved. Accordingly, moderate consumption of dark chocolate can be considered as a prevention of heart disease and atherosclerosis.
10. Muscle Loss
Muscles don't last forever. After 40 years, they begin to be actively burned, a person begins to lose from 2 to 3 percent of muscle tissue per year, and after 60 years - up to 5%. Therefore, training in adulthood is no less important than in youth.
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