Welcome to the Muscular System

 The muscular system is responsible for the movement of the human body. Attached to the bones of the skeletal system are about 700 named muscles that make up about half of a person’s body weight. Each of these muscles is a discrete organ constructed of skeletal muscle tissue, blood vessels, tendons, and nerves. Muscle tissue is also found inside of the heart, digestive organs, and blood vessels. In these organs, muscles serve to move substances throughout the body. The muscular system can be broken down into three types of muscles: skeletal, smooth and cardiac. Skeletal muscles are the only voluntary muscle tissue in the human body and control every action that a person consciously performs. Most skeletal muscles are attached to two bones across a joint, so the muscle serves to move parts of those bones closer to each other. Smooth muscle is found inside of organs such as the stomach, intestines, and blood vessels. It is called a smooth muscle because unlike skeletal muscle, it does not have the same appearance of skeletal or cardiac muscle. The weakest of all muscle tissues, smooth muscles send signals to contract to move substances through the organ. Because smooth muscle is controlled by the unconscious part of the brain, it is known as involuntary muscle as it cannot be controlled by the conscious mind. Finally, the cardiac muscle. The cardiac muscle pumps blood throughout the body.  Like smooth muscles, cardiac muscle tissue is controlled without you knowing. While hormones and signals from the brain change the pace of contraction, cardiac muscle makes itself contract.