Muscle Support Remedy
Muscles are classified as either skeletal, cardiac, or smooth. Their function is to produce force and cause motion. Cardiac and smooth muscle contraction occurs without conscious thought and is necessary for survival. Examples of this are the contraction of the heart and peristalsis of the intestine which pushes food through the digestive system. Voluntary contraction of the skeletal muscles is used to move the body and can be finely controlled. Examples are getting out of a chair, walking, movements of the eye, etc.
There are approximately 639 skeletal muscles in the human body. The exact number is difficult to define as several sources group muscles differently. Muscles are predominantly powered by burning glucose, which creates lactic acid. The presence of lactic acid has an inhibitory effect on ATP generation within the muscle. Although it does not produce fatigue, it can inhibit or even stop performance if the intracellular concentration becomes too high. However, long-term training causes neovascularization within the muscle, increasing the ability to move waste products out of the muscles and maintain contraction. Once lactic acid has moved through the muscles in high concentrations, it can be used by other muscles or body tissues as a source of energy or transported to the liver where it is converted back to pyruvate.
If you are sore for more than 4 days after an activity, either your liver is not converting lactic acid properly or you induced excessive micro tears in the muscle (generally in the case of doing too hard a work out).
Fun Facts
- The strongest muscle of the body is the masseter muscle used for chewing.
- Your hand contains 20 different muscles.
- If all your muscles could pull in one direction you could create a force of 25 tons.
- Muscles account for approximately 40% of your body weight.
- It takes 17 muscles in your face to smile, but it takes 43 muscles to frown.
Health Conditions
- Myoclonus is a brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles, generally caused by a contraction.
- Myalgia, muscle pain, is caused by overuse or over-stretching of a muscle or group of muscles. Myalgia without a traumatic history is often due to viral infections.
- Muscle atrophy can be caused by many diseases and conditions which result in loss of muscle mass.
- Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons - the soft fibrous tissues in the body.
- Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a broad term that describes a genetic (inherited) disorder that causes the muscles in the body to become very weak.
- Myofascial Pain Syndromes cause muscular pain in numerous body regions that can be reproduced by pressure on trigger points. They are localized hardenings in skeletal muscle tissue.
- Myopathies are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by the early onset of hypotonia (decreased tension ability in the muscles) and developmental delay of motor skills.
- Myositis is inflammation of skeletal muscle.
- Myotonic Disorders describe prolonged failure of muscle relaxation after contraction, often associated with abnormal muscle sodium channel and chloride channels.
- Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers that leads to the release of muscle fiber contents (myoglobin) into the bloodstream. This can cause kidney damage or failure.
Suggestions To Strengthen
- Exercise. Not just for those who want to be fit, muscle movement is imperative for every human.
- Sugar, sweet drinks, processed foods, tea and coffee will all strip magnesium, calcium and vitamin C from the body. All of these elements are vital for the formation and repair of bone, muscle, cartilage and synovial fluid.
- Learn to be more tolerable, intolerance produces muscle problems.