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How your muscular system works - Emma Bryce

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    Each time you take a step,
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    200 muscles work in unison
    to lift your foot,
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    propel it forward,
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    and set it down.
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    It's just one of the many thousands
    of tasks performed by the muscular system.
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    This network of over 650 muscles
    covers the body
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    and is the reason we can blink,
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    smile,
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    run,
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    jump,
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    and stand upright.
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    It's even responsible for
    the heart's dependable thump.
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    First, what exactly
    is the muscular system?
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    It's made up of three main muscle types:
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    skeletal muscle, which attaches
    via tendons to our bones,
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    cardiac muscle, which is only
    found in the heart,
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    and smooth muscle, which lines
    the blood vessels and certain organs,
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    like the intestine and uterus.
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    All three types are
    made up of muscle cells,
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    also known as fibers,
    bundled tightly together.
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    These bundles receive signals from
    the nervous system
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    that contract the fibers, which in turn
    generates force and motion.
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    This produces almost all
    the movements we make.
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    Some of the only parts of the body
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    whose motions aren't governed
    by the muscular system
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    are sperm cells,
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    the hair-like cilia in our airways,
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    and certain white blood cells.
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    Muscle contraction can be split
    into three main types.
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    The first two, shortening muscle fibers
    and lengthening them,
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    generate opposing forces.
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    So the biceps will shorten
    while the triceps will lengthen or relax,
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    pulling up the arm and making it
    bend at the elbow.
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    This allows us to, say, pick up a book,
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    or if the muscle relationship
    is reversed, put it down.
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    This complementary partnership
    exists throughout the muscular system.
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    The third type of contraction
    creates a stabilizing force.
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    In these cases, the muscle fibers
    don't change in length,
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    but instead keep the muscles rigid.
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    This allows us to grip a mug of coffee
    or lean against a wall.
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    It also maintains our posture
    by holding us upright.
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    Skeletal muscles form the bulk
    of the muscular system,
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    make up about 30-40% of the body's weight,
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    and generate most of its motion.
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    Some muscles are familiar to us,
    like the pectorals and the biceps,
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    Others may be less so,
    like the buccinator,
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    a muscle that attaches your cheek
    to your teeth,
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    or the body's tiniest skeletal muscle,
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    a one-millimeter-long tissue fragment
    called the stapedius
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    that's nestled deep inside the ear.
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    Wherever they occur, skeletal muscles are
    connected to the somatic nervous system,
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    which gives us almost complete control
    over their movements.
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    This muscle group also contains
    two types of muscle fibers
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    to refine our motions even further,
    slow-twitch and fast-twitch.
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    Fast-twitch fibers react instantly
    when triggered
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    but quickly use up their energy
    and tire out.
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    Slow-twitch fibers, on the other hand,
    are endurance cells.
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    They react and use energy slowly
    so they can work for longer periods.
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    A sprinter will accumulate more
    fast-twitch muscles in her legs
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    through continuous practice,
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    enabling her to quickly, if briefly,
    pick up the pace,
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    whereas back muscles contain
    more slow-twitch muscles
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    to maintain your posture all day.
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    Unlike the skeletal muscles, the body's
    cardiac and smooth muscles
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    are managed by
    the autonomic nervous system
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    beyond our direct control.
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    That makes your heart thump
    roughly 3 billion times
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    over the course of your life,
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    which supplies the body
    with blood and oxygen.
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    Autonomic control also contracts
    and relaxes smooth muscle
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    in a rhythmic cycle.
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    That pumps blood through the smooth
    internal walls of blood vessels,
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    enables the intestine to constrict and
    push food through the digestive system,
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    and allows the uterus to contract
    when a person is giving birth.
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    As muscles work, they also use energy
    and produce an important byproduct, heat.
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    In fact, muscle provides
    about 85% of your warmth,
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    which the heart and blood vessels
    then spread evenly across the body
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    via the blood.
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    Without that, we couldn't maintain
    the temperature necessary
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    for our survival.
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    The muscular system
    may be largely invisible to us,
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    but it leaves its mark on almost
    everything we do,
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    whether it's the blink of an eye
    or a race to the finish line.
Title:
How your muscular system works - Emma Bryce
Description:

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View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-your-muscular-system-works-emma-bryce

Each time you take a step, 200 muscles work in unison to lift your foot, propel it forward, and set it down. It’s just one of the many thousands of tasks performed by the muscular system: this network of over 650 muscles covers the body and is the reason we can blink, smile, run, jump, and stand upright. So how does it work? Emma Bryce takes you into the body to find out.

Lesson by Emma Bryce, directed by Viviane Leezer.

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible.
Tony Trapuzzano, Devin Harris, Brandy Jones, John Ess, Jessica James, Barun Padhy, Dale Dualan, Simone Kidner, Shawn Quichocho, Gi Nam Lee, Joy Love Om, Narat Suchartsunthorn, Miloš Stevanović, Ghassan Alhazzaa, Duo Xu, Yankai Liu, Pavel Zalevskiy, André Spencer, Justus Berberich, Claudia Mayfield.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
04:45

English subtitles

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