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Unit 5 Health And Social Care Level 3 Unit 2 P1

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P3-Types of muscle
There are three main types of muscle tissue in the body: Skeletal muscle, smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. Firstly, skeletal muscle has a stripped appearance when it is examined under a microscope so it is sometimes known as striated/stripped muscle. Skeletal muscle is voluntary and this means that it is under conscious control. Secondly, there is smooth muscle which is an involuntary muscle that operates without any conscious control. This muscle is controlled by the nervous system. Smooth muscle can be found in the blood vessels and the walls of the digestive system and it helps to control digestion and blood pressure. Lastly, there is cardiac muscle which is located in in the wall of the heart. Cardiac muscle is involuntary and this means that it is not under conscious control. This is made up of a specialised type of tissue which is striated and it has its own blood supply. The contractions aid the pumping of blood through the blood vessels …show more content…

Firstly, an isometric contraction is when the length of the muscle does not change and the angle of the joint does not change. The muscle is active during this contraction but it is in a static position. An example of this is when you stop halfway when doing a squat or push-up or holding yourself in an abdominal plank position. This type of muscle work is quite easy to do, however it can result in fatigue very quickly. Furthermore, this type of muscle work can cause a sharp increase in the blood pressure in the body because blood flow is reduced. Another type of muscle contraction is the concentric muscle contraction; this occurs when a muscle shortens against a resistance, an example of this is a bicep curl. The brachialis and bicep shorten, bringing your forearm towards your upper arm. These types of contraction are also known as the positive phase of muscle

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