We've translated, revised, and edited Greg Nuckols' awesome background paper on the relationship between muscle size and strength. The article explains in detail, for example, why the average powerlifter is 61% stronger than the average bodybuilder for the same amount of muscle.
Surely you have seen this picture in the gym: a huge muscular guy doing squats with a 200-pound barbell, puffing and doing a small number of repetitions. Then a guy with much less massive legs works with the same barbell, but easily does more repetitions.
A similar pattern can be repeated in the bench press or deadlift. Yes, and from the course of school biology we were taught: muscle strength depends on cross-sectional area(roughly speaking - from the thickness), but science shows that this is a strong simplification and this is not entirely the case.
Cross-sectional area of a muscle.
As an example, see how a 85 kg guy presses 205 kg from the chest:
However, much more massive guys can not come close to such indicators in the bench.
Or this is what 17-year-old Jason Lopez looks like, who himself weighs about 77 kg, and squats with a barbell of 265 kg:
The answer is simple: strength is affected by many other factors besides muscle size.
The average man weighs about 80 kg. If a person is not trained, then about 40% of his body weight is skeletal muscles, or about 32 kg. Despite the fact that the growth of muscle mass is very dependent on genetics, on average, a man is able to increase his muscle mass by 50% in 10 years of training, that is, add another 16 to his 32 kg of muscle.
Most likely, 7-8 kg of muscle from this increase will be added in the first year of hard training, another 2-3 kg in the next couple of years, and the remaining 5-6 kg in 7-8 years of hard training. This is a typical pattern of muscle growth. With an increase in muscle mass by about 50%, muscle strength will increase by 2-4 times.
Roughly speaking, if on the first day of training a person can lift a weight of 10-15 kg for biceps, then later this result can grow to 20-30 kg.
Squatting: If you squatted with a 50kg barbell in your first workouts, that weight can go up to 200kg. This is not scientific data, just an example - how strength indicators can grow. When lifting for biceps, the strength can increase by about 2 times, and the weight in squats - by 4 times. But at the same time, muscle volume increased only by 50%. That is it turns out that in comparison with the increase in mass, the force grows 4-8 times more.
Of course, muscle mass is important for strength, but perhaps not decisive. Let's go through the main factors that affect strength and mass.
Muscle fibers
As studies show: the larger the size of the muscle fiber, the greater its strength.
This graph shows a clear relationship between muscle fiber size and strength:
How strength (vertical scale) depends on the size of muscle fibers (horizontal scale). Research: From Gilliver, 2009.
However, if absolute strength tends to increase with a larger volume of muscle fibers, relative strength (strength in relation to size) - on the contrary, falls.
Let's see why this happens.
There is an indicator for determining the strength of muscle fibers relative to their volume - “specific tension” (we will translate it as “specific strength”). To do this, you need to divide the maximum force by the cross-sectional area:
Muscle fibers: specific strength of bodybuilders' fibers is 62% lower than lifters
So here's the thing, specific strength is very dependent on the type of muscle fibers.
The Relationship Between Strength and Muscle Growth
If you got to these lines, then you already know that muscle strength is affected by far more than their size (which is responsible for only about half of the increase in strength).
In this case, it would be interesting to look at studies where all these factors are summed up and which ultimately answer the question: how much muscle growth in volume gives growth in strength? Surprisingly, there are very few such studies.
For starters, it's interesting to look at this recent study, where scientists found a very weak relationship between quad volume growth and leg press strength after 5-6 months of training (untrained men and women aged 19 to 78).
Here's what the results looked like:
Each point is the result of a particular person. Horizontally: growth in muscle strength, vertically: growth in muscle size. On average, both have increased, but mathematics shows a weak relationship between these parameters.
In another 9-week study, they found that the relationship between volume growth and muscle strength depends on how you measure it. But nevertheless, with any measurement methods, this study also showed a very weak relationship between the increase in strength and muscle volume: from 2% to 24% of the increase in muscle strength was due to an increase in their volume.
Another study showed an association after 12 weeks of training - muscle mass growth was 23-27% correlated with strength gains.
This study involved people who had at least 6 months of training experience and who were able to press at least the barbell of their weight from the chest. After 12 weeks of training and research, there was a clearer correlation between gains in muscle size and strength.
Lean mass gains accounted for 35% of the strength gains in the squat and 46% of the strength gains in the chest press.
In the second study with experienced athletes, a much longer observation period was taken - 2 years. And over such a long period, the correlation between the growth of muscle mass and strength was more pronounced: 48-77% of the increase in strength in different exercises attributed to the increase in muscle mass.
The vertical in all graphs shows the % increase in lean muscle mass. Horizontal improvements in strength in various exercises.
If we combine the results of all these studies into one picture, we can identify the following patterns:
- Among untrained people, the growth of mass and strength is weakly correlated with each other.
- The more trained people become, the more stable the relationship between the growth of volumes and strength.
- In elite athletes with more experience, the correlation reaches 65-90%, that is, the increase in muscle volume gives 65-90% of the increase in strength. Data: Brechue and Abe.
The relationship between the weight of powerlifting champions (horizontal scale) and the record weight of the projectile (vertical scale) is curious:
Probably for most of us, leading an active image, it will be useful and interesting to learn about our muscles, about the anatomy of our body. Moreover, you have already realized that one run is clearly not enough to maintain health, especially to achieve certain results.
If you have already finally decided to go to the gym, then it would be nice to acquire knowledge of elementary human anatomy and the functional purpose of the main muscles, to find out the composition of muscle groups. This is necessary for the preparation of training sessions and the implementation of the correct technique in the exercises. How are the muscles arranged? what can be trained there?
human anatomy
A very understandable and interesting video about human anatomy, I think that it will be understandable and interesting to everyone.
To begin with, I bring to your attention the ten most interesting facts about muscles, find out why muscle training at an older age is even more necessary than at a young age.
Muscle characteristics
Muscles or Muscles- organs of the human (animal) body, consisting of muscle tissue capable of contracting under the influence of nerve impulses, in other words, muscles can change their size and moreover quickly.
Therefore, the main property of muscles is to be excited and contract, receiving signals from the nervous system in the form action potentials. The more often nerve impulses pass, the more often we stimulate the muscle, the more often the muscle contraction occurs.
You can raise, for example, your hand slowly, or you can quickly. We can control our muscles. But there is a limit to everything, and therefore if the signals to the muscle come too often, then the muscle does not have time to relax. An example of this is the exercise in Raising a hand with a load, I force my hand to be in one kind of tense position. The impulses go very fast and the muscle does not have time to relax. 
The nervous system, in turn, connects the brain and spinal cord with the muscles. Not only your appearance but also the proper functioning of individual systems, organs and the body as a whole.
Muscles are designed to perform various actions: body movements, contraction of the vocal cords, breathing. Muscles are made up of elastic, elastic muscle tissue, which, in turn, is represented by cells. myocytes(muscle cells). Muscles are characterized by fatigue, which manifests itself during intensive work or exercise. For example, when running for a long time. Therefore, in order to achieve any results, you must first train the muscles. For a runner, for example, these are leg muscles. 
The muscle mass of an adult is approximately 42%. In newborns - a little more than 20%. With age, muscle mass decreases by up to 30%, and fat becomes more.
There are 640 muscles in the human body (depending on the method of counting differentiated muscle groups, their total number is determined from 639 to 850). The smallest are attached to the smallest bones located in the ear. The largest are the gluteus maximus muscles, they set the legs in motion.
The strongest muscles are the calf and chewing muscles.
Calf muscle.
chewing muscle
The longest human muscle - the tailor - starts from the anterior superior spine of the iliac wing (anterior-upper sections of the pelvic bone), spirals over the front through the thigh and is attached by a tendon to the tuberosity of the tibia (upper sections of the lower leg). 
The shape of the muscles are very diverse. The most common are the fusiform muscles, characteristic of the limbs, and the broad muscles - they form the walls of the body. If the muscles have a common tendon, and there are two or more heads, then they are called two-, three- or four-headed.
The muscles and skeleton determine the shape of the human body. An active lifestyle, a balanced diet and sports contribute to the development of muscles and a decrease in adipose tissue. Muscle mass in leading weightlifters it is 55-57% of body weight.
Muscle types
Depending on the structural features, human muscles are divided into 3 types or groups:
The first group of muscles - skeletal or striated muscles. Each of us has more than 600 skeletal muscles. Muscles of this type are able to contract arbitrarily, at the request of a person, and together with the skeleton form the musculoskeletal system.
The total mass of these muscles is about 40% of body weight, and people who actively develop their muscles can have even more. With the help of special exercises, the size of muscle cells can be increased until they grow in mass and volume and become embossed.
Contracting, the muscle shortens, thickens and moves relative to neighboring muscles. The shortening of the muscle is accompanied by the convergence of its ends and the bones to which it is attached. Each movement involves the muscles both making it and opposing it (agonists and antagonists, respectively), which gives the movement accuracy and smoothness. 
The second type of muscle, which is part of the cells of internal organs, blood vessels and skin, is smooth muscle tissue, consisting of characteristic muscle cells (myocytes). Short spindle-shaped smooth muscle cells form plates. They contract slowly and rhythmically, obeying the signals of the autonomic nervous system. Their slow and prolonged contractions occur involuntarily, that is, regardless of the desire of the person.
Smooth muscles, or muscles of involuntary movement, are located mainly in the walls of hollow internal organs, such as the esophagus or Bladder. They are playing important role in processes that do not depend on our consciousness, for example, in the movement of food through the digestive tract. 
A separate (third) muscle group is cardiac striated(striated) muscle tissue (myocardium). It is made up of cardiomyocytes. The contractions of the heart muscle are not controlled by the human mind, it is innervated (innervation, this is the supply of organs and tissues with nerves) by the autonomic nervous system. 
Skeletal muscle. Structure.
Skeletal muscles are attached to our bones. It is not the muscle itself that is attached to the bone, but what is called the tendon. The latter consists of dense connective tissue. In most cases, the tendon is located at both ends of the muscle. The tendon itself is not extensible and cannot contract. It is simply the connective tissue by which the muscle is attached to the bone. The tendon can be torn or pulled. it is all very painful and the treatment is usually long.
If you look at the cut of the muscle. it is clear that the muscle consists of bundles. If we consider the structure of the bundles, we can see that they consist of muscle fibers. Muscle fibers are made up of individual cells. 
So, once again - muscle cells are combined into muscle fibers. fibers are combined into muscle bundles, bundles are combined into a whole muscle.
Skeletal muscle is composed not only of striated muscle tissue, but also of various kinds connective tissue, nervous tissue, endothelium and blood vessels. However, striated muscle tissue predominates, due to the contractility of which the muscles are the organs of contraction, producing movements. The strength of a muscle depends on the number of its constituent muscle fibers and is determined by the area of the physiological diameter. In other words, a thicker and more massive muscle produces more strength.
Muscle cell. Thin structure.
Most of the cell is occupied by myofibrils. Myofibrils can be translated as a muscle rope, rope or thread. To whom it is more convenient and understandable. In general, these myofibrils are contracting.
In the striated muscles, the cells are multinucleated. The picture shows a lot of cores. The nuclei are large, as they were obtained in the process of merging many cells.
Muscles also have many mitochondria, as muscles need constant energy. Mitochondria produce it in the form of ATP. Remember, the more mitochondria in the muscles, the more resilient a person is. They also say that he got in good shape. In untrained muscles, myofibrils are scattered, and in trained muscles they are grouped into bundles.
The structure of the myofibril
Myofibrils are cylindrical threads 1-2 microns thick, running along from one end of the muscle fiber to the other. An isolated myofibril is capable of contracting (in the presence of ATP), and it is she who is the contractile element of the muscle cell.
Myofibrils consist of alternating bundles of parallel thick and thin filaments, which end at each other. These threads are called differently - sarcomeres. Thick filaments are twice as thick as thin ones, 15 and 7 nm, respectively.
Sarcomere- the basic contractile unit of striated muscles, which is a complex of several proteins, consisting of three different fiber systems. Myofibrils are made up of sarcomeres.
Thin and thick filaments are formed by proteins. Thick filaments (microfilaments) are made up of protein myosin(blue threads in the picture). These proteins form a double helix with a globular (spherical) head at the end attached to a very long rod.
Thin filaments are made up of proteins actin, troponin and tropomyosin. The main protein in this case actin. (red threads in the picture). 
The figure above shows schematically a relaxed muscle. When actin slides along myosin, the distance between actin filaments shortens. This means that the muscle also contracts. Below in the figure is a contracted muscle.
There are a lot of such shrinking sections. The myofibril consists of such an actin-myosin system located along the entire length of the myofibril. With the help of actin protein and myosin protein, the myofibril contracts.
Calcium is needed for contraction, naturally, all this happens with the expenditure of energy. Actin-myosin filaments cannot glide on their own, they have to be dragged along with the expenditure of energy. This requires ATP.
Magnesium is needed to relax muscles. During a long run, such as a marathon, magnesium is washed out with sweat, which causes convulsions in runners, for this you need to drink special drinks containing all the necessary substances .. For example, isotonic drinks. The simplest and most affordable remedy is regedron. It contains all the necessary salts.
Muscle control or why do muscles contract?
We are talking about all the same skeletal muscles. All signals for any action come from our brain. This is a kind of control center. But the request comes from the spinal cord. The brain sends a signal or impulse to the motor neuron which is located in the spinal cord for muscle contraction. 
NEURON (nerve cell), the main structural and functional unit of the NERVOUS SYSTEM, which carries out the rapid transmission of NERVE IMPULSES between various organs.
Neuron The motor neuron is discharged by an action potential that comes to the muscle, that is, it gives a signal to the muscle to contract or relax.
The branching at the end of the neuron is called the end plate, this end plate covers a piece of muscle and in this place it turns out synapse, that is, there must be a contact or connection between the nerve and the muscle cell.
Synapses (from the Greek sýnapsis - connection, connection), specialized functional contacts between excitable cells that serve to transmit and convert signals.
Nerves approach muscle fibers and control contractions.
The ending of a nerve or neuron ejects a neurotransmitter. MEDIATORS nervous system (lat. mediator mediator; synonym: neurotransmitters, synaptic transmitters) - chemical transmitters of a nerve impulse from a nerve ending to cells of peripheral organs or to nerve cells. 
If even easier to say, then this is a chemical substance that will make the muscle do something. An intermediary between a nerve ending or synapse and a muscle cell. This neurotransmitter binds to the muscle and opens channels in it. Channels are a kind of roads along which they can move chemical substances- ions.
For example, in order for a neighboring nerve to receive a signal, sodium channels must open. For muscle contraction, channels for calcium must open. Just a bunch of calcium enters the cell, moreover, calcium stored inside the cell is used. All this calcium causes actin and myosin proteins to slide relative to each other. The muscle contracts.
When the action potential disappears, calcium returns to its reservoirs and the muscle relaxes.
Each muscle is made up of cells called muscle fibers (myofibrils). They are called “fibers” because these cells are strongly elongated: with a length of several centimeters, they are only 0.05-0.11 mm in cross section. Let's say there are more than 1,000,000 of these fiber cells in the biceps! 10-50 myofibrils are collected in a muscle bundle with a common sheath, to which a common nerve (motor neuron) approaches. At his command, the bundle of fibers shortens or lengthens - these are the muscle movements that we perform during training. Yes, and in everyday life, of course, too. Each bundle consists of fibers of the same type.
slow muscle fibers
They are red or oxidizing, in sports terminology they are called "type I". They are quite thin and well supplied with enzymes that allow them to receive energy with the help of oxygen (hence the name "oxidative"). Please note that in this way - oxidizing, that is, burning, both fats and carbohydrates are converted into energy. These fibers are called “slow” because they are reduced by no more than 20% of the maximum, but they can work long and hard.
And they are “red” because they contain a lot of myoglobin protein, which is similar in name, function and color to blood hemoglobin.
Long-term uniform movement, endurance, weight loss, cardio and fat burning workouts, slim, wiry figure.
fast muscle fibers
Either white or glycolytic, they are called "type II". They are noticeably larger than the previous ones in diameter, they have little myoglobin (and therefore “white”), but a large supply of carbohydrates and an abundance of so-called glycolytic enzymes - substances with which the muscle extracts energy from carbohydrates without oxygen. Such a process, glycolysis, (hence the name "glycolytic") produces a rapid and large release of energy.
These fibers can provide a powerful push, jerk, sharp blow. Alas, the energy release is not enough for a long time, therefore fast fibers They don't work long and need to rest often. The strength training designed for them is therefore divided into several approaches: if you move continuously, the work is transferred to slow fibers.
What is connected with these muscle fibers. Strength training, sprints, accelerations, muscular, inflated figure, figure modeling, voluminous muscles.
Two types of fast muscle fibers
Yes, it's not that simple! Fast muscle fibers are also divided into two "divisions".
Fast oxidative-glycolytic or intermediate fibers (subtype IIa) - fast (white) fibers, in which, nevertheless, there are the same enzymes as in slow ones. In other words, they can receive energy both with and without oxygen. They are reduced by 25-40% of the maximum, and they are “included” in work both in strength training and in loads for weight loss.
Fast non-oxidative fibers (subtype IIb) designed exclusively for short-term and very powerful efforts. They are thicker than all the others and strength training more noticeably than others increase in cross section, and are reduced - by 40-100%. It is at their expense that bodybuilders increase muscle volumes, weightlifters and sprinters set records. But for fat-burning workouts, they are useless. It is important that about 10% of muscle fibers (those very fast intermediate ones - subtype IIa) can change their type.
If you often give your body a long-term load of medium intensity (one that includes a maximum of slow fibers), then the intermediate ones will also adjust to a slow mode in a few months. If you focus on strength, sprint training, then both intermediate and even red fibers will approach fast in their parameters.
Muscle fibers: how to determine your type
Typically, a person has approximately 40% slow and 60% fast fibers. Their exact number is set genetically. Analyze your physique and load perception. As a rule, people who are naturally "wiry", short in stature, with thin bones, who can easily walk, run, ride a bike and other long-term loads, have a slightly higher percentage of slow and intermediate fibers.
And those who have a wide bone, muscles easily grow even from small loads, but the fat layer is added literally from one glance at cakes or pasta, they are often “carriers” of some excess of fast fibers. If you know a person who, without really training, suddenly amazes everyone with his strength, then you have a large number of fast non-oxidative fibers in front of you. On the network you can find tests that offer to determine your predominant type of muscle fibers. For example, doing an exercise with a weight of 80% of the maximum. Mastered less than 8 repetitions - fast fibers predominate in you. More are slow.
In fact, this test is very conditional and speaks more about fitness in this particular exercise.
Muscle fibers: choice of exercises
The names "fast" and "slow", as you already understood, are not associated with the absolute speed of your movements in training, but with a combination of speed and power. At the same time, of course, muscle fibers are not included in the work in isolation: the main load falls on one or another type, while the other acts “on the hook”.
Remember: if you work with weights, then the higher they are, the more actively fast fibers are trained. If the weights are small, the movements for training fast fibers should be sharper and more frequent. For example, jumping out instead of squats, sprinting 100 meters instead of slow cross-country, etc. But to train slow fibers, you need long, calm workouts such as uniform skating, walking, swimming, calm dancing. Any acceleration and jerk will additionally connect fast fibers.
Muscle fibers: planning a training
* If you need to add volume to one or another part of the body (say, swing your arms, shoulders or hips), train mainly fast fibers in these zones, exercising with weights and doing jumps, push-ups, pull-ups.
* If you want to get rid of excess fat, “load” slow fibers throughout your body. Walking with sticks, running, swimming or dancing are best suited for this.
* For additional study of problem areas, add exercises on slow fibers: abduction-adduction of the leg, bending, etc.
* For overall muscle tone, train both fiber types equally. Let's say, in the mode of a half-hour strength lesson and a half-hour cardio load after it 3-4 times a week.
By understanding what fast and slow muscle fibers are, you can tailor your workouts more efficiently.
Separate form for each function
Each of the 400 muscles of our body performs its own function, and each function corresponds to certain form muscles. All muscles, depending on their purpose and shape, are divided into five varieties:
- Spindle muscles have a thickening in the central part and thin endings (head and tail), so they look like a spindle. These include biceps and triceps.
- flat and wide are the abdominal muscles.
- Fan-shaped muscles- These are the pectoral and temporal muscles.
- circular muscles have a rounded shape, such as the muscles of the eyes and lips.
- Circular muscles- These are the muscles surrounding the openings of the bladder and anus.
How do muscles work? Who controls the muscles?
When we want to walk, run, move our arms, the striated muscles contract and set our body in motion. But who controls them? From each striated muscle departs sensitive fiber - the nerve. Through it, information in the form of a nerve signal (impulse) about the state of contraction and relaxation of the muscle enters the brain and spinal cord. In response to this signal, the brain sends her an “order” to stay in the same position or change it. Smooth muscles, unlike striated muscles, obey the autonomic nervous system, which acts independently of our desire, and makes the movements necessary for the work of our body. For example, in order for food to move through the gastrointestinal tract, its walls contract on their own, without a special command from the brain. The smooth muscles of the blood vessels also contract on their own. The muscle layer in the arteries and veins is thinner than in the intestines, but sufficient to stimulate blood flow.
Transmission of nerve signals.
The orders given by the brain are sent as nerve signals to the spinal cord. And from there they are sent along the motor nerves to the muscle fibers. The nerve signal is never lost along the way and always comes from the nerve centers to the right muscle.
Muscle contraction. Three-phase contraction.
When a nerve signal reaches the muscles, they contract, that is, they shorten and thicken without changing their volume. Thus, our movements are made. Almost all muscles work as a team, so when one muscle contracts, the other relaxes. There are three phases of muscle contraction.
- The latent phase takes the period of passage of the nerve impulse before the onset of muscle contraction.
The contraction phase is the period of full contraction and tension of the muscle.
- The relaxation phase occurs when the muscle returns to its original state, losing its firmness. In order for a muscle to be in a contracted state, it must receive a series of continuous signals that would not allow it to relax.
Body-building
Bodybuilders develop their muscles to abnormal sizes, so this sport must be practiced under medical supervision. The doctor should also recommend to the bodybuilder a suitable diet that can meet the needs of the body, which is subjected to heavy physical exertion.
muscle energy. How are muscles fed?
Muscles are generators of movement, and, like any machine, they need a source of energy. The main source of muscle nutrition is glucose. Our body receives this substance in the process of digestion from fruits, flour products and regular sugar. In addition, if necessary, it can convert proteins and fats into glucose. Glucose is transported from the blood to the muscles, where it is converted to glycogen. This substance is composed of many interconnected sugar molecules and represents a reliable source of energy. At the moment when the muscle needs nutrition to make an effort, glycogen is again converted into glucose.
Together with glucose during the work of the muscles, a large amount of oxygen is consumed. Do not forget that the muscles "breathe", that is, they take oxygen from the blood and "throw out" carbon dioxide.
Curare- this is the poison with which the South American Indians lubricated arrowheads. It causes extensive paralysis, affecting all the muscles up to the respiratory ones, and the animal dies of suffocation. The globe helps the Indians soak their arrows with curare poison before hunting.
Muscle properties. elasticity and excitability.
Muscles have two main qualities: elasticity and excitability. Elasticity allows them to lengthen and shorten. And excitability gives the muscles a special sensitivity to nerve impulses and external stimuli, such as injections, changes in ambient temperature, electrical discharges.
There is such a state of the muscles as muscle tone. It is a slight muscle tension during rest. This tension allows you to support the body when you are still and resting. For example, when you sit with your back straight, your back muscles are in good shape.
Correct posture has great importance and helps to avoid serious problems with the spine, including scoliosis.
Muscle fatigue. Why do we get tired?
According to ancient Greek legend, the messenger who brought the news of the Greek victory at Marathon to Athens ran 42 kilometers without stopping and fell dead. You probably also saw on TV how exhausted athletes run to the finish line. This is because, under prolonged stress, the muscles require more oxygen than the body can provide. And lactic acid begins to be produced, which causes stiffness and muscle pain. The muscles of people who are not accustomed to physical activity usually get tired and start to hurt very quickly.
Rest and massage
The best remedy for muscle fatigue is massage. It restores and activates blood circulation, and the blood begins to quickly remove toxins from the muscles that have accumulated in them during exercise. But in most cases, to provide additional supply of oxygen to the muscles, it is enough to simply interrupt physical exercises and breathe calmly and deeply.
Pain
Of course, you have had to experience severe pain in the muscles after making physical efforts that you are not used to. These pains are caused by lactic acid, a substance that accumulates in the muscles during physical exertion and is gradually washed out of the muscles by the bloodstream. To ease muscle pain, it is recommended to drink sweetened water - this compensates for the increased consumption of glucose.
Conquered disease. Muscles hurt too.
There are diseases that affect the muscles, such as polio, or infantile paralysis. Polio is caused by a virus that enters the body through the nose and mouth and attacks the nervous system. With this disease, the limbs atrophy, and the person becomes disabled. The virus directly affects the spinal cord, forcing it to send nerve impulses to the muscles, which, because of this, eventually lose their weight and volume. Currently, vaccinations have been developed against polio. They are made to children from the age of three months.
Muscle massage
Any muscle injury, even if it is not as dangerous as a fracture, can cause problems. Just like with a fracture, a cast can be applied to the damaged part of the body: the muscles also need a period of rest and anti-inflammatory therapy. And then a special professional massage will help them regain their elasticity.
Polio protection
Antibodies protect our body from the polio virus. If there are enough of them in the body, the disease will manifest itself in a weak form. And if there are few of them - in a more severe one, with high fever and urinary retention. After 4-5 days, paralysis may occur.
To keep your muscles healthy. Movement and healthy eating.
To keep your muscles in good shape, you need to eat right and exercise. With significant physical exertion, you need to eat foods rich in glucose and vitamins that are responsible for its full absorption.
Avoid foods high in fat. Over time, they accumulate in the body, causing weight gain, and are only burned when needed. And do exercise. By working, the muscles develop, become more elastic and contract more easily.
Heat producers
Muscles not only move the body, but also produce heat. When we actively move, we quickly warm up and do not feel cold.
cardiac muscle
Heart- the most important muscle. If you play sports, it will develop and increase in size, thereby ensuring maximum blood circulation. If an ordinary heart has a volume of about 750 cubic centimeters, then a "sports" heart can reach a volume of 1250 cubic centimeters. In addition to physical education, proper organization of recreation, and first of all, healthy sleep is of particular importance.
Injuries of athletes. The most frequent injuries.
Many sports injuries arise from the repetition of the same movement and the constant tension of the same muscles, ligaments and bones. Therefore, in order to avoid injuries, it is necessary to correctly distribute the load, take into account general state health, human capabilities and the degree of his sports training.
— Tendinitis- this is an inflammation of the tendons that occurs when overworking or overstraining the muscle. So, for example, due to the sudden movements that tennis players make when hitting the ball with a racket, their elbow ligaments often become inflamed. This inflammation is expressed by pain in the elbow and in the muscles of the forearm.
— meniscus tear is damage to one of the cartilages knee joint. Such an injury is one of the most common in athletes and occurs with a sharp rotation of the leg. In this case, the person experiences severe pain in the knee area and cannot straighten it completely.
- Stress damage is caused by stress at one specific point and is similar to breaking a metal wire when it is repeatedly bent.
Practical Tips
1. Before playing sports, make sure that it suits your level of sports training. Then the risk of injury will be reduced. It is also important to "warm up" the muscles with preliminary exercises.
2.
If pain occurs, it is necessary to stop exercising and relax, relaxing the tired part of the body.
3.
If pain occurs in a limb or joint, apply ice to the affected area and keep the injured part of the body still until the doctor arrives.
Dictionary
autonomic nervous system
Same as vegetative. Part of the nervous system that regulates the activity of the organs of blood circulation, respiration, digestion, etc.
Antibody
A protein that the body produces in response to the presence of foreign substances (viruses, toxins) called antigens.
Atrophy
Decrease in weight and volume of the muscle caused by inactivity.
Glycogen
The energy reserve present in our body; if necessary, it is converted to glucose.
myofibrils
Thin filaments of cells that form smooth and striated muscles.
Lactic acid
A substance produced by the muscles during intense exercise that causes muscle pain.
Muscle tone
The state of minimal tension in which the muscles are located during the period of rest and rest.
Paralysis
Loss of motor ability of one or more muscles due to nerve or muscle damage.
Perimysium
A sheath of connective tissue that separates large bundles of muscle fibers.
Spinal cord
Part of the nervous system contained in the spinal column. Its task is to transmit nerve impulses to the muscles.
Taken as a whole, the musculature is considered a large single organ of the body. The system includes approximately 200 paired muscles (located on the right and left sides of the body), accounting for 40-50% of the total body weight. Muscles - from large to the smallest, from bone to organic - are involved in all movements of the body. They surround our internal organs, help maintain posture, contracting, they help maintain body temperature.
When muscles are damaged and cannot perform their functions properly, the systems they support and influence also begin to underperform. The conclusion is simple: when the muscles do not perform their functions, this is reflected in the entire body. Nevertheless, muscles are still often the “neglected children” of conventional medicine. No medical specialty is truly focused on treating muscles. They are often simply overlooked and may even be considered irrelevant when general treatment injuries.
When an injury occurs (fracture, sprain or dislocation), treatment is mainly directed at the cracked, damaged joint or tendon. As a result of unilateral treatment, innumerable people who have been injured have returned to almost normal functioning, but not to full. A number of their movements remained, albeit slightly, but still limited, some of them had a slight numbness. The final part of the treatment - the restoration of the muscles - was not carried out.
Muscles are conductors that ensure the stability of movement and the condition of the joints. When a bone or joint is injured, attention must also be paid to the muscles adjacent to it so that they acquire the same length and strength as they had before the injury.
Athletes know better than anyone else that even small muscle pain and numbness, if neglected, can lead to chronic illness, inflammation, and reduced mobility. And after some time, a more severe injury may follow as a result of the fact that proper treatment has not been carried out. Coaches are very well aware of such cases. To avoid inflammation of the tissues, they usually include rest and cold in the treatment of muscles - the first two parts of the well-known RICE formula for the care of musculoskeletal injuries. (The full list of RICE prescriptions is rest, cold, contraction, and elevation.) Some trainers recommend massage and/or moist heat, hot baths, to warm up the tissues in the hope of restoring the muscles to their normal elastic state. But there is one drawback in their actions: they do not know that the muscles receive their own injuries.
Muscles are made up of individual bands (fibers) of muscle tissue arranged parallel to each other. These bands interact when the muscle contracts. muscle tension or injury can limit the action of one or more of these bands, resulting in what we call a tense area or tight band. The stress point is just in the stressed area. If you think of a muscle spasm as a contraction of the entire muscle, then a tight band is something like a microspasm of a separate muscle band. Muscle dysfunction caused by a tense area will remain until the tense area is relaxed.
The muscle structure is flexible, elastic, resilient and strong. You feel when everything is in order with the muscles, because your movements are smooth, light, unlimited. You easily bend over, you can, without hesitation, stand up, stretch and turn. Joints move freely without discomfort or restriction. When muscles are healthy, you don't think about them. Movement brings nothing but pleasure and pleasant excitement. When touched, you feel that the muscles are soft. You can easily feel the bones that are under them. Healthy muscles are not sensitive to touch and do not hurt.
When tension points arise in the muscles, they shrink, lose their elasticity and flexibility, and become stiff to the touch. If the muscle remains clamped for a long time, its blood supply decreases and it becomes looser. Then you may experience a constant, deep, dull, aching pain called girdle pain syndrome.
Each tension point has its own predictable pain pattern, which can be reproduced by clicking on the pain point. Interesting enough is the fact that the pain is often felt not in the very place of the pain-causing point. The pain caused by such a point is known as distant pain and is felt at some distance from the point causing the pain. This is very important to keep in mind when choosing a pattern to identify the muscle that causes pain in your body.
So how do points of tension develop in a muscle?
It usually starts with some form of mechanical injury or muscle strain. People between 30 and 50 years of age who lead an active lifestyle are most prone to developing tension points and, as a result, suffering from girdle pain. However, not only sports can cause pain points. Dots can be caused by tripping on stairs, landing badly on a jump, sleeping in an awkward position, stretching too far to hit a tennis serve, sitting at an ill-positioned computer, playing too much football after the winter break, selflessly exercising gardening on the first warm day of spring, carrying a box filled with books up the stairs, sitting on an airplane for a long time... The list of reasons for activating tension points is endless, as are the possibilities of movement.
Mechanical damage to the muscle can occur as a result of either overworking or overloading.
Overworking a muscle often occurs when it performs the same action over and over again in the same way. Practicing a backhand while hitting hundreds of tennis balls in a row - good example overwork. Elbow hurt the next day. What happened? It's just that the muscles of the forearm performed the same action for a long time, which strained them much more than usual. They contracted, and tense areas and points of tension formed in them. The pain from these points began to give to the elbow.
What I call "trainer coercion injuries" are examples of muscle overload. The weight-manager makes you do quad stretches, you've already done 3 sets of 12 reps. Your trainer encourages you: "One more set, just one." Your body is asking you to stop because your muscles are tired and you just can't imagine being able to do another set. And yet you do it. When you get out of bed the next day, you find that you can't stand up straight because your thighs are so sore. Much more than usual after training. The pain lasts for several days, doesn't get better, and noticeably affects your ability to walk, climb stairs, and sit down. An overloaded muscle is one that has had to exert more effort than it is physically capable of.
Muscles can be overloaded due to three actions. In the example above, the injury was due to repeated overloading.
In the case of acute overload, you suddenly exert too much muscle effort. Imagine the following scene. A martial artist demonstrates a throw on an inexperienced student. While he grabs the student and tries to knock him to the ground, the student resists not for life, but for death. The result is an acute overload of the back muscles of the martial artist, who suddenly had to cope with an 80-kilogram weight on his back.
Long-term overload can happen, for example, when you have to carry a heavy box of books up the stairs to the 3rd or 4th floor.
In addition to overworking and overloading, direct trauma (comes from a blow during a football match, for example) can be a source of points of tension in the muscles, as well as an injury resulting from a fall or a car accident. Hypothermia of the muscle can also lead to the development of painful points of tension.
Stress points are of two types. Passive points represent the vast majority of stress points present in the musculature. Everyone has them. Passive stress points result from poor posture, sprains, overwork, chronic illness, and repetitive emotional and physical behaviors. Passive points of tension lead to numbness and weakness in the muscles they affect, to the restriction of movement in the joints for which these muscles are responsible. Passive stress points do not disappear without direct action on them and can persist for many years.
The chronic upper shoulder tightness that almost everyone experiences is a good example of passive points of tension in the trapezius muscle. You may feel muscle limitation as you try to pull the top of your shoulder while tilting your head to the side. If you press on the center of the rounded part of the top of your shoulder, you will feel what is likely to be a painful knot there. This is your point of tension. It is caused by the way you hold your arms and shoulders, or by holding the receiver to your ear while talking on the phone.
After a slight overvoltage or unexpected overload, this passive voltage point can become active. An active point of tension, formed in a muscle, gives a predictable model of distant pain, which is characteristic of a particular muscle. Each muscle has its own model of remote pain. For example, when the passive point of tension in the trapezius muscle becomes active, in addition to numbness, weakness, and limited movement, you will feel a deep, aching pain that can reach down the skull to the place behind the ear. The muscle may be so tight and the point of tension so irritated that the pain may radiate from the ear to the temple.
In order for a stress point to become active, something has to nudge that transition. This transformation can take place gradually and take some time. Muscles within the affected area may be sensitive to touch. But the painful sensations will pass only after the point of tension is cured.
Pain from points of tension changes its intensity during the day. It is exacerbated by use of the muscle, stretching it, direct pressure on the point of pain with prolonged or repeated contraction of the muscle, cold or wet weather, infection and stress. Conversely, symptoms may be relieved by short periods of rest and slow, passive stretching of the muscle, especially when moist heat is applied to it.
It has already been said that stress points can be directly activated by overwork, overload, direct trauma and hypothermia. But stress points can also be activated indirectly. Diseases of the internal organs, especially the heart, gallbladder, kidneys and stomach, can give rise to points of tension in the muscles associated with them. Joint diseases or dysfunctions, such as arthritis, put additional stress on nearby muscles and can cause stress points in those muscles. They also form in muscles with a lack of movement or, conversely, in those that are in a tense state for a long period of time. Emotional stress also leads to the appearance of such points.
If the muscle is located in a diseased area formed by other active stress points, such points may develop in it as well. These points are called satellite points.
In general, the degree of muscle condition is a factor that largely determines whether a passive point of tension becomes active. Strong muscles are less likely to activate stress points than weak muscles. Active points of tension often return to a passive state after a sufficient time at rest. However, tension points will not disappear completely without direct treatment. People often complain that the pain comes back again, sometimes years later. The lack of treatment is the reason for this.
So how do you treat stress points?
First, this point must be found in the muscle. This is done with the help of palpation - feeling the muscle with the fingers of the hand. Once the point of tension is found, the therapist may give a pain relief injection, the acupuncturist will use acupuncture, the physiotherapist will apply electrical or ultrasonic stimulation, possibly combined with a manual massage technique or a technique called post-isometric relaxation.
A chiropractor or massage therapist will apply directed pressure to a point of tension. This is a technique that everyone can use as a self-treatment. Its key point is to find the point of tension. Many of these points have predictable locations. However, due to physiological differences, stress points can be located in any muscle and anywhere in this muscle.
In a healthy state, the muscles are elastic and flexible, touching them does not cause any pain, but if your knee hurts and you need to bend it, then the muscle on the inside of the thigh adjacent to the knee will no longer be so flexible. Fingering this muscle with your palms and fingers, you will find tight, tense areas. These are the points of tension.
You will need to palpate your muscles to get an idea of the difference between soft, flexible muscles and muscles that have areas of tension. This may sound more complicated than it really is. Just relax and direct all your curiosity to your hands. Try to "see" with your fingers. You will enjoy what you can feel.
Palpation of the muscles should be done along the entire length. Feel your body right now - place your palm and fingers on the middle of your thigh. Imagine that your thigh muscle is the clay or dough that you are kneading. Press down on your thigh with your whole hand: palm, fingers, and fingertips. The quadriceps muscle stretches along the entire length of the thigh - from the pelvis to the knee. Try to feel for tense areas by moving your hand crosswise over this muscle. Feel across the muscle fibers, not along. If you feel across the muscle fibers, you will be able to feel a tight band; it will be sensitive to touch. In a muscle as large as the quadriceps, the tension bands can be as wide as electrical wires. In smaller muscles, tension bands can feel as thin as guitar strings to the touch.
Once you have found a tense area, do not take your fingers away from it. Try to separate it from the surrounding muscle fibers. Follow its length and you will reach an area that is more sensitive than any other part of the tension tape. In addition, you may notice that during directed pressure on this place, an involuntary muscle spasm occurs. This is what Janet Travell calls a convulsive departure. This is the most painful place and there is a point of tension.
Once you have found a point of tension, apply pressure to it with your fingers, an eraser, a tennis ball, or any other healing tool (see the Appendices for information on these). You need to keep pressing for 20-30 seconds. Use moderate pressure, as strong pressure is not always good. Press hard enough to feel the tightness of the tape and the pain at the point, and keep the pressure at that level.
Then you will feel amazing things - under your fingers, the muscle will begin to release tension and pain will decrease. At this time, you can slightly increase the pressure. After several similar approaches, at some point you will notice that the knee no longer hurts at all.
After working on a muscle, it is very important to stretch. It lengthens the muscle, helping it to return to its natural flexibility and length. (The description of each muscle in the book is provided with instructions on how to stretch it, which applies only to it.) When doing exercises to stretch a muscle, it is very important at this time to monitor the correct position of the body. You can only understand that you are in the correct position by starting the exercise - you do not have to stretch too far for the muscle to feel it. It is very important to stretch several times a day. It is much more useful to do 6-7 short sessions than one long one. When you stretch, you teach the muscle to return to its normal length. As with any training regimen, repetition is the key to victory.
