Muscle Anatomy
This specific term refers to the cell membrane of a muscle fiber.
Sarcolemma
The mechanism of body temperature maintenance through muscle-generated heat production.
Thermogenesis
The primary muscle responsible for causing a desired specific movement or action.
Agonist
An injury involving the overstretching or tearing of muscle fibers or their tendons.
Strain
Overuse injury characterized by pain along the medial tibia, often seen in runners.
Shin splints
This cordlike structure anchors skeletal muscles to bones.
Tendon
The continuous and partial contraction of skeletal muscles that helps maintain posture.
Muscle tone (tonus)
This muscle lengthens and yields while the prime mover performs an action.
Antagonist
Inflammation of a tendon, typically resulting from overuse or repetitive trauma.
Tendinitis
Inflammation of the common extensor tendon sheath at the thumb side of the wrist.
The fluid-filled space where a motor neuron meets a muscle fiber.
Neuromuscular junction
The name for muscle fibers that contract rapidly, possess less myoglobin, and fatigue quickly.
Fast-twitch muscle
These muscles contract at the same time as the prime mover to assist and smooth out the movement.
Synergists
Chronic, generalized syndrome characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tender points.
Fibromyalgia
Patellar tendon inflammation at the tibial tuberosity, very common in growing adolescent athletes.
Osgood-Schlatter disease
A single motor neuron and all the specific muscle fibers it innervates.
Motor unit
A type of muscle contraction where muscle length remains the same and no joint movement occurs.
Isometric
A lever system arranged with the fulcrum positioned between the load and the pull (L-F-P), like a seesaw or the skull balance.
Class I lever
A painful condition caused by trigger points that refer pain to other parts of the body.
Myofascial pain syndrome
An inflammatory condition causing severe pain in the heel and sole of the foot, especially noticed during the first steps in the morning.
Plantar fasciitis
The attachment site of a muscle tendon to the more stationary or less movable bone.
Origin
The phenomenon where a muscle's typical origin moves toward its insertion during a contraction.
Functional reversibility
A lever system arranged with the pull between the fulcrum and the load (L-P-F), like a shovel or the biceps brachii flexing the elbow.
Class III lever
Congenital or acquired spasms of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, commonly referred to as "wryneck."
Torticollis
The physical state when a muscle temporarily loses its ability to contract due to a lack of ATP, oxygen, or glucose depletion.
Muscle fatigue