Abduction
Abduction: moving a body part away from the midline
Adduction
Adduction: moving a body part toward the midline
Circumduction
Circumduction: moving in a circle at a joint, or moving one end of a body part in a circle while the other end remains stationary, such as swinging an arm in a circle
Contractibility
Contractibility: muscle fibers that are stimulated by nerves contract, or become short and thick, which causes movement
Contracture
Contracture: a severe tightening of a flexor muscle resulting in bending of a joint
Dorsiflexion
Dorsiflexion: bending backward or bending the foot toward the knee
Elasticity
Elasticity: allows the muscle to return to its original shape after it has contracted or stretched
Excitability
Excitability: irritability, the ability to respond to a stimulus such as a nerve impulse
Extensibility
Extensibility: the ability to be stretched
Extension
Extension: increasing the angle between two bones, or straightening a body part
Fascia
Fascia: a tough, sheetlike membrane that covers and protects the tissue
Flexion
Flexion: decreasing the angle between two bones, or bending a body part
Insertion
Flexion: decreasing the angle between two bones, or bending a body part
Involuntary
Involuntary: meaning they function without conscious thought or control
Origin
Origin: the end that does not move
Tendons
Tendons: which are strong, tough, fibrous connective-tissue cords
Visceral
Visceral (smooth) muscle: found in the internal organs of the body, such as those of the digestive and respiratory systems, and the blood vessels and eyes
Voluntary
Voluntary: because a person has control over its action
Supination
Supination: turning a body part upward
Skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle: is attached to bones and causes body movement
Rotation
Rotation: turning a body part around its own axis; for example, turning the head from side to side
Pronation
Pronation: turning a body part downward
Plantar flexion
Plantar flexion: bending forward or bending the foot away from the knee
Muscular system
Muscular system: More than 600 muscles make up the system known as the muscular system
Muscle tone
Muscle tone: state of partial contraction is called muscle tone and is sometimes described as a state of readiness to act