The term muscle is derived from the Latin musculus meaning "little mouse" perhaps because of the shape

of certain muscles or because contracting muscles look like mice moving under the [1][2] skin.
a band or bundle of fibrous tissue in a human or animal body that has the ability to contract, producing movement in or maintaining the position of parts of the body. Muscle cells contain proteinfilaments

of actin and myosin that slide past one another, producing acontraction that changes both the length and the shape of the cell. Muscle tissues are derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cellsin a process known as myogenesis. There are three types of muscle, skeletalor striated, cardiac, and smooth. Muscle action can be classified as being either voluntary or involuntary.

Regardless of the type, all muscles share the following basic properties Conductivity: A muscle has the ability to conduct an action potential. Irritability: When stimulated, the muscle will react. Contractility: A muscle can shorten or produce tension between its ends. Relaxation: A muscle can return to resting properties after contraction. Distensibility: A muscle can be stretched by a force outside of the muscle itself. The muscle is not injured as long as it is not stretched past its physiological limits. Elasticity: The muscle will resist elongation and will return to its original position after passive or active elongation. Elasticity is the opposite of distensibilit1
There are three levels of muscle tissue organization: epimysium, endomysium, and perimysium. The outside surface of a muscle is covered by a relatively thick and very tough connective tissue, the epimysium, which separates it from surrounding muscles. Arteries and veins run through the endomysium. The perimysium divides the muscle into bundles typically containing about 100 to 150 muscle fibers, which form a fasciculus or fascicle. However, muscles that function in producing small or very fine movements have smaller fascicles containing elatively few fibers and a larger proportion of connective tissue. Many of the endomysial fibers connect with the perimysium and likely connect to the basement membrane, which lies on the ou tside of the muscle cell sarcolemma (McComas 1996). the action a muscle generates is determined by the origin and insertion locations. The crosssectional area of a muscle (rather than volume or length) determines the amount of force it can [citation needed] generate by defining the number of sarcomeres which can operate in parallel. The amount of force applied to the external environment is determined by lever mechanics, specifically the ratio of in-lever to out-lever. Muscles are predominantly powered by the oxidation of fats and carbohydrates, but anaerobic chemical reactions are also used, particularly by fast twitch fibers. These chemical reactions produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules which are used to power the movement of the myosin heads.

Functions of Muscles

The muscles play a major role in the body, from producing movement, maintaining posture, stabilizing joints, assisting in the circulation of blood in the body and generating heat. Muscles are used in every body movement performed such as heart beat, food being digested and all body movements. Producing Movement Muscles produce movement by the action of muscles crossing joints between the bones of the skeleton, the muscles are connected to the joints/bones via tendons. For example when you extend your elbow the tendons in your elbow pull on the muscles to allow the movement to take place. Maintaining Posture The muscles define how well our bones and body are stabilized. For example if we train our trapezius muscles then our neck will have better support because the muscle is stronger and can take more force and weight resulting in a stronger neck. Stabilizing Joints Muscles play a role in the stabilization of the joints. The muscles limit movement in a joint or provide balance the joint for a more stable joint. For example a lot of people will complain about lower back pain and a common cause of this pain is underdeveloped stabilizer muscles in this case the Multifidus muscle group. Generating Heat Muscles also produce heat within the body when they contract. This heat causes blood vessels in the skin to dilate, which will increase the blood flow to the skin. The heat that the muscles produce is energy with only around 20-25% of this energy being efficient mechanical energy. The other 75-80% of the energy is lost as heat through the skin. For example when a athlete starts to sweat that is the body releasing the excess energy as heat and the body releasing sweat to cool the skin down. Assistance in Blood Circulation When muscles contract they produce chemicals that act on the arterioles dilating them, regulating the blood flow for the required exercise being carried out. For example a power lifter will have to intake a lot of oxygen to provide to the muscles to lift such a large amount of static weight, so the blood vessels in the muscles allow this to happen by dilating and becoming bigger due to heat when it is required.