The muscular system is the anatomical system of a species that allows it to move.

The muscular system in vertebrates is controlled through the nervous system, although some muscles (such as the cardiac muscle) can be completely autonomous. The human muscular system involves coordination between three separate but closely interconnected groups. Much of what the muscular system does is beyond conscious control. When skeletal muscles are exercised, the other two groups respond by drawing extra oxygen into the blood and directing it to the muscles being worked, ultimately increasing the strength, efficiency and capacity of all bodily systems. Function The muscular system is the body's largest system, normally comprising about 40 percent of body weight and enabling almost all internal and external movement. Muscle cells, called fibers, move by lengthening and contracting, a process that generates much of the body heat needed for survival. In order for muscles to function at optimum efficiency, they need adequate nutrients from food and a constant supply of oxygen from blood. The human body has about 650 muscles. Skeletal Muscles Skeletal muscles are attached to bones by dense, fibrous connective tissue called tendons. These muscles are described as striated because they consist of alternating bands of light and dark layers that resemble stripes when viewed under a microscope. In addition to moving bones at the joints, skeletal muscles also exert balanced tension to hold bones in place to maintain the body's position, or posture. Because these muscles are under conscious control, you can choose to exercise them, which builds muscle mass over time. After skeletal muscles have used up the oxygen supply available to them, they become fatigued, incurring "oxygen debt," meaning that they need to be rested and deoxygenated. Heavy breathing during and after exercise helps correct this by raising blood oxygen levels. Cardiac Muscle Like the skeletal muscles, the cardiac, or heart, muscle is striated, but its action is beyond conscious control. The heart consists of four chambers that contract in unison, the left side pumping blood out through the aorta to all cells of the body and the right side pumping blood to the lungs and then back to the heart. At rest, the number of beats per minute, called heart rate, and the quantity of blood ejected by the heart per beat, called stroke volume, are steady. However, when the skeletal muscles are exercised, they send signals to the heart via nerve cells to provide more oxygen. During strenuous activity, cardiac output can increase to five to eight times its resting capacity, indicating that the heart is rushing an extra supply of oxygenated blood to the muscles being worked and to the lungs to help them sustain the increased respiration rate. Smooth or Visceral Muscles Visceral muscles, found in blood vessels and organs including the intestines, stomach and urinary tract, are involuntary and lack the striations apparent in the other two muscle groups. They respond to demands for

increased oxygen from the skeletal muscles by narrowing or widening blood vessels to direct the supply to wherever the skeletal muscles most need it. Visceral muscle contractions also move food through the digestive tract and cause the uterus to propel a baby through the birth canal. People with physically fit skeletal muscles also tend to have stronger visceral muscles. Muscles have three important functions: to produce movement, maintain posture, and generate heat. Almost all movements by the human body result from muscle contraction. Muscles lend support to the body and help it maintain posture against the force of gravity. Even when the body is at rest (or asleep), muscle fibers are contracting to maintain muscle tone. Finally, any activity by muscles generates heat as a byproduct, which is vital in maintaining normal body temperature. Smallest muscle in the body? Stapedius: the muscle that activates the stirrup, the small bone that sends vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear. It measures just 0.05 inch (0.13 centimeter) in length. Largest muscle in the body? Latissimus dorsi: the large, flat muscle pair that covers the middle and lower back. Longest muscle in the body? Sartorius: the straplike muscle that runs diagonally from the waist down across the front of the thigh to the knee. Strongest muscle in the body? Gluteus maximus: the muscle pair of the hip that form most of the flesh of the buttocks. Fastest-reacting muscle in the body? Orbicularis oculi: the muscle that encircles the eye and closes the eyelid. It contracts in less than 0.01 second. Number of muscles used to make a smile? Seventeen. Number of muscles used to make a frown? Forty-three.

The human abdomen (also called the belly) is the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax. Anatomically, the abdomen stretches from the thorax at the thoracic diaphragm to the pelvis at the pelvic brim. The pelvic brim stretches from the lumbosacral angle (the intervertebral disk between L5 and S1) to the pubic symphysis and is the edge of the pelvic inlet. The space above this inlet and under the thoracic diaphragm is termed the abdominal cavity. The boundary of the abdominal cavity is the abdominal wall in the front and the peritoneal surface at the rear. In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area.This is also known as the medial (adductor) compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles the quadriceps femoris (Latin for "fourheaded muscle of the femur"), also called simply the quadriceps, quadriceps extensor, quads, is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the great extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large fleshy mass which covers the front and sides of the femur. It is the strongest and leanest muscle in the human body The triceps brachii muscle (Latin for "three-headed arm muscle") is the large muscle on the back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It is the muscle principally responsible for extension of the elbow joint (straightening of the arm).

in human anatomy, the biceps brachii, or simply biceps in common parlance, is, as the name implies, a two-headed muscle located on the upper arm. Both heads arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle belly which is attached to the upper forearm. While the biceps crosses both the shoulder and elbow joints, its main function is at the latter where it flexes the elbow and supinates the forearm. Both these movements are used when opening a bottle with a corkscrew: first biceps unscrews the cork (supination), then it pulls the cork out (flexion) in human anatomy, the deltoid muscle is the muscle forming the rounded contour of the shoulder. Anatomically, it appears to be made up of three distinct sets of fibers though electromyography suggests that it consists of at least seven groups that can be independently coordinated by the central nervous system The facial muscles are a group of striated muscles innervated by the facial nerve that, among other things, control facial expression. These muscles are also called mimetic muscles.