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The Secret of Parallel and Feather Muscles: How Do They Affect the Efficiency of Your Movements?
Within the complex framework of human movement, the structure and arrangement of muscles are crucial. Different muscle architectures handle the transmission of force and the efficiency of movement in their own unique ways. The type of muscle architecture, such as parallel and pennate muscles, determines the production of force and its application in our daily activities. This article will explore the characteristics of the parallel and pennate muscles and reveal how they affect the speed and power of movement.
Types of muscle structure
The muscles from the abdomen, limbs to chest can usually be divided into parallel muscles, pennate muscles and hydration muscles. These muscle structures influence force production as well as the mechanical efficiency of movement. First, we need to understand the basic characteristics of parallel muscles and pennate muscles.
Parallel muscles
Parallel muscles are characterized by the arrangement of their muscle fibers parallel to the axis of force generation, making them suitable for fast or wide range of movements.
Strand muscle
A strap muscle is like a band with muscle fibers extending in the direction of contraction. The shortening of these muscles can reach about 40% to 60%. Longitudinal arrangement of muscle fibers provides excellent flexibility. For example, the sartorius, the longest muscle in the human body, is critical to flexibility in human movement.
Fusiform muscles
Spindle muscles are wide in the middle and tapered at both ends. The force is concentrated in such a way that muscles such as the biceps exhibit great power when contracted.
Converging muscles
The fibers of this type of muscle are concentrated into a tendon at one end and fan out at the other end. Although converging muscles such as the pectoralis major are relatively weak, their flexibility allows them to change the direction of force in different situations.
Pennate muscle
The muscle fibers of the pennate muscle are arranged at an angle relative to the axis of force production, usually inserting toward a central tendon.
Unipennate muscle
In the monopennate muscle, all the muscle fibers are located on one side of the tendon, and this structure, like the calf muscles on the side, provides greater force transmission.
Bipennate muscle
The muscle fibers of the bipennate muscle are arranged along both sides, which allows muscles such as the rectus femoris to produce higher forces by increasing the number of muscle fibers.
Polypennate muscles
This type of muscle, such as the deltoid muscle in the shoulder, has muscle fibers arranged at multiple angles, providing complex movement control and balance.
Generation of muscle strength
Muscle architecture directly affects force generation, including parameters such as muscle volume, fiber length, fiber type, and feathering angle. Muscle volume is determined by cross-sectional area, and actual force production is related to the physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) of the muscle. When a muscle exerts force, both fiber length and pennation angle relative to the muscle's force-generating axis affect the effective transfer of force.
The influence of feather angle
The pennation angle is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the entire muscle and its fibers, which increases as muscle fiber tension increases.
In pennate muscles, as the muscle fibers shorten, the pennation angle increases, thereby affecting force production. Such structural characteristics make the pennate muscles more efficient in providing force.
The key to action efficiency
The key to movement efficiency is the ratio of muscle architecture, which involves the relationship between the contraction speed of the entire muscle and the contraction speed of individual muscle fibers. As the feathering angle adjusts, the muscle's action geometry changes, which is critical to performance.
Effects of muscle training
Exercise can alter a muscle's pennation angle and maximum force-producing efficiency. With a high gear ratio, the contraction speed of the entire muscle will be significantly higher than that of a single muscle fiber, which allows the muscle to perform actions at high speeds with slightly weakened strength.
Conclusion
In summary, the type of muscle architecture not only affects our sports performance, but also determines force generation and efficiency under different sports demands. Understanding the mysteries of these structures can help athletes train in a targeted manner. How does the operation of various muscles actually affect your sports performance?
