In: Anatomy and Physiology
In class, it was discussed different ways that muscle fibers and muscles as a whole can increase the strength of a contraction. Please list three different things that a muscle fiber or a muscle as a whole can do to increase tension/strength and explain them.
a) The force -length relationship states that muscles generate the greatest force when at their resting (ideal) length, and the least amount of force when shortened or stretched relative to the resting length. By increasing the resting length of sarcomere we increase the distance that the filaments (actin and myosin) can slide over each other, this develops force or tension.
b) Force generated by a muscle depends upon the total number of cross bridge attached, a larger number of cross-bridges results in a larger amount of force. There is a inverse relationship between force and velocity, At a maximum velocity no cross-bridges can form so no force is generated, conversely as muscle velocity decreases more cross bridge have time to attach and to generate force, thus force increases.
c) Motor unit recruitment, which is a a measure of how many motor neurons are activated in a particular muscle, and therefore is a measure of how many muscle fibers of that muscle are activated. The more or higher is the recruitment stronger will be the muscle contraction.