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Muscle Biomechanics. Remember Biomechanics?. Study of the human body as a mechanical system. Modeling Muscles. Muscles make the body move, so what must they do? Apply a force! How do muscles apply this force? By contracting!. How do Muscles Apply Force?.
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Remember Biomechanics? • Study of the human body as a mechanical system
Modeling Muscles • Muscles make the body move, so what must they do? • Apply a force! • How do muscles apply this force? • By contracting!
How do Muscles Apply Force? • Muscles contract, or get shorter, and they pull on the ligaments and bones to which they are attached
How do Muscles Apply Force? • Muscles contract, or get shorter, and they pull on the ligaments and bones to which they are attached
How do Muscles Apply Force? • Muscles contract, or get shorter, and they pull on the ligaments and bones to which they are attached • We call this pulling force a Tensile Force because it is a result of tension in the muscle T
Modeling Muscles • Since muscles contract to create tensile forces, an easy way to model them is using a rope or cable since these can support tensile forces
Modeling Muscles • Since muscles contract to create tensile forces, an easy way to model them is using a rope or cable since these can support tensile forces T
Modeling Muscles • Let’s further simplify the system by replacing the forearm with a beam since we’re not looking at the hand or wrist T
Modeling Muscles • Now we’ve got a joint to look at • The elbow is a hinge joint, so we can model it as a hinge T
Modeling Muscles • Now we’ve got a joint to look at • The elbow is a hinge joint, so we can model it as a hinge T
Modeling Muscles • Finally, we can replace the upper arm with another beam T
Modeling Muscles • And finally, let’s treat the proximal end of the humerus as a pulley, and our model is finished! T
Modeling Muscles • If we pull on the bicep, we create more tension, which will cause the forearm to move T
Modeling Muscles • What will happen if we add a weight to the end of the forearm? T
Modeling Muscles • The tension will increase! • So what does that mean for your muscle? T
Modeling Muscles • Your muscles has to work harder to contract to maintain a higher tensile force T
Modeling Muscles • So we now have a completed working model of the biceps muscle and its associated skeletal elements!! T
Modeling Muscles • Now that we have our completed model, what can we do with it? T
Who is Really Stronger? • The distance from the applied force to the fulcrum or point of rotation is called a “moment arm”
Who is Really Stronger? • The distance from the applied force to the fulcrum or point of rotation is called a “moment arm” Moment arm
Who is Really Stronger? • The longer the moment arm, the more torque is applied for the applied tensile force Moment arm
Who is Really Stronger? So, if the moment arm on the right is 4 cm, and the moment arm on the left is 2cm, _____ only has to apply ½ as much force to curl the same amount of weight as ____!! Strength is about more than just the biggest muscles!
Summary • Muscles contract to create Tensile Forces • Because of this, we can use a rope or a cable to model a muscle • The Torque that the biceps can generate depends on the length of its Moment Arm, or how far from the elbow joint it attaches to the forearm • Strength depends on not just how big your muscles are, but also how your body is put together