How to Study and Learn Human Anatomy II

Muscle anatomy.

The muscles of the human body are structured to support the bones and over 600 of them exist. There are skeletal muscles which are referred to as voluntary muscles because the body has control over them unlike smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. Nerve impulses cause the muscles to contract or shorten and in a strong contraction they cause the length of the muscle to reduce in size when in a relaxed state.

Things You'll Need

• Diagrams of muscles
• Anatomy textbook

Instructions

1. 

   Let's explore the various muscle types, the terms used to describe muscles are in the Latin language. Size is expressed as vastus which means huge, maximus correlates to large, longus refers to what it sounds like long, minimus is small, and brevis which refers to as short.

2. 

   The shapes of muscles are of different types and consist of deltoid which are triangular in shape and these are located in the upper back or shoulder area. Rhomboid which has a shape of equal and parallel sides, latissimus muscles are wide, teres have a round shape, and trapezius which supports the muscles of the neck and upper back. This muscle has a triangular shape from the neck to the middle of the back.

3. 

   Muscles of the face are many so we will only discuss the major muscles of this group. Zygomatic muscles exist near the face's cheek areas and serve to pull the corner of the lips into a upward motion. Obicularis oculi are muscles that go around the eyes and help the eyes to squint and open and shut. Obicularis oris are muscles that surround the mouth and help with motion to assist in chewing, opening and closing the mouth. There are a lot of muscles to learn in anatomy and I suggest using textbooks, online media, Grey's Anatomy book, charts, and video.

Tips & Warnings

• Study with as much aids as possible, textbooks, charts, etc.

• Online videos

• Models of the various muscles

• Study when alert

• Label muscles on a chart so learning is fun