What is the difference between the leg muscles and the heart muscle?
Heart is a cardiac muscle, contracts and relaxes continuously, involuntary muscle (don’t have to think about using it)
Leg muscles are skeletal muscles and are attached to the skeleton by tendons, we tell them to contract and move our body. Under our control
Cardiac muscle:
Only found in the heart
Contracts and relaxes continuously
Involuntary.
Skeletal muscles:
Attached to the skeleton by tendons
Under our control
We tell them to contract and move our body.
Antagonistic muscle action:
Muscles can only contract and pull.
Joints have to have 2 or more muscles working opposite each other.
One pulls bones in one direction and another to pull the bones in the opposite direction.
As one of the muscles contracts, the other muscle relaxes. This is known as an agonistic pair.
E.g. The biceps and triceps.
The muscle that is contracting is known as the prime mover or the agonist.
What is the difference between the agonist and the antagonist?
The antagonist is the pair of muscles that work against each other. One pulls bones in one direction and the other pulls them in the other direction. The agonist is the muscle that is the prime mover.
