Muscular system
This system is mainly concerned with producing movement through muscle contraction. This section explores the different types of muscles in our body and their involvement in sporting activities.
Voluntary muscles
The main muscles of the human body are shown here.
| Function | Example in sport | |
|---|---|---|
| Deltoid | Abduction of the shoulder (moving the arm outwards and away from the body) | Outward arm action in a jumping jack |
| Pectoralis major | Adduction of the shoulder (moving the arm towards the body); Shoulder horizontal flexion (moving the arms forwards in front of the body) | Upwards phase of a press up |
| Triceps | Extend the elbow (straightening the arm) | Shooting in netball |
| Biceps | Flex the elbow (bending the arm) | Drawing a bow in archery |
| External obliques | Trunk rotation (turning the body sideways) | Turning the body to breathe to the side when performing front crawl in swimming |
| Latissimus dorsi | Shoulder adduction (moving the arm towards the body); Shoulder horizontal extension | Butterfly stroke in swimming |
| Hip flexors | Hip flexion (moving knee up towards the chest) | Performing a rugby conversion kick |
| Gluteus maximus | Hip extension (moving the leg backwards) | Pulling back leg before kicking a ball |
| Quadriceps | Extend the knee (straightening the leg) | Kicking a ball |
| Hamstrings | Flex the knee (bending the leg) | Performing a hamstring curl on a weights machine |
| Gastrocnemius | Plantar flexion of the ankle (pointing the toes downwards) | Standing on tiptoe to mark a goal shoot in netball |
| Tibialis anterior | Dorsiflexion of the ankle (bringing the toes up towards the shin) | Foot making contact with a football |