What are muscles? How do they work?

Welcome to Science of Baseball and Fitness

Hello and welcome to our series on the Science of Baseball and Fitness! In this series, we explore how science helps us understand sports and staying healthy. We'll look at everything from how pitchers throw fast balls to why stretching is important. Today, we're starting with something everyone uses when playing baseball (or doing anything, really): muscles!

What Are Muscles?

Muscles are special tissues in your body that can stretch and contract (get shorter). They are like rubber bands that can pull and then go back to their regular size. Your body has more than 600 muscles! These muscles make up about 40% of your body weight.

There are three main types of muscles in your body:

1. Skeletal muscles - These are the muscles attached to your bones. You can control these muscles. When you swing a bat or throw a ball, you're using skeletal muscles.
2. Smooth muscles - These muscles work automatically. They are found in places like your stomach and blood vessels. You don't have to think about these muscles to make them work.
3. Cardiac muscle - This is the muscle that makes up your heart. It works all the time without you thinking about it, pumping blood throughout your body.

How Do Muscles Work?

Muscles work by contracting (getting shorter) and relaxing (going back to normal). When your brain sends a signal to move, it travels through your nerves to your muscles. This signal tells the muscle to contract.

Inside each muscle are tiny parts called muscle fibers. These fibers contain even smaller parts called myofibrils. Inside myofibrils are two important proteins called actin and myosin. When your muscle gets a signal from your brain, these proteins slide past each other, making the muscle shorter.

This is a bit like pulling on both ends of an accordion to make it shorter. When the signal stops, the muscle relaxes and returns to its normal length.

Muscles Working Together

Muscles don't work alone. They work in pairs called antagonists. When one muscle contracts, the opposite muscle relaxes. For example:

When a baseball pitcher throws a ball, the biceps muscle (on the front of the upper arm) relaxes while the triceps muscle (on the back of the upper arm) contracts. This straightens the arm forward.

When a batter swings, many muscles work together. Muscles in the legs, hips, torso, shoulders, and arms all contract in a specific order to create a powerful swing.

Taking Care of Your Muscles

To keep your muscles healthy and strong, you need to:

• Exercise regularly - This helps build muscle strength and endurance (how long muscles can work).
• Stretch - Stretching helps keep muscles flexible.
• Eat protein - Muscles need protein to repair and grow.
• Rest - Your muscles need time to recover after hard work.

Muscles in Baseball

In baseball, different positions use muscles in different ways:

• Pitchers rely heavily on leg muscles for power, shoulder muscles for throw speed, and forearm muscles for ball control.
• Batters use core muscles (stomach and back) to generate swinging power, along with arm and shoulder muscles.
• Catchers need strong leg muscles to stay in a squatting position and strong arm muscles to throw the ball quickly.

Understanding how your muscles work can help you become a better athlete and stay healthy while enjoying the game of baseball!