Skeletal muscle: Produces movement, maintains posture, stabilises joints and generates heat
Smooth muscle: Found in the walls of hollow organs
Cardiac muscle: Exists only in your heart Three types of muscle You've got around 650 muscles in your body, and they make up roughly half of your bodyweight. These muscles can be divided into three different groups: skeletal, smooth and cardiac. All of these muscles can stretch and contract, but they perform very different functions. Skeletal muscle The tissue most commonly thought of as muscle is skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscles cover your skeleton, giving your body its shape. They are attached to your skeleton by strong, springy tendons or are directly connected to rough patches of bone. Skeletal muscles are under voluntary control, which means you consciously control what they do. Just about all body movement, from walking to nodding your head, is caused by skeletal muscle contraction. Your skeletal muscles function almost continuously to maintain your posture, making one tiny adjustment after another to keep your body upright. Skeletal muscle is also important for holding your bones in the correct position and prevents your joints from dislocating. Some skeletal muscles in your face are directly attached to your skin. The slightest contraction of one of these muscles changes your facial expression. Skeletal muscle generates heat as a by-product of muscle activity. This heat is vital for maintaining your normal body temperature. Smooth Muscle Smooth muscle is found in the walls of hollow organs like your intestines and stomach. They work automatically without you being aware of them. Smooth muscles are involved in many 'housekeeping' functions of the body. The muscular walls of your intestines contract to push food through your body. Muscles in your bladder wall contract to expel urine from your body. Smooth muscles in a woman's uterus (or womb) help to push babies out of the body during childbirth. The pupillary sphincter muscle in your eye is a smooth muscle that shrinks the size of your pupil. Cardiac Muscle Your heart is made of cardiac muscle. This type of muscle only exists in your heart. Unlike other types of muscle, cardiac muscle never gets tired. It works automatically and constantly without ever pausing to rest. Cardiac muscle contracts to squeeze blood out of your heart, and relaxes to fill your heart with blood. Back to top
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