Move it or lose it

Move it or lose it The complex world of our muscular system

DID YOU KNOW?

Post-exercise muscle soreness is the most common form of muscle injury: microscopic damage to the muscle fibres and a build-up of lactic acid can lead to muscle pain, especially if we fail to do a proper pre-workout warm-up, or simply overdo it.

Always warm up before exercise, and stretch regularly to keep the muscular system supple and flexible! Every second, minute and hour, our bodies’ 650 or so muscles work together in a highly complex and coordinated system. Dr Peter B Barth, GP and Mayr Physician at the Park Igls health retreat, describes these complex processes and explains the consequences of inactivity, but also the things we can do, including exercising, to strengthen our muscular system.

MUSCLE FACTS

The largest muscles include the gluteus maximus and the sartorius muscle, which is in our thigh and one of the longest. However, the muscles with the largest surface area are located in the upper body: the latissimus dorsi muscles in our back stretch from pelvis to upper arm. Despite their importance to the musculoskeletal system, they are often neglected during exercise. This is a pity because strong lats make for attractive backs.

The smallest muscle in the human body is the stapedius muscle. Located in the middle ear, it stabilises the stapes, the smallest bone in the body. If very high frequency sounds hit the stapedius, it contracts reflexively and the ossicular chain in the middle ear tightens up and ‘seals’ the middle ear, protecting it from high sounds.

One of our quickest muscles surrounds our eyes. The orbicularis oculi muscle is responsible for the lightning fast blinking action that protects our eyes.

‘A century ago,’ Dr Barth explains, ‘around the time FX Mayr was developing his groundbreaking Mayr medicine – and earlier too – doctors used to listen to the sounds made in the gut with a stethoscope. They did this because intestinal noises provide information about what’s happening in the digestive system. Most importantly, a prolonged period of complete silence is a sign of a dangerous intestinal paralysis. This kind of propulsive malfunction causes the blood vessels to be pinched off and, in the worst-case scenario, the bowel can necrotise.’ The gut needs to be in motion; and this relentless muscular effort, which follows a circadian rhythm, is known as peristalsis. In addition to the daily rhythm and chronological intake of food and liquid, psychoemotional processes also influence bowel movements.

NO LIFE WITHOUT PERISTALSIS! Peristalsis is therefore one of the body’s most important forms of movement. However, it can decrease when the digestive system is cleared – ‘as is the aim of Mayr’s principles of rest and cleansing during treatment,’ explains Dr Barth. The digestive tract’s activities only make up a fraction of all the body’s daily muscle motion. ‘We have around 650 muscles, although this number is only an estimate as it can vary from person to person,’ says Dr Barth. ‘Nearly all of us know somebody who can wiggle their ears; maybe you can do so yourself. Others can’t, but that’s not because they are unable to control the ear-wiggling muscle, but because they simply don’t have it. Our ear muscles have reduced in size over the course of evolution because they ceased to be necessary, whereas in dogs, for example, they are still well formed.’

THE COMPLEXITY OF MOVEMENT The exact number of muscles in the body is not what interests us, however. We are more concerned with various muscular relationships: ‘50 of the 650 muscles are facial muscles which control facial expression and convey our emotions. That’s why facial paralysis, which suddenly stops all facial expression, is so devastating.’ Each muscle is a final link in a chain of highly complex, coordinated processes that start in the brain. ‘In principle, the trigger for disorders and diseases can be located at any point in this highly complex cascade. Facial paralysis can, for example, be caused by shingles: although classic symptoms of the herpes zoster virus are usually on the chest and back, the virus can also manifest in the facial nerves and can cause serious paralysis.’

Facial paralysis isn’t the only condition that leads to immobility – many illnesses are associated with muscle paralysis. The impaired dopamine metabolism in Parkinson's disease, for example, leads to symptoms including delayed muscle reaction, increased muscle tension, tremor, and akinesia which impairs and can destroy the ability to move. Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that also interferes with the muscular system.

NERVOUS SIGNALS A muscle’s proper functioning ultimately depends on a range of complex processes. A thought anticipates a sequence of events in the brain – professional athletes make use of this in training to achieve quicker reaction times. The thought is then followed by a cascade of top-down communication operations in different areas of the brain: cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, brainstem, cerebellum (where the sequence of movements is coordinated), and

the medulla. From the medulla, the nerve stimulus is sent via neurotransmitters to the pyramidal tract in the periphery, until the signal reaches the motor end plate and a contraction is performed.’ A simple example of a muscle contraction is the involuntary reflex, so problems in the cascade can be detected by means of a reflex test. We can also affect muscles in the opposite direction: muscle relaxing drugs can block the transmitter that transports the nerve stimulus to the motor end plate, preventing the contraction. ‘We can really appreciate the complexity of this neuromuscular masterpiece by the example of a pianist, whose perfectly coordinated fingers move across the keys at incredible speed.

USE IT OR LOSE IT Although there are some muscles we can’t control at will, most are not involuntary and we can, and should, move them: ‘Failure to use our muscles makes them wither,’ warns Dr Barth. Muscle atrophy is particularly obvious when a cast is worn over a long period of time. But we don’t just lose muscle after injury or illness: ‘From the age of 30 our muscle mass reduces by 1% a year if we don’t exercise regularly. That means by being a couch potato we have 35% less muscle mass at 65 than we did thirty years before.’ That means we not only lose fitness and mobility, but also our muscularskeletal doesn’t have the necessary support. ‘However, with regular exercise we can reduce muscle loss and stay fit into old age.’

In addition to regular exercise, a balanced diet supports our muscles. ‘Muscle build-up requires high-grade protein like that found in meat. Of course, we can also eat vegetable proteins, but animal protein is quicker and easier to digest, especially in childhood and adolescence. Women who suffer with non-anaemic iron deficiency should also stick to high-quality animal protein.’ The recommended daily intake is 0.5g to 1g of protein per kilogram of body weight, or more with extreme exercise. We also need carbohydrates, as well as vitamin D and minerals such as calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium for our muscle energy metabolism.

THE LESSON IS CLEAR: Exercise, exercise, exercise! Add a mixed diet to supply muscles and bones with the necessary nutrients. The irrefutable fact is that we are designed to move – from our bones to the fibres of our muscles: move it or lose it.

THE HEART – OUR MARATHON MUSCLE

The heart is a very special muscle: this hollow organ follows the principle of muscular contraction and relaxation, and is only able to continuously perform its job thanks to the sequence of systole (tightening) and diastole (relaxation). The latter phase is when the heart ‘sleeps’. Each year the heart pumps 2.5 million litres of blood around the body. The average female heart weighs in at around 280g while a male heart weighs 310g. Over the course of an average lifetime, the heart contracts three million times.

VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY MUSCLES

Not all muscles are regulated by voluntary brain activity!

The skeletal, or striated, muscles are attached to the skeleton and are responsible for active movement. These muscles, which we control at will, include the arm and thigh muscles. There are around 400 skeletal muscles, around two thirds of all our muscles (650). Together with bones, tendons, ligaments and joints, they make up the musculoskeletal system.

The smooth muscles of the organs work automatically without us being aware of them. These include the muscular walls of the intestines that contract to push food along the digestive tract.

The heart is an extraordinary muscle (page 23).

THE FASCIA are an important component of the muscular system. This connective tissue envelops all the body’s muscles, giving them form. To work properly, fascia need to be structurally smooth, but they can form adhesions. Since fascial tissue runs through the whole body, related pain can occur somewhere other than where it is triggered.

Take note

BONE-HARDENING EXERCISE Exercising regularly strengthens our bones as well as the muscular system. Osteoporosis is a reduction in bone density which usually occurs in old age and increases the risk of broken bones. It is more common in women than men due to oestrogen deficiency following menopause. Some people are also genetically prone to the disease.

Insufficient muscle movement increases the risk of developing osteoporosis. Since bone is living tissue, it adapts to exercise by becoming denser, which is why regular weight-bearing exercise is so important for bone health. Calcium and vitamin D3 from food and sunlight also help to maintain good bone condition.

EXERCISE TIPS FOR HEALTHY MUSCLES

When you first start weight training, make sure you strengthen all the major muscle groups with full-body workout sessions.

Legs Abdomen Lower and upper back Chest Shoulders Arms – biceps and triceps

Start off with 7 exercises, 2-3 times a week.

As you progress, you can increase the exercise frequency and intensity. Make sure you take a day off between training sessions. For example, endurance training (running or swimming). This is because muscle only builds during the recovery phase. In exercise – as in almost everything else – it all comes down to getting the right balance. When you increase the frequency of your training sessions, it’s best to switch from full-body workouts to ‘splits’. This means that you break up your workouts throughout the week by muscle groups.

FASCIA TRAINING Stretching is especially important for the fascia.

The fascia can be exercised by rolling, but stretches can also be very effective. Choose 3-4 exercises, and hold each stretch for at least 2 minutes.

Yoga is the ideal fascia exercise, and Yin Yoga especially.

Dr Peter B. Barth

GP and Mayr Physician