Muscles are essential components of our body, responsible for movement, stability, and even heat production. They are categorized into three main types: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles. Each type serves unique functions and responds differently to exercise and stimulation.
Let’s take a closer look into each type and how we can take care of these for improving our health-span.
1. Skeletal Muscles
Skeletal muscles are usually the first that come to mind and are the muscles attached to our bones that facilitate voluntary movement. They are under conscious control and enable us to move our bodies intentionally with actions such as walking, lifting, and running. These muscles are composed of long, multinucleated fibres organised into bundles that work in tandem to produce force. Unlike the other muscle types, these are the ones responsible for our aesthetics, so the results of the changes we make to our intentional movement regimen can easily be seen.
Activation through Exercise:
To activate skeletal muscles effectively, various types of exercises can be employed:
Resistance Training: Involves lifting weights or using resistance bands to create tension in the muscles, promoting strength and hypertrophy (muscle growth).
Isometric Exercises: These involve static contractions where the muscle length remains unchanged, such as holding a plank position or pushing against an immovable object.
Aerobic Exercises: Activities like jogging, cycling, or swimming engage skeletal muscles repetitively over extended periods, enhancing endurance and cardiovascular health.
By consistently challenging skeletal muscles through different exercises, individuals can improve strength, endurance, and overall functional capacity.
2. Smooth Muscles
Smooth muscles are found in the walls of hollow organs such as the intestines, blood vessels, and bladder. Unlike skeletal muscles, they are not under voluntary control and function involuntarily to regulate processes like digestion, blood flow, and urination. Smooth muscles are spindle-shaped and contract relatively slowly and rhythmically.
Although not very sexy, having these systems in our body working at their peak will have an enormous impact on how we feel physically, flowing on to our mood state too.
Activation through Exercise:
While smooth muscles do not respond to exercise in the same way as skeletal muscles, certain lifestyle habits can influence their function:
Healthy Diet: Proper nutrition supports smooth muscle health, especially in the digestive tract where smooth muscles aid in peristalsis (wave-like contractions) for food movement.
Regular Physical Activity: Exercise that improves overall cardiovascular health indirectly benefits smooth muscles by promoting better blood flow and nutrient delivery to organs.
Stress Management: Chronic stress can negatively impact smooth muscle function, so techniques like meditation or relaxation exercises may help maintain their optimal performance.
3. Cardiac Muscle
Cardiac muscle is exclusively found in the heart and is responsible for its continuous pumping action. It is striated like skeletal muscle but functions involuntarily like smooth muscle. Cardiac muscle fibres are interconnected in a branching pattern and contract rhythmically to propel blood throughout the body.
One of the many incredible things about the heart muscle is the importance of this interconnectivity. These connections are made via intercalated discs, which are only found in the heart muscle, allowing signalling to occur across each of these short, thick muscle fibres. What’s the advantage of this? This acts as a fail-safe for the signalling of the heart muscle contractions. Very important, as, unlike other muscle types, we need the heart to be consistent, acting in regular patterns to keep blood circulating.
Only 50% – 70% of these muscle fibres are replaced throughout our entire life from the time of puberty. This contrasts with, say, skin fibres of which 100% are replaced every 35 to 50 days!
Activation through Exercise:
Exercise is crucial for maintaining cardiac muscle health and function:
Cardiovascular Exercise: Activities that elevate heart rate, such as running, swimming, or cycling, strengthen the heart muscle and improve its efficiency.
Interval Training: Alternating between periods of high-intensity exercise and rest can enhance cardiac muscle endurance and stroke volume (amount of blood pumped per heartbeat). For more of an insight read our last article on HIIT.
Strength Training: While primarily targeting skeletal muscles, certain resistance exercises also elevate heart rate and provide secondary benefits to cardiac muscle.
Regular aerobic exercise is particularly beneficial for cardiac muscle, reducing the risk of heart disease and improving overall cardiovascular fitness.
The wrap up
Each type of muscle in the body plays a distinct role in maintaining health and enabling movement. Skeletal muscles provide strength and mobility, smooth muscles support organ function, and cardiac muscle ensures continuous circulation.
The importance of continuous activation of our muscles can’t be stressed enough to promote overall well-being and functional capacity. Whether through resistance training for skeletal muscles, healthy habits for smooth muscles, or cardiovascular exercise for cardiac muscle, incorporating physical activity tailored to each muscle type contributes to a balanced and healthier lifestyle.
So, get moving people! If you don’t know how to start, get up and go for a walk. Then see a professional health practitioner who can set out a program tailored to your specific level of fitness and goals. I guarantee that when you can move yourself more easily through your daily life, you will get so much more out of it.
Salutaris 
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