Undertaking human biology courses online is excellent professional development for many professionals. But those with a focus on muscles are movement are especially vital for those in the fitness, health and rehabilitation professions.

More broadly, understanding the operation of nerves and muscles in movements and reactions in the body is ideal for anyone wanting to help people improve their flexibility, performance, and posture.

The Certificate of Human Biology (Muscles and Movement). is an online program that will give you insights into how nerves and muscles work to assist people with mobility issues or those wanting to improve their fitness performance.

You’ll also learn about the structure of the nervous system, the anatomy of neurons, skeletal muscles and gain an understanding of how to help people with mobility issues or fitness goals to improve their quality of life.

Learning Outcomes

Study our human biology course online to:

• Learn about nerves and reactions in the human body
• Study nerves and motor skills
• Explore how the nervous system affects motor skill performance
• Understand skeletal muscle function and structure in the human body
• Examine the organisation of muscle tissue in the human body
• Gain insights into the mechanics of muscular movement
• Explore muscular development, strength and endurance
• Select appropriate muscle flexibility exercises
• Understanding the significance of muscles to posture and general wellbeing
• Studying nerves cause reactions in the human body
• Gain insights into how the nervous system affects motor skill performance
• Exploring the function and structure of skeletal muscle in the human body
• Understanding the mechanics of muscular movement
• Understand the development of muscular strength and muscular endurance
• Select appropriate muscular flexibility exercises
• Explore the significance of muscle to posture and general wellbeing
• Cross-section the spinal cord and label the anatomical parts
• Understand what happens when an electrical stimulus is sent along with the central nervous system by illustrating and labelling the reflex arc
• Investigate nerve to nerve synapses during a specific body movement
• Learn about activity at muscle-nerve junctions, during the specific body movement
• Discover how proprioceptors function during the specific body movement
• Learn processes that occur in the nervous system when a particular muscle moves

Plus, You’ll Learn to …

• Understand the functioning of the following different sensory receptors: smell, sound, balance
• Distinguish between the functions of varying neuroglia (astrocytes,
• oligodendrocytes, microglia, ependymal cells, neurolemmocytes, satellite cells)
• Learn how the function of different parts of the brain affect different specific muscularmovements in the body
• Examine how the body learns a specific voluntary skill
• Understand the dampening effect, as exerted through the cerebellum
• Explain how the body perceives speed through the nervous system.
• Explore the operation of tendons during a specificmovement of a limb
• Compare the function of the motor with sensory fibres in nerves supplyingmuscles
• Understand the differences in the structural characteristics of redand white muscle fibres
• Study events occurring during muscular contraction, at a microscopic level
• Learn howmuscles of the hand move during exercise and actions
• Design diagrams showing themuscles in the back which provide both support and movement for the spinal column
• Learn about the significance of thesemuscles to health, wellbeing and mobility
• Understand the principle of levers related to an observed muscularmovement
• Explore the principle of moments associated with an observed muscularmovement
• Understand muscularmovements which occur in the observed subjects when using three different types of exercise machines
• Learn about different bodymovements in terms of the action of different bones, muscles and nerves, including the movement of a limb in exercise, and the bending of the back, and one hand movement.
• Distinguish between isotonic, isometric, eccentricand isokinetic contractions
• Learn how strength and endurance can be maintainedand increased
• Learn three different physiological changes which accompany increased strength
• Understand the overload principle, related to muscular development.
• Discover biological processes in force to affect strengthand endurance in an athlete
• Compare staticand dynamic flexibility in an individual
• Study the structural limits to flexibility in three different people of different ages
• Explore how to develop flexibility in a specific individual
• Understand the relationship between flexibilityand aspects of performance
• Develop an exercise program to develop/maintain flexibility for a person.
• Understand posture and its impact on general wellbeing, including arthritisand back pain

And more! 

Health Benefits of Strength Training

Strength training (or resistance training) incorporates weight-bearing exercises to build strength, anaerobic endurance, and skeletal muscles’ size. Human biology courses online will help you incorporate successful strength training into an exercise routine.

When this type of exercise is regular and consistent, muscles become stronger. As a result, joint function, bone density, muscle, tendon and ligament strength are improved.

Adults should incorporate two strength training sessions per week to achieve the following benefits:

• Improved muscle strength and bone
• Maintain flexibility and balance
• Weight management
• Reduce cognitive decline as we age
• Improve stamina
• Prevention and control of chronic health conditions
• Pain management
• Decrease injury risk
• Increase bone density and strength – reduce risk of osteoporosis
• Improved sleep
• Enhanced performance
• Increased self-esteem, mood, body image

Physiology of an Olympic Sprinter – Why Are They So Fast?

Muscles are made of slow-fast-twitch fibres. While most runners have an enviable amount of both, Olympic level sprinters most likely have a high proportion of fast-twitch.

The other factor is VO2 max (maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity), which is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during incremental exercise – or exercise of increasing intensity. The name is derived from three abbreviations: V̇ for O₂ for and max for maximum.

Runnings with a naturally high VO2 max find it easier to run faster because their hearts can deliver more oxygen to their muscles. You can boost your VO2 max by including speed training which forces the heart to pump blood at a higher rate.

Running economy is another measure of capacity for sprinting, which measures the amount of oxygen you need to run at any pace. It’s a measure of how efficiently a runner runs and can be determined by factors such as weight, gait and biomechanics

So, while you can’t change the muscle composition you inherit, you can train your muscles for greater speed.

15 Fun Facts About the Muscular System

1. There are three muscles types – smooth cardiac and skeletal
2. The human body contains over 600 muscles
3. Muscles are made up of special cells called muscle fibres
4. The inner ear contains the smallest muscles in the body
5. The gluteus maximus (buttocks) is the largest muscle in the body
6. The jaw muscle (masseter) is the strongest in the body – it can create a force as great as 90 kilograms on your teeth!
7. Muscles are attached to bones by tendons
8. Muscles make up approximately 40 per cent of total body weight
9. The heart pumps 7,570 litres of blood every day, making it the hardest working muscle in the body
10. The eye muscles are the busiest in the body, performing as many as 10,000 coordinated movements in just one hour of reading!
11. The motor cortex on one side of the brain controls movement on the opposite side of the body.
12. Muscle movement counts for about 80 per cent of total body heat produced by the body, which is why you shiver when you’re cold!
13. Muscles like to pair up – when one shortens, the corresponding pair lengthens
14. Your muscles can’t push – they can only pull
15. Muscles increase in size when the body repairs damaged fibres by fusing them

Gain foundation knowledge in muscles and movement to help improve people’s flexibility, performance and posture with a human biology course online like Certificate of Human Biology (Muscles and Movement).