Muscle

April 15, 2023
A pop-science overview of muscles from the author of Bones: Inside and Out. Meals, a professor of orthopedic surgery at UCLA, begins with a quick history that reveals how thinkers from all cultures taught mostly nonsense about human anatomy until the European Renaissance, when artists and researchers became obsessed with getting it right, so they began dissecting bodies. By the 19th century, scientists were able to show how muscles create movement. This is a subject less straightforward than anatomy, and the author's admirable effort to explain it, heavy with analogies and diagrams, is generally accessible but may cause a few struggles for readers unfamiliar with biochemistry. Science buffs will perk up when he delivers the basics. Humans have 650 muscles, more or less (some are born missing a few, usually without a problem; others have extras), and there are three types. Most familiar are skeletal muscles, which make up about 40% of our weight and are under conscious control. Smooth muscles work automatically to control our digestive tract, urinary tract, blood vessels, and other housekeeping systems. Uniquely, cardiac muscle cells contract regularly without any neurological stimulus--and can do so for more than 100 years if properly cared for. In the chapter on muscle issues, Meals largely focuses on fatigue, strains, injuries, and aging, and he offers an amusing account of physical training programs throughout history. The author wisely devotes several chapters to exercise and sports, paying special attention to conditioning, nutrition, and muscle-building supplements, including a mildly skeptical review of performance enhancers and an entertaining review of cheating. Readers who suspect that many animals have muscles that produce bizarre phenomena will find plenty to engage in the chapter titled "Zoological Survey." For example, even though the octopus has "a large brain for its body size, roughly two-thirds of tentacle control comes from nerve centers in the tentacles themselves." An easy-to-digest science lesson tailored for general readers.

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April 17, 2023
Meals (Bones), a professor of orthopedic surgery at UCLA, delivers a thorough overview of muscles and how they operate. Expounding on their biology, Meals explains that, on a molecular level, muscle consists of two protein filaments, actin and myosin, that work in tandem to convert “chemical energy into physical force.” He surveys different kinds of muscles, noting that skeletal muscles (those attached to bones) make up 40% of human body mass, smooth muscles in the trachea and intestines are responsible for moving air and solids through the body, and cardiac muscle in the heart contracts to keep blood circulating. He writes that while skeletal muscle is mostly under voluntary control, smooth muscle operates outside of consciousness and serves a crucial role in the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for activating the fight-or-flight response (dilating pupils and lung airways to see farther and “capture more oxygen” when threatened), as well as promoting digestion and lowering one’s heart rate when resting. The scientific insights illuminate the abilities and oddities of the human body (goosebumps are caused by the contraction of small muscles connecting hair follicles to the skin), and the fitness advice is a boon (aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes per week “improves the heart’s muscle tone”). The result is a strong primer on an essential part of the human body. Illus.

May 1, 2023
People are fascinated, admiring, and perhaps a bit envious of chiseled muscles and perfect physiques. There's something about well-developed muscles that shouts fitness and energy. Incorporating science, art, culture, and history into his discussion, orthopedic surgeon Meals celebrates this aspect of the human body. For starters, muscle comes in three varieties, skeletal (comprising roughly 40 percent of body mass), smooth, and cardiac. Skeletal muscles come in all shapes and sizes, from longest, the sartorius (in the thigh), to smallest, the stapedius (in the ear). Readers without a science background will probably find the book's coverage of anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology a hefty lift. Meals also reports on exercise and conditioning (both aerobic and resistance training), nutritional supplements, bodybuilding, and ancient sculptures featuring prominent musculature. Explanations of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers, rigor mortis, goosebumps, and even sword-swallowing are included. This illustrated book serves as a companion to Meals' more entertaining Bones (2020). Anyone who doesn't have a buff body and a ripped six-pack can still dream while learning about the marvelous muscles we all do possess.

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