Lawrence A. Golding - Fitness Professionals Guide to Musculoskeletal Anatomy and Human Movement

To understand the muscles that are involved in athletic injuries. To prescribe exercises for particular muscle groups. To develop an exercise program designed to develop and strength the skeletal muscles. To determine the muscles that are involved in pathological conditions or orthopedic problems. Most of the individuals who have the above reasons for learning musculoskeletal anatomy are likely to be in the fields of exercise physiology, personal training, athletic training, physical education, physical therapy, coaching, or nursing. Students in these disciplines, during their academic curricula, take anatomy and physiology from biology departments who usually service these fields.

The typical anatomy class at most universities includes the anatomy of all of the bodys systems: the skeletal system (osteology); the system of joints and articulations (arthrology); the muscular system (myology); the vascular system (angiology), which includes the circulatory system and the lymphatic system; the nervous system (neurology), which includes the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS); the integumentary system; the alimentary system (often called the digestive system); the urogenital system; and the endocrine system. In exercise studies, the cardiorespiratory system is often referred to as indicating the two systems most involved in aerobic exercise: the angiology and respiratory systems. Because the typical anatomy class only lasts for 12-14 weeks, less than one week is normally spent on each system. Even a two-semester class would only double this amount of time. As a result, individuals in these fields who are interested in bones and the muscles that attach to them have limited time spent on the most important system for them: namely the musculoskeletal systems. As a consequence, most disciplines usually teach an additional musculoskeletal anatomy course for their students, which teaches students about muscles, how muscles create movement, how they are used in movement, how they are developed, and how they are rehabilitated after injury.

It is for individuals interested in this type of information that this book is written. Relatively few textbooks are devoted exclusively to musculoskeletal anatomy. Students and instructors alike buy attractive muscle charts, which display all the surface muscles, and which are usually labeled, but are limited in scope. For example, if you are interested in muscle anatomy for the aforementioned practical reasons, then you must know where the muscles originate and where they insert so that their action can be determined. Examine the muscle charts so often purchased by those who want to know where the muscles are and what they look like. These charts do not show the muscles origins or insertions because they cannot be seen or determined; only the belly of the muscle is shown.

This point can be illustrated by a simple example, looking at a common superficial muscle like the biceps. Most muscle charts clearly show the biceps its an upper, anterior, superficial arm muscle. Now ask yourself the question: where is its origin? The origin is on two places on the scapula (the coracoid process and the supraglenoid tubercle of the glenoid fossa). These cant be seen because the biceps is folded under the deltoid and the pectoralis major. Where is its insertion? The insertion is the radial tuberosity. That too cannot be seen because it is under the muscles and tendons of the forearm.