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Sunday 4 August 2013

Joints - Introduction

It's time to start talking of your body... before we can discuss the effects of yoga on your body!

I don't want to write an encyclopedia, well, not all in one post!! To make everything clear every time i will focus on something, omitting other information... so keep in mind that what i'm saying is just a part of the whole, don't expect all the whole coming out all together, follow all the stories and we'll make the puzzle piece by piece!
Probably i could organize all this stuff in a better way... but you know, it's my first blog!!!

Anyway let's go to the point... i want to introduce the joints!

Stand up and look at your body! Do you know what is holding you in position -any position- and moving you through the different positions??!

Let's look at these 2 images...



Yes, you got the answer, you have to thank your skeletal and muscular system, often considered together as the musculoskeletal system.

They have various functions, we are now interested in the skeletal function of giving to you a basic shape and to support all your other systems, in a few words your bones constitute your framework.
How is this framework activated? Easy answer, your bones move through the action of your muscles.
How does the movement happen?

- The muscle is connected to the bones
- The muscle contracts
- The contraction causes the shortening of the muscle
- The shortening of the muscle causes the bones to move

The movement between bones happens in articulating sites called joints.

In joints you'll find some more actors... usually there are ligaments and tendons.
Ligaments are "ropes" of strong and thick and sturdy fibrous connective tissue that hold the bones together.
Look at the ligaments between the bones of your right ankle:

and at your left shoulder joint

A tendon is similar to a ligament, it's again strong and hard connective tissue that connects muscles to bones. In the next image you can see your left biceps (the muscles on the front of your upper arm) in red attached through the tendons (in white) to the bones of shoulder and forearm, near the joints...
In this image you can easily understand the process through which the contraction and shortening of the muscle will move the bones of your arm flexing it!

Is it clear? All the movements of your body happen at your joints through muscular effort and the leverage of your bones! This instantly make your joints a very important part of your body, a possibly vulnerable part, imagine your knee joint, constantly holding your weight and moving in many directions at the same time, every day for all your life (well, maybe not the lazy days you spend in bed!!!)

For today we stop here, before let's make a short recapitulation:

- Remember i'm simplifying, considering only one function per time, don't think this is all eheheh!!
- Your bones constitute the framework that gives you a basic shape and support to all your other systems
- Bones (usually 206 in adults) are held together by strong connective tissue called ligaments
- Bones are moved by muscular effort
- Muscles are connected to bones through strong connective tissue called tendons
- Tendons usually attach muscles to bones near joints
- Joints are the junctions between bones, usually the joints are articulating
- The contraction and consequent shortening of muscles moves bones at their joint
- A joint is where the movement of the body happens



Hope everything is clear, if you have questions or you find some explanation inaccurate please contact me!

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