The muscular system is responsible for the body's ability to move, pump oxygen and blood to vital organs and breathe. Exercising is necessary in keeping the muscular system strong and healthy, although some exercises are better than others. There are different kinds of exercise just like there are different kinds of muscles, and they all have different effects on one another.
Types of Muscles
Skeletal muscle, smooth muscle and cardiac muscle are the three types of muscular tissue. Skeletal muscle allows for physical movement and connects to the bones, smooth muscle is found in the blood vessels and internal organs and cardiac muscle is found exclusively in the heart. According to BestHealth.com, both smooth muscle and cardiac muscle are involuntary for the most part, which means it does not require conscious thought to do its job. Skeletal muscle is voluntary and relies on the brain to tell it what to do.
Types of Exercise
Short, intense exercises such as sprinting and weight-lifting are anaerobic and use fast-twitch muscle fibers. According to the BBC, anaerobic exercise creates an oxygen debt by using more oxygen than the body provides. Anaerobic exercise also causes lactic acid, which make the muscles feel fatigued after exercise. Long-lasting, less intense workouts, such as running a marathon, are aerobic exercises. These exercises have no lactic acid byproduct and create no oxygen debt because they only use as much oxygen as the body will provide.
Endurance
Even though there are a number of ways to work out, every type of exercise will fall into either the resistance or endurance category. With endurance exercise, the muscles become trained to not get tired and last longer. The muscles become more efficient, leaner and longer, but do not usually get larger. Long-distance athletes such as cyclists and runners usually use endurance exercises exclusively to train.
Resistance
Resistance exercise is also commonly known as strength training. These exercises cause the muscles to contract, leading to individual muscle fibers to tear, rebuild and grow in size. Resistance exercises are used by bodybuilders and other types of athletes.
Internal Effects
Physical exercise strengthens overall cardiovascular health, including the blood vessels and heart; improves the health of internal organs; and strengthens functions such as breathing, digesting and swallowing.
Tendons
Tendons connect the muscles to the bones of the skeleton. Tendons are often confused with ligaments, which connect bone to bone. Whether you are performing resistance or endurance workouts, all healthy exercises strengthen the tendons while making the connections between the bones and muscles more secure.
