Muscle tissue is divided into three types: skeletal, smooth and cardiac. Even though cardiac muscle is only in the heart, sometimes the types of muscle tissues exist in the same places, such as the smooth muscle tissue that exist near veins and arteries, even near the heart. But the characteristics of skeletal and smooth muscles can be drastically different. Fast-twitch contractions of skeletal muscles are easier to control and feel -- they are the muscles that move most of the skeletal system, including the obvious movements of your limbs. The slow-twitch contractions of smooth muscle are more subtle, but no less important. They move often within the skeletal system or within a body's organs, and contract for a longer period of time. Smooth muscles help move fluids through the vascular and digestive systems.
Step 1
Blink your eyelids, paying special attention to how quickly the eyelid moves. The muscles that control the eyelids are fast twitch, skeletal muscles.
Step 2
Swallow, or contract your sphincter. These muscles, in the esophagus and sphincter, are slow twitch, smooth muscles.
Step 3
Place a hand on your chest to feel your heartbeat. Cardiac muscles control your heartbeat. They only exist in your heart and, as the heart beat, help move blood through the ventricular chambers in the heart and throughout the body.
