Biceps muscle

“ Man possesses a muscle on the upper part of the thigh, one strand of which proceeds from the pelvis, while the other, which is free and supplied with a special nerve, proceeds from the upper part of the thigh, and is attached to the fibula. After several years' investigation, Prof. Klaatsch came to the conclusion that the so-called 'short strand' is a rudimentary form of the biceps muscle, which is much more frequently found in mammals than has hitherto been assumed. ”

“ Separate the parts, open the sheath of the long tendon of the biceps muscle, and draw out and hold it on one side with a blunt hook. Rotate the arm outward, (if it will rotate,) to facilitate the division of the tendon of the sub-scapularis; then rotate the arm inward, to aid in the division of the tendons of the supra-spinatus, infra-spinatus, and teres minor muscles, inserted into the great tuberosity. Complete the division of the capsular ligament, push the bone through from below, using the arm as a lever if you can, and saw it off. No arteries of consequence are wounded. ”

“ In the muscles of animal life, when the contraction ceases, the muscle does not in general go back itself to the state it was in antecedent to the contraction, but it is drawn back to it by its antagonist; for example, when the biceps is contracted to bend the fore-arm and its contraction ceases, it becomes passive ”

“ When the nerve discharges its influence into the muscles, a very rapid molecular change takes place in the substance contained in the cartouches or muscular boxes, which contract, pressing their ends close together. Scarcely has the action of the nerves ceased than they relax and resume their previous form. It is well known, that when a muscle contracts, it becomes thicker and shorter; it suffices to take hold of the arm a little above the elbow and then to bend it in order to feel how the biceps muscle swells and hardens. ”

“ A moment's consideration of the mechanism of the arm, having regard to the biceps muscle which flexes the elbow, will make this clear. If a weight is held in the hand it is perhaps twelve inches from the elbow. ”

“ When you wish, for instance, to lift your hand toward your face, you unconsciously send a message from your brain down the nerve cables in your spinal cord, out through the nerve-wires of your neck and shoulder, to the big biceps muscle on the front of your upper arm. This muscle then contracts, or shortens, and pulls up the forearm and hand, by bending the elbow joint. Just in proportion as the muscle becomes shorter, it becomes thicker in the middle ”

“ This gives the muscle greater play than in us, and enables it to lift, more slowly perhaps, but more efficiently, for the arm-bone between the joint and the place where the muscle is attached, is the long arm of a lever which is shorter in man. Below the globular head of the arm-bone is the shaft or cylindrical part of the bone which gives origin to the three-headed muscle called triceps, and is covered by the two-headed one (biceps) already mentioned, besides the deltoid. ”

“ After a bone has been moved by the contraction of a muscle, it is brought back to its position by the contraction of another muscle on the opposite side, the former muscle meanwhile being relaxed. Muscles thus acting in opposition to each other are called antagonistic. Thus the biceps serves as one of the antagonists to the triceps, and the various flexors and extensors of the limbs are antagonistic to one another. ”

“ We know that the biceps of man is so named from the two portions which form its upper part. In domestic quadrupeds, and also in the majority of the mammals, this muscle is reduced to a single portion, that which comes from the pelvis. It is therefore the portion which arises from the femur which does not exist. This condition is sometimes found as an abnormality in the human species.
The biceps arises from the tuberosity of the ischium ”

“ The Biceps is a Muscle with two Heads, one whereof proceeds from the Apophysis Coracoides, and the other from the Cartilaginous edge of the Glenoid Cavity of the Omoplata or Shoulder-Blade: These two Heads descend along the fore-part of the Arm, and are united in one and the same Body, from whence springs forth a Ligament, which is inserted in a tuberosity situated in the upper and fore-part of the Radius. ”

“ Thus a man bends his forearm on the upper arm largely by aid of the familiar "biceps." This done, the "biceps" retires from the field of work. The arm is straightened by the action of a different muscle, the "triceps." ”

“ Under certain circumstances each soft muscular fibre of which the muscle is made will suddenly become shorter, and thus the whole muscle becomes shorter, and so pulls its two tendinous ends closer together, and if one end be fastened to something fixed, and the other to something moveable, the moveable thing will be moved.
This way that a muscle or a muscular fibre has of suddenly shortening itself is called a muscular contraction. All muscles, all muscular fibres, have the power of contracting. Now a mass of substance like the biceps might grow shorter in two ways. ”

“ I don't care how young or old you are, or how ashamed of your current physical condition you may be. If you can simply raise your arm and flex it I can add SOLID MUSCLE to your biceps—yes, on each arm—in double-quick time! Only 15 minutes a day—right in your own home—is all the time I ask of you! ”

“ Four of the muscles, whose uses are to bend the leg, and which compose the internal and external hamstrings; to wit, gracilis, semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps tibiæ, together with that adductor and flexor muscle of the leg called sartorius, were removed at a considerable distance from the thigh-bone on its inferior part, and from the tibia and fibula on their superior parts; by which means a large bed or cavity was formed for containing the extravasation, which consisted partly of a fluid, and partly of a coagulated blood ”

“ Experiments have shown that while the man with big and hard biceps muscles may be able to lift a heavier weight than the man with more supple and elastic muscles, the latter would lift a smaller weight a greater number of times. Both would improve their performance after five minutes of massage had been applied to the arms. ”

“ There are but few motions in the economy that are simple, but few muscles that can contract separately. Almost every sort of contraction supposes another, and for this reason; the two points to which a muscle is ordinarily attached are both capable of being moved; if one of them was not fixed, both would then be put in motion when the muscle contracted; thus in the contraction of its extensors, the leg if it was not fixed would approach the foot as much as the foot approached the leg ”

“ Observe that but few of the muscles in the economy are found between two levers so great, consequently are capable of being so much distended, and especially of being so with a force greater than that of their contraction; for every muscular rupture supposes the excess of the external motion, which distends, over that of the fleshy fibres which contract to oppose this distension. If the external efforts were concentrated upon a single muscle, they would be able more often to overcome the resistance ”

“ The raising of the arm and turning it out is effected by the deltoid and teres minor, which are innervated by the circumflex nerve, while the shoulder is still further raised by the trapezius, which gets its nervous supply from a higher source—the spinal accessory. The biceps and other flexors of the arm receive their supply through the musculo-cutaneous nerve from the outer cord. In the movements of the wrist and fingers the fifth and sixth nerves appear to co-operate, and those of the fingers are chiefly due to the sixth. ”

“ The triceps are the back and inside muscles of [159] the upper arm, and contribute much to the shapeliness as well as usefulness of that member. Instead of stopping at the shoulder, as in the biceps exercises, push the dumb-bells high overhead. Any exercise of pushing with the arms is of advantage. Stand back about two feet from the door, grasp the sides of the frame a trifle higher than the shoulders, and, rising on the toes, with head erect, thrust the body forward. Press back until the body again assumes an erect attitude, and repeat ten to twenty times. ”

“ In general, the muscles which owe their length to long fibres, have great extent and very little power of motion; whilst those with short fibres, but multiplied so as to give great length as a whole, are remarkable for an opposite character. And this is the reason: all the fibres being equally large, whatever may be their length, have the same degree of force; it is evident then that this force considered in a muscle as a whole, is measured by the number of its fibres. On the other hand, the longer a fibre is, the more it shortens in its contraction ”

“ The muscles of all the limbs may be left comparatively out of account; whether naturally weak or naturally strong they are of subordinate importance. On the other hand, it is always worth while to cultivate the muscles of respiration, as it is always worth while to keep the heart in good order. Again, the weakness of the muscles of the back, and more especially in the case of the growing girl, is not a thing to be accepted as readily as the weakness of the biceps and the forearm muscles. ”

“ Cases are not uncommon in which young fellows have developed their limb-muscles at the expense of this vital organ, with the result that they have been more or less incapacitated ever afterwards. It may be very delightful to possess a biceps twice as large as your neighbour’s, but beyond the gratification of contracting it for their approval there is nothing to be gained, unless you are going to be a navvy, that is to say. ”

“ The extent of the contractility of texture is in the muscles in proportion to the length of the fibres; hence why in amputations, the superficial part retracts more than the deep-seated; why in sleep the phenomena of contractility of texture are very apparent in the extremities, the muscles of which are very long; why, in the antagonists, nature has in general opposed muscles of proportional length; why consequently, a muscle with long fibres has rarely for a counterpoise one with short ones, and vice versa. ”

“ The biceps tendon and ilio-tibial band are shortened and more prominent as a result of the approximation of their attachments, and they are also displaced laterally. The sartorius and gracilis are displaced backwards, so that they descend behind instead of on the medial side of the knee. The popliteal artery lies on the back of the lateral condyle instead of in the hollow between the condyles, and the tibial (internal popliteal) nerve is displaced even farther outwards. The capsular and other ligaments are slack, so that the joint is unstable and easily hyper-extended. ”

“ A muscle once placed in the middle position, can only be removed from it by the influence of the vital forces, by the animal or sensible organic contractility, because in this position the contractility of texture of its antagonist is equal to its own, and there is consequently required a force added to this to overcome that which is opposed to it. ”

“ Each body is by its nature capable of irritating the muscles differently, as according to individuals, ages, temperaments, seasons, climates, &c. the muscles are capable of answering differently to excitements made upon them.
It is not necessary to irritate the whole of a muscle to produce its contraction; two or three fibres only being pricked bring into action all the others. Often even when we make these experiments on a living animal, the contraction is communicated from one muscle to another. ”

“ These cases are generally accompanied by round shoulders and flat chest, protrusion of the abdomen, and rotation of the vertebræ.
A muscle can be developed only by the active contraction and relaxation of its fibers. Continuous tension quickly tires and lowers its tone, so that exercises given for increasing muscular power should be comparatively quick and frequently repeated, while those that aim at the stretching of muscles and ligaments should be slow and long maintained. ”