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How do the three main types of muscles in the human body differ in function?
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human muscle system
Lateral view of the human muscular system.
The human body has three main types of muscles: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac.
- Skeletal muscles are attached to bones by tendons and are responsible for voluntary movements, posture, and balance. They are striated, meaning they have a striped appearance under a microscope.12
- Smooth muscles are found in the walls of internal organs like the digestive tract and blood vessels. They are involuntary, meaning they function without conscious control, and are crucial for the operation of systems such as the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal tracts.345
- Cardiac muscle forms the heart and is responsible for its rhythmic contractions to pump blood. Like skeletal muscle, it is striated, but it is involuntary and unique to the heart.67