How Many Muscles Does It Take To…
…run, ride, look, listen, live? How well do you know your muscles? It’s time for some muscle education
Question: how many muscles does it takes to read this sentence? How many does it take to get out of bed, kiss your loved ones goodbye, teach your daughter to ride a bike or cheer your son on at his graduation? Do you know how many muscles there are in the human body?
Do you know how many muscles there are in the human body?
We asked this question to 500 people. Only 5% came close. The reality is most of us only think about our muscles when we hurt them, want to grow them or start to miss them — sarcopenia, or age related muscle loss, begins in your mid-30s and accelerates through inactivity or poor nutrition.
Further reading: Upbeat: Who We Are
But every muscle matters, no matter how big or small. It’s time we started paying them the attention they deserve and remember the crucial role they play everyday in every way. It’s time for some muscle education, which begins with this short film.
In the making of our Every Muscle Matters film, Upbeat consulted muscle expert Mike Aunger to establish exactly how many are involved in everyday activities, from walking your dog (94) to doing the waltz (137) and the hero muscles behind skills like executing the perfect golf drive (gastrocnemius).
The reality is most of us only think about our muscles when we hurt them, want to grow them or start to miss them.
Here we delve a little deeper into the ordinary tasks we carry out everyday and highlight the extraordinary muscles that make them possible.
Further reading: Getting To Know Your Muscles
Crying: 17
Remember the last time you blubbed inappropriately at a soppy movie? You can thank the 12 muscles that screwed your face into a frown and the six intrinsic laryngeal muscles that caused your vocal chords to cough up that whimpering wail. Oh, and that lump in your throat, that was caused by the glottis muscle. Chin up.
It’s time we started paying our muscles the attention they deserve.
Texting: 38
Your biceps and triceps might steal all the headlines but it’s the intricate labyrinth of muscles in your forearms and hands that deserve equal fame. They’re responsible for the dextrous movements that have enabled homo sapiens to climb the tree of evolution — with which we now put to good use by sending smiley face emojis 😕
Fun fact: there are no muscles in your fingers, instead it’s the muscles in your forearms that enable movement.
Cycling: 155
It might only be the quadriceps and biceps femoris in your thighs that are burning at the end of your commute but muscles throughout your body have been working overtime to get you from A to B. Twenty-two muscles let you swivel your head to avoid oncoming traffic, 34 lower arm and hand muscles help you squeeze the brakes to avert disaster, propulsion comes from the powerful gluteus maximus in your backside and 18 crucial core muscles ensure you hold everything together to stay in the saddle.
Every muscle matters, no matter how big or small.
Kissing: 35
The tongue doesn’t — and shouldn’t — do all the work. Thirty-five facial muscles combine for a good French kiss and the tongue itself is actually made up of eight intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. Why can some people make shapes with their tongue and others can’t? Genetic inheritance. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.
Remember, Every Muscle Matters. Join our community and tag your posts with #fuel657
