Muscles

The updated edition of this authoritative, best-selling reference guide offers a comprehensive introduction to the muscular system—now with additional material on the anatomy of the body area, nerve pathways, and pelvic floor muscles This newly revised fourth edition of The Concise Book of Muscles is a comprehensive guide to the major muscle groups. Easy to use and fully illustrated with more than 500 drawings, this compact reference provides a complete profile for each muscle, clearly showing its origin, insertion, nerve supply, and action, the movements that use it, and, where appropriate, exercises that stretch and strengthen it. The book’s distinctive quick-reference format shows students exactly how to locate and identify specific muscles, highlighting those that are heavily used and therefore subject to injury in a variety of sports and activities. Each muscle chapter now includes an overview of the gross anatomy of the body area to show bony landmarks, cross-sections of muscle layers, and points of attachment as well as a quick reference table and an overview of the nerve pathways that are most relevant. The book also includes a new chapter on the pelvic floor muscles—of particular interest to those studying or practicing yoga and Pilates. While designed for the student and beginning practitioner of anatomy, massage, bodywork, physical therapy, chiropractic medicine, physiotherapy, yoga, and Pilates or any other health-related field, The Concise Book of Muscles is equally useful for athletes and anyone interested in the workings of the human body.

The better you understand anatomy, the better you understand yourself. This book clearly identifies all the major muscles of the human body and shows how they work. For each muscle there is straightforward information, including common problems, signs of weakness, and self-massage for first aid. Provides anatomical terminology and clearly outlined reference pages.

A clear, simple guide for students of anatomy as well as an excellent resource for athletes, massage therapists, and anyone interested in the workings of the human body, this user-friendly book is organized around six muscle groups. They include muscles of the face head, and neck; the trunk; the shoulder and upper arm; the forearm and hand; the hip and thigh; and the leg and foot. Each of the groups is given a distinctive color to make it easy to identify, and each muscle is shown in its relationship to the skeleton. Each gets a complete profile, including origin/insertion, action of the muscle, which nerve controls it, movements that use it, and exercises and stretches that strengthen it. The Concise Book of Muscles shows students exactly how to locate and identify specific muscles, highlighting those that are heavily used and therefore subject to injury in a variety of sports and activities. This expanded edition of a leading anatomy reference book includes 20 muscles not previously covered, adding greater depth to the original edition while remaining accessible and affordable.