Science Common Sense
934 - How do our muscles help us move?
Your muscles are like rubber bands that help you move. They have two main jobs:
- To contract (get smaller) and make a movement, and
- To relax (get back to normal) and let another part of the muscle move.
When you want to move a part of your body, like your arm, a signal from your brain goes to the muscle saying 'contract.' This makes the muscle get smaller and pulls the bone it's attached to. That's how you can bend your arm, for example.
The relaxing part happens when the muscle gets the signal from your brain to stop contracting. This lets the bone go back to its normal position.
So, your muscles are like little engines that help you move by contracting and relaxing.