The Major Muscles of the Head

When naming muscles, they, in general, are named according to one or more of the following criteria:
1. Muscle size
2. Muscle shape
3. Location of the muscle
4. Orientation of the muscle's fascicles (fascicles are part of the muscle's tissue)
5. Muscle origin and insertion (origin = the point where the muscle's tendon attaches to the stationary bone; insertion = the point where the muscle's tendon attaches to the movable bone)
6. Number of heads (origins) on the muscle
7. Muscle function.

Knowing these seven criteria will help us to remember the names of the muscles.  Now in my Anatomy\Physiology text book, I've read up to the 'major muscles of the head' and the 'major muscles of the chest\abdominal wall'.  Right now I'll walk through the former.

The Major Muscles of the Head

First I'll introduce to you the occipitofrontalis (ok' sip ih toh fun' tay lis), which can be broken down into the frontalis (frun' tay lis) and the occipitalis (ok sip ih tay lis).  These muscles are easy to remember because they're placed above the frontal bone (forehead) and the occipital bone (bottom of the back of the head).  What do these muscles do?  Their job is to elevate the eyebrows and wrinkle the forehead.

Next: the orbicularis (or bik' you lay' ris) oculi (ok' you lie).  This muscle formes a circle around each eye.  It is used to close the eye.  Similar in name is the orbicularis oris (or' is), which surrounds the lips and is used to purse them.

The buccinator (buk' sih nay' tor), or cheek muscle, is used when you fill your mouth with water and then squirt it out.  This muscle puffs up the cheek and also pulls on the corner of the mouth.  The buccinator and the orbicularis oris are often called the 'kissing muscles'.

Zygomaticus (zye' goh mat' ih kus) major is another easy one to locate because it is over the zygomatic bone, which is commonly referred to as the cheek bone.  Zygomaticus major elevates and draws the corner of the mouth laterally; zygomaticus minor elevates the upper lip.  When you smile you're using these two muscles. 

Platysma (pluh tiz' muh) pulls the corners of the mouth down into a frown.  This muscle stretches from the mouth down the front of the neck.

The rest of the muscles we'll be discussing control mastication (the process of chewing).  The temporalis (tem' puh ral' is), located on top of the temporal bone on the side of the head above the ear, elevates the mandible.  It can alo pull the jaw inward, or recract the mandible.  The masseter (ma' sih ter) is on the side of the face, and it also elevates the mandible.  It can also protract the mandible, or push the lower jaw forward.  The lateral pterygoid (ter' ih goyd) depresses (lowers) the mandible, which opens the mouth.  Finally, the medial pterigoid elevates the mandible (along with the masseter and temporalis), which closes the mouth. 

I encourage you to look up a picture on the Internet of the major muscles of the head.  I might add a picture here some time, but right now I can't because I have to get back to school.  :x  haha, it's okay, though!  I'm home schooled, and this is sorta like a paper for school.  :P

*The information displayed here is taken from 'The Human Body, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made' by Apologia and authored by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn M. Shannon.

No-Go on the Julianne Hough Video.

9.16.12 - Did: 7 rounds of 7 push-ups, 7 burpees, and 7 kettlebell swings.  After I finished, I did 49 leg lifts.  I didn't know what leg lifts were (which were part of the original workout) until after I finished the 7 rounds, so I made up for it!

Before I did this crossfit workout, I was planning on just doing this Julianne Hough Ballroom Dance Cardio video instead.  I got through the warm-up and the first half of the cha-cha, but it was just so hard for me to follow.  She moved too fast.  There's a 'private lesson' extra as part of the DVD, and it taught me a couple of the key moves, but I was still lost.  At one point Julianne Hough said, "You should be tired right now, cause I am!"  But unfortunately I wasn't, due to the fact that I was too confused to stay bouncy on my toes.  After the cha-cha, I gave up and just did crossfit.  I sure am glad that I did!  It was so tough, but I stuck it out!  I think I'll try the Julianne Hough video again, but not the actual workout until I master the private lesson moves.  :)

My Labor Day Weekend Workout

Oops!  I forgot to update the past couple of days.

Saturday (9.01.12) - Ran one mile.
Monday (9.03.12) - 3 rounds of: 20 jump ropes, 20 (girl) push-ups, 30 sit-ups, and 40 squats.

I did really bad yesterday (Monday).  I couldn't even do five regular toe push-ups, and that's usually all I do!  During the sit-ups, I used my legs to pull myself up as much, if not more, than I used my abs. 
*Note to self: do not eat a big dinner before working out!*
On the bright side, I did really good on the jump ropes and squats!

I Didn't Stop!

8.31.12 - I ran a whole mile!  As in, I didn't walk at all. :)  Although my warm up was incorporated into that mile (my first block was a light jog, then a stretch), none of it involved walking.  It was really hard, but I managed to huff and puff my way back to my house by telling myself, 'one more block,' each time I got to the end of the last one. 

What I ate before: a banana and a couple of almonds.  I think this combination was killer, and definitely affected my workout.

What I ate after: a tasty clementine :)

Pilates!

Ba-bam, pilates!

Ok, so I'm thinking about incorporating some pilates into my week.  I've heard it's not a 'sweat session', so it's not something I care to do every day.  Three times a week ought to do it. instructional

8.29.12 - Ran one mile in the morning.  I did pretty good - ran two blocks, walked half a block.

8.30.12 - Did: 10-8-6-4-2 rounds of push-ups and box jumps.  (Got the workout from the usual place ;)) I got it done in 2:04 minutes!

8.28.12 - Did: 1 mile run at 8:30am.  10 rounds of: 3 push ups, 6 squats, 5 burpees, 24 jump ropes.

I'm definitely not in very good shape, because during the 1 mile jog I needed frequent walking breaks.  Since I had to double back for my mom a lot, I ran at least a mile, but I'd like to be able to run a whole mile without stopping.  I'm going to make morning runs a regular thing, though, so soon I should be able to!  :)

Tap push up

This is a great push up variation.  Try incorporating this into your workouts!

Stretch Time

Alright, so as I said yesterday, I have really been wanting to learn some new stretches.  Stretching is great for increasing flexibility and minimizing injury, after all.  I followed up on that by a google search, and found a website that has loads of stretches!  I'm going to post the images here (at the site, the pictures are small and hard to see).  Careful not to overstretch!

Rotation Exercises:

Static Stretches:



Passive Stretches:

For these stretches, make sure you read the website's information.  You'll need a towel and/or partner for these.

Here are a couple extras.  These are some of my favorite stretches.

 

I Took a 3-Day Weekend :)

8.23.12 - Yes, I did go on a two mile jog\walk after my post, although it was more walk than jog.  :x

8.24-26.12 - Took a three-day weekend to let my very sore muscles heal.

8.27.12 (today)- Did: two mile jog\walk.  Unfortunately, I started out strong, but then started feeling really stiff in calves.  I don't know if it could be something that's similar to shin-splints, but I didn't want to pull anything, so after stretching it out, me and my mom just walked the rest of the way.  :\  Oh well. 

I need to look up more stretches.  There are a lot that I learned from soccer; they work really well and give my muscles a good stretch, but I'd like to learn more.  I'm going to try to avoid yoga poses, because most of them aren't as deep a stretch as just reaching down to your toes and such are.  But who knows?  Maybe there are some really good yoga stretches!

Cross Fitting it up!

8.23.12: Did five rounds of: 10 deadlifts with a 15lb kettle bell, and 10 burpees.  (crossfit mamas)

I am so bad at burpees!  I didn't think it would be so hard on my leg muscles.  I did real push ups, though, not 'girl push ups', so I have that in my defense!  Hah, but honestly, my legs were shaking.  I skipped the push up part altogether on the last four of my last round of burpees.  :\  Ahh, well.  The deadlifts were pretty easy because I had such a light weight.

Hopefully I can get a run in tonight!  If I do, I'll say something in my next post tomorrow.  Peace!

(ps. I don't suggest eating Killer Brownies before doing burpees.  They don't sit too well in the stomach. :P)

Volleyball and More Cross Fit!

8.21.12 - Played volleyball for two hours, and it got pretty intense sometimes!  Lots of fun, though not hard enough to make me sore today.



The one in the air was me.  ;)

8.22.12 - (I got this workout from the same place as last time) Did 15 minutes of as many rounds as I could of: 10 kettle bell swings; 10 box jumps (I modified it a little after the first 2 rounds and just did step-ups); and 10 bench dips.  I used a 15lb kettle bell, and I'm not sure how high the box was, but it was a pretty decent height.  I did 12 2/3 rounds!  The '2/3' part is because I didn't make the last set of bench dips - those were definitely the hardest ones for me.  This was a good cardio exercise, as I did them (especially the last two sets) fast in order to get as many done as possible.

I know I will be playing more volleyball tonight with my youth group.  Hopefully I'll still do well despite my sore triceps!!  :)

#1: Cross-fit



I wore this shirt doing my workout today.  Talk about some motivation!



Did: 50 'wall-balls', 30 push ups, and 20 jump rope jumps. 

I got the workout from here, a fantastic cross-fit website I found today.  I discovered, however, after I worked out, that I did it wrong!  In the comments below, someone explained that the '50-35-20 reps' meant 50 of all of them, then 35, then 20!  I had thought it was rather easy....



The 35 push ups were seriously hard though.  As you can see, I only managed to eek out 30 - but in my defense, I did them all from my toes, and it's not like I've been doing many push ups lately!  I could hardly finish the last two... well, really more like the last 15.  On the final one, I was literally shaking: straining to get air into my lungs, pushing the muscles to their last effort, tensing my abdominals to their hardest rock form... only to collapse halfway up.  Sheer exhaustion kept me from my total 30.

Now that's what I call pushing it to the next level!

Unfortunately, the wall-balls and jumps weren't quite so rewarding.  I hardly lost any breath doing those, and could have used the extra 50 and 80 repetitions.  Oh well, me and my mom are planning on running tonight, and maybe I'll get some extra jump roping in then.

*(Update!  I ended up running 2 miles with my mom after I originally posted this.)