The Musculo-Skeletal System

What The Musculo-Skeletal System covers

The Musculo-Skeletal System is examined in Component 1, Scientific principles of physical education. It covers muscles, bones and movements of the upper body, muscles, bones and movements of the lower body and trunk, contraction types and the stretch-shortening cycle and muscle roles and the acute response to a warm-up.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Muscles, bones and movements of the upper bodyThe shoulder joint and girdle, horizontal flexion and extension in a forehand, abduction in a star jump, adduction in a climber's wide grip, the trapezius, circumduction and rotation, the elbow's hinge action, the wrist and hand, and pronation and supination at the radio-ulnar joints.Open →
• Muscles, bones and movements of the lower body and trunkThe hip joint and the muscles that flex, extend, abduct and adduct it, a hurdler's trail leg, the knee and the fibula, the quadriceps and hamstrings, gastrocnemius and soleus, plantar flexion and dorsiflexion, inversion and eversion, the bones of the foot and the vertebral column.Open →
• Contraction types and the stretch-shortening cycleIsotonic, concentric, eccentric and isometric contractions in a block landing, a biceps curl and a press-up, the stretch-shortening cycle and its three phases, the amortisation phase, elastic energy, the stretch reflex, countermovement jumps and the triple jump.Open →
• Muscle roles and the acute response to a warm-upAgonist, prime mover, antagonist, fixator and synergist, antagonistic pairs, fixators in a biceps curl and a kick, and how a warm-up changes muscle temperature, viscosity, elasticity, synovial fluid and articular cartilage.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The Musculo-Skeletal System further

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Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Concentric contraction vs Eccentric contraction

  Concentric contraction: a muscle shortening while it produces tension. Eccentric contraction: a muscle lengthening while it produces tension.

• Isometric contraction vs Isotonic contraction

  Isometric contraction: tension developed with no change in the length of the muscle. Isotonic contraction: tension that alters the length of the muscle and moves a joint.

• Agonist vs Antagonist

  Agonist: the muscle that contracts to produce a movement. Antagonist: the muscle that lengthens to allow a movement.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Which bones form the shoulder joint and the shoulder girdle?

   Model answer

   The head of the humerus fits into the glenoid fossa of the scapula. The clavicle links the scapula to the sternum, completing the shoulder girdle.

2. 2

   What type of joint is the shoulder, and what range of movement does that give it?

   Model answer

   The shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint. A ball-and-socket joint allows movement in every plane, including rotation and circumduction.

3. 3

   Which muscles produce horizontal flexion at the shoulder as a tennis player swings a forehand across the body?

   Model answer

   The pectoralis major and the anterior deltoid pull the arm forwards across the chest.

4. 4

   Which muscle produces horizontal extension at the shoulder during the backswing of a forehand?

   Model answer

   The posterior deltoid draws the arm backwards in the horizontal plane.

5. 5

   What movement happens at the shoulder as the arms rise sideways in a star jump, and which muscle drives it?

   Model answer

   The shoulder abducts, moving the arm away from the midline of the body. The deltoid, mainly its middle fibres, is the agonist.

6. 6

   Which muscles adduct the shoulder as a climber pulls the body up with a wide grip?

   Model answer

   The latissimus dorsi is the main agonist for adduction. The pectoralis major assists it.

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The Musculo-Skeletal System revision questions

What does The Musculo-Skeletal System cover in Edexcel A-Level Physical Education?

4 subtopics: muscles, bones and movements of the upper body, muscles, bones and movements of the lower body and trunk, contraction types and the stretch-shortening cycle and muscle roles and the acute response to a warm-up. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The Musculo-Skeletal System organised?

By the Edexcel 9PE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.