Bone Structure Basics

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,




So this is another post in the Back to Basics series ( the first of the year ) and it has been brought to my attention that a lot of people- in particular those new to exercise- seem to have a lack of the standard knowledge of their bodies. So what I am aiming to do with this post is to provide a basic understanding of the major bone structure inside the body.


There are 3 functions given to the skeletal system:

1. Movement: bones have large surface areas to allow muscles to attach, the muscle joins the bone via a tendon, allowing muscles to pull the bone creating a movement.
2. Protection: some of the organs such as heart and lungs are highly fragile and delicate, therefore require protection from damage
3. Support: your skeleton acts as your body's frame work, it gives support to allow you to stand upright, bones are held together with ligaments

Each bone has one of these functions which I shall indicate in the description.


Bones

• Cranium- the main, thick, round bone in the head its role is to protect the brain
• Sternum- the bone at the centre of the rib cage, supports the chest and upper body
• Clavicle (collar bone )- the thin bone coming out from the sternum at the bottom of the neck, one of the 3 bones (clavicle, scapular and humours) that allow movement in the shoulder
• Scapular ( shoulder blade)- the large flat bone based at the shoulder joint, allows movement at the shoulder of the arm
• Humours- the bone at the top of the arm starting at the shoulder and going down to the elbow, role is for movement of the shoulder and therefore arm
• Ribs- the set of thin curving bones coming out from the sternum (the bone you eat off when you have barbeque ribs funnily enough ), they protect the vital organs in the chest
• Vertebrae (spine) - the jagged edged bones that form a long chain down your back, they support your entire body and are what keep you standing if these get damaged you run the risk of immobilising yourself
• Radius- one of the two larger bones in the forearm, it is inline with your thumb and runs all the way from wrist to elbow, its job is to support and keep the wrist ridged
• Ulna- the other of the two larger bones in the forearm, running parallel to the radius , its role is also to support and keep the wrist ridged
• Carpals- the small bones in your wrist, allowing movement of the wrist and therefore hand
• Metacarpals- the long thin bones in the hand leading from wrist to knuckles, they support the hand to keep it in the correct shape
• Phalanges (*hand*)- the bones in your fingers, they are what allow us the movement in this area of body and are what we wiggle and move at the ends of our hands
• Pelvis (hip)- the large bone in the hip area curves round and you can feel the rounded edges if you move you hands round inline with the centre of your buttocks (or just put hands on hips)
• Femur- the long bone starting at pelvis and ending at the knee, supports the leg and keeps in firm and in place
• Patella (knee)- the bone at the front of the knee, helps with the movement in the joint
• Tibia- one of the 2 bones in the lower leg and the larger one, supports lower leg
• Fibula- the smaller bone in the lower leg (knee to ankle), supports lower leg
• Tarsals- a similar role to the carpals in the hand but only in the foot, the bones at the top of the foot, helps provide movement
• Metatarsals- the same role as metacarpals in hand, they keep the foot in support and shape
• Phalanges (*feet*) the other set of phalanges, are in the hand the role is the same movement at the ends in the case the feet and toes

These are not all the bones but the most commonly used ones in sport


Thanks for reading please make sure you keep checking out the blog and older posts etc, follow the blog and me, plus one everything is returned as well so please comment ideas for the blog also - work hard and peace!


Jason