FOUNDATIONAL TERM
Motor unit
运动单位
A motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it supplies.
Study this concept in context
45 · Strength training and muscular adaptation
Strength training changes more than muscle size: it develops neural control, force-production skill, and reserve for daily tasks. This lesson explains these adaptations and why load, effort, and movement quality must be interpreted together.
20 · How bones, joints and muscles produce movement
Movement emerges from cooperation among bones, joints, muscles and nerves. Lifting a cup involves molecular contraction, torque, stability and feedback; muscle shortening is only one possibility.
Sources
- OpenStax: nervous system control of muscle tension
- NSCA: Time Course of Physiological and Anatomical Changes
- OpenStax: exercise and muscle performance
- ACSM: Updated Resistance Training Guidelines, 2026
- Lecce et al.: Neuromuscular Adaptations to Resistance Training
- OpenStax: bone structure
Definitions come from the published lessons. Read the linked lesson for mechanisms, conditions and examples.