Something is classified as a living or non-living thing according to

1. Movement
2. Excretion
3. Respiration
4. Nutrition
5. Homeostasis
6. Growth
7. Reproduction
8. Sensitivity
9. Adaptability

which are known to be the characteristics of life. Things or objects with these characteristics are usually considered to be a living thing but there are some things which cannot be considered as a living thing just because they have some of these characteristics. For an example, a car is able to move and give off waste materials but it cannot reproduce or grow. From this we can know that when it comes to see whether something is a living or non-living thing, all the characteristics of life must be taken under consideration.

Hence now I am going to find out whether our muscles are actually a living thing or not.

Movement - When the nerves receive a message from the brain, it passes it to the muscles. Only when muscles receive that message, they move in order to help the bones move too.

Excretion - In the primary metabolic waste products, nitrogenous (nitrogen-containing) molecules are also considered to be one. One of those molecules is called creatinine which is derived primarily from a nitrogen-containing molecule known as creatine found in muscle cells.

Respiration - When the rate of maximum aerobic respiration is not fast enough to be able to produce enough energy to meet the demand, our muscles respire anaerobically.

Nutrition - Our muscles depend heavily on the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients we provide them for their health and performance. By making sure they receive the right amount of nutrients, we are helping to keep our muscles strong and healthy.

Homeostasis - Muscles help to protect organs in the body’s hollow places.

Growth - Our muscles grow when our body is resting.

Reproduction - Our muscles do not reproduce.

Sensitivity - Our muscles are sensitive at times.

Adaptability - Micro tears in our muscle tissue when we exercise. Thus, these tissues repair and regenerate themselves while our body takes rest. During this repair process our muscle adapts by becoming bigger to help our body produce more force making your workout easier.

Our muscles have all the characteristics except the fact that they cannot reproduce. Even so, I would like to conclude that our muscles can be considered to be a living thing. For example, some women cannot reproduce too but it does not mean they are considered as non-living things. Same goes for this. Therfore, our muscles are living things!

A picture about our muscles:

http://www.science.edu.sg,

http://stanford.wellsphere.com,

http://www.spineworks.co.uk,

http://1stholistic.com,

http://en.wikibooks.org,

http://books.google.com.sg,

http://www.infovisual.info

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