Have you ever wondered, what is the strongest muscle in the human body? If you didn’t, fun is waiting for you. Did you know how many muscles are in a human body? Among the hundreds of muscles, we are going to introduce you to some muscles.

An average person hardly ever notices beyond their sight, and it is the same about the strongest muscle in the human body. Welcome back if you have closed your biology book a long ago.

Muscle Types and Categories

The human body has three types of muscles. Cardiac, smooth, and skeletal. These three types consist of over six hundred muscles (according to some people, the number is eight hundred plus).

Sometimes not easy to define any muscle as the strongest one. But, we can try. There are some categories, and anyone can choose any basis. To give a rank muscles can be categorized by-

  • Absolute strength
  • Dynamic strength
  • Elastic strength
  • Strength endurance

But, we don’t know what to choose. So, the debate continues.

Strongest Muscles in your body

Top 5 Strongest Muscles

Here, I have briefly discussed the Top Five Strongest Muscles on My List.

1. Extraocular Muscles

If we look into a human body, we would easily notice some workforces. Like, eyes, this is one of the most active organs in the human body. The eye enhances our sight every time we move our head. If you are a reader, your eyes have already made 10,000 coordinated movements.

These muscles control the movement of the eyeball and superior eyelid. Though it is located in orbit, separated from the eyeballs. There are seven extraocular muscles-

  1. Superior Rectus
  2. Inferior Rectus
  3. Medial Rectus
  4. Lateral Rectus
  5. Inferior Oblique
  6. Superior Oblique
  7. LevatorPalpebraeSuperioris

Recti and oblique muscles are responsible for eyeball movement, and the last one is responsible for the movement of superior eyelid movement.

2. Gluteus Maximus

It is one of the muscles of the gluteus group and the largest muscle in the human body. It is the main extensor of the hip and enhances the thigh and hip movement. Furthermore,it keeps the body in an erect posture when needed. It is connected to the coccyx and other surrounding bones.

3. Masseter or Jaw Muscle

The muscle may remind you deadliest animals. But, it is really one of the strongest muscles of the human body. It is located in the jaw. The human jaw is surprisingly strong, and the muscle plays a vital role in this. When we chew or bite something, the force by the jaw can be 200 pounds. This is the fourth on my list.

This muscle is also called a musculus masseter, which has two parts: the superficial and the deep parts. The muscle is found across the cheek. It is felt from the mandibular ramus to the oral cavity.

4. Soleus

If you are walking or running, the muscle you are pushing is the soleus. It is undoubtedly a strong muscle because it carries the whole human body and keeps a balanced position. So, on my list, this is in the second position. It also helps your legs to cross.

Soleus, along with another Gastrocnemius, form a larger muscle. That is a compound muscle called Triceps surae, normally known as the calf muscle.

5. Heart muscle or Myocardium

It is the strongest muscle in the human body, and I think very few people would like to argue that. Per each heartbeat, the heart pumps about 32 ounces of blood and 2500 gallons in an average day, which is actually 9,450 liters. And, it never stops. Generally, in the life of a person, the number of heartbeats is more than 3 million, with an average beat of 1,15,000 daily.

An electrical system, the cardiac conducting system, controls the rhythm of the heart. Our blood vessel system would be 60,000 miles long if those are stretched. So, it is easily understandable how much pressure needs to be generated in the heart.

Special Mention

Other than the mentioned top 5 strongest muscles, there are some muscles that are strong and have unique functionality. Here are two honorable mentions for the strongest muscle in the human body.

Tongue

One misconception about defining the strongest muscle of the human body is the tongue. The reason behind the idea is- maybe the ability to twist or bend it in any way. This muscle is not like others- actually, it is a whole muscle. And most interestingly, that very muscle is a combination of 8 different muscles.

Moreover, it is one of the muscles that are always active. Even while sleeping, the tongue helps the throat to be wet by pushing saliva. So, having no space in the top list is not denying the importance of the tongue.

Uterus

You may wonder why I am not keeping this one at the top five. The reason is- this muscle is not usually active like other muscles in the human body. But, an average person cannot even imagine that how strong it can be.

The main activity of the uterus is to push the baby through the birth canal. During natural childbirth, the average pressure can be about 7 kg. That might be a number, and we all know we cannot realize how extremely painful it can be felt. So, we might salute every mother for their pain and sacrifices. It’s not always a matter of being on a list.

Final Thoughts

The human body is one of the complex structures of the whole universe. The diversity and activities in the muscles are enough to prove that. But, very few think about it.

We started with the argument- which is the strongest muscle in the human body. But, the pathway changed its direction slightly and suggested exploring more. Hopefully, this article might be the beginning of a new study for the readers.