During muscular contraction, the myosin heads pull the actin filaments toward one another resulting in a shortened sarcomere. While the I band and H zone will disappear or shorten, the A band length will remain unchanged. This is because the A band corresponds to the full length of the myosin filament, or thick filament. Since the myosin filament does not actually change length, the A band remains constant.

The I band corresponds to the region of action that does not overlap with myosin. The length of the actin filament does not change during contraction, but the region of overlap increases. This results in a decrease of the non-overlapped I band.

The H zone refers to the region of myosin that is not overlapped by action. As the region of overlap grows, the H zone shrinks.

When calcium is released in muscle cells, it binds to troponin. This binding allows tropomyosin to change its orientation, exposing the myosin-binding sites on actin. Myosin heads can then bind to actin, and contraction can occur.

Calmodulin is a molecule that can bind calcium; however, it plays important roles in cell signal cascades and is not involved in skeletal muscle contraction.

The H-zone is an area made up of only thick filaments (myosin). The I-band is thin filaments (actin) only, and the A-band is where there are thick and thin filaments. The Z-disc is dividing feature between sarcomeres and appears as dark lines in electron micrographs. 

Muscle contraction results in both the H-band and I-bands shortening, but the A-band remains the same length (A band is Always the same). The Z-band is a static structure and doesn't change size.  

Thick filaments contain myosin. Thick filaments are present in the A band in the center of the sarcomere. Myosin has six polypeptide chains, including one pair of heavy chains and two pair if light chains. Each myosin molecule has two “heads” attached to a single “tail.” The myosin heads are capable of ATP hydrolysis and bind ATP and actin, and are involved in cross bridge formation.

Troponin is the regulatory protein that permits cross bridge formation when it binds . Troponin is a complex of three globular proteins. Troponin C () is the  binding protein, that when bound to , permits the interaction of actin and myosin via conformational change that reveals the myosin binding site on actin, and thus muscular contraction.

The ryanodine receptor is a calcium channel that is responsible for the release of calcium ions. It is located in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The release of calcium is a required step in muscle contraction. The ryanodine receptor pumps calcium ions from the intracellular fluid into the interior of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, this process keeps the intracellular calcium ions low and creates a concentration gradient. 

Each myofibril contains interdigitating thick and thin filaments arranged longitudinally in sarcomeres. Repeating units of sarcomeres account for the unique banding pattern in striated muscle. A sarcomere runs from Z line to Z line.

Troponin is a complex of three globular regulatory proteins (T, C, and I). Troponin is essential to the contraction of skeletal and cardiac muscle, but is not involved in the contraction of smooth muscle. Troponin T (think of: T for tropomyosin) binds to tropomyosin creating the troponin-tropomyosin complex, which helps to position tropomyosin onto actin. Troponin I (think of I for inhibition) binds actin, holding the actin-tropomyosin complex in place. This inhibits the myosin heads from binding their binding sites on actin. Lastly, troponin C (think of C for calcium) is responsible for binding calcium. This step is allows for the interaction of actin and myosin, thus activating the muscle for contraction.

Type 2 muscle fibers are fast twitch, and grossly appear white due to decreased mitochondria and myoglobin concentration. Because of the decreased number of mitochondria, sustained activity of type 2 muscle fibers results in lactic acid accumulation due to anaerobic glycolysis.

Type 1 muscle fibers are slow twitch, and grossly appear red due to increased mitochondria and myoglobin concentration, which allows for oxidative phosphorylation. Type 1 muscle fibers allow for low, sustained muscle contraction.