Skeletal muscles are biologically completely incapable of pushing anything, as they can only generate force by contracting and pulling bones like a complex system of organic levers and pulleys.

A closer look

Skeletal muscles are biologically completely incapable of pushing anything, as they can only generate force by contracting and pulling bones like a complex system of organic levers and pulleys. Every single time you push a heavy door open, do a pushup, or shove a stubborn piece of furniture across the living room, you are actually just relying on the highly coordinated pulling action of the muscles located on the opposite side of your limbs. Triceps pull your arm straight, chest muscles pull your arms inward, and your brain expertly orchestrates this massive illusion of outward force. It is incredibly deceptive that our entire perception of physical exertion is based on a mechanical lie, and that all of our aggressive, forward-moving actions are secretly driven by muscles shrinking away from the object of our effort. We fancy ourselves powerful, dominant creatures capable of exerting great outward force upon the world, while in reality, our entire musculoskeletal system is just anxiously retracting and pulling itself inward