Muscle is a kind of soft tissue of animals. Muscle cells contain protein filaments that slide past one another, producing a contraction that changes both the length and the shape of the cell. Muscles function to produce force and cause motion. They are primarily responsible for maintenance of and changes in posture, locomotion of the organism itself, as well as movement of internal organs, such as the contraction of the heart and movement of food through the digestive system via peristalsis.