What are the functions of sarcomere?

Sarcomere is the basic contractile unit of striated muscle, which includes skeletal muscles and cardiac muscles. It plays a pivotal role in regulating muscle contractions, which occur when the thin filament slides over the thick filament, which yields a contractile force. The reason the sarcomere structure is so crucial to the process of muscle contractions is that the muscle needs to physically shorten during a contraction. For this, it requires a unit that has the ability to compensate for the shortening or lengthening of a flexing muscle. Sarcomere is structured to meet that need.