Anatomy of legs

Anatomy of legs

The legs are part of our body without which complete training would not be possible.The anatomy of the leg is divided into 4 muscular parts: quardiceps, gluteals ,hamstrings and calves.

Quardiceps

The quadriceps femoris, located in front of the thigh, has four separate heads: 

1. Rectus femoris arises from the front of the pelvic bone.

 2. Vastus medialis arises from the inner edge of the femur. 

3. Vastus lateralis arises from the outer edge of the femur. 

4. Vastus intermedius arises from the front surface of the femur and lies underneath the rectus femoris. 

The four heads merge together, attach onto the patella (knee cap), and then insert via a single (patellar) tendon onto the tibia, just below the knee joint. The main function of the quadriceps is to extend the knee and straighten the leg. Because the rectus femoris arises from the pelvic bone, contraction of this muscle also flexes the hip joint. 

Anatomy of the Legs, Front View 

Hamstrings 

The hamstrings, located behind the thigh, are a group of three muscles that originate from the ischium bone of the pelvis. 

1. Biceps femoris passes behind the outer aspect of the thigh to attach to the head of the fibula bone, just below the knee.

2. Semimembranosus passes behind the inner aspect of the thigh, attaching to the upper tibia bone behind the knee. 

3. Semitendinosus passes behInd the inner aspect of the thigh, attaching to the upper tibia bone adjacent to semimembranosus. 

All three hamstrings span both the knee and hlp joints. Therefore, they serve dual functions: flexion of the knee and extension of the hlp. 

Gluteals 

The gluteus maximus arises from a large area on the rear of the pelvic bone, passes down behind the hip joint, and attaches to the upper femur. This powerful muscle causes hip extension. Good exercises for building the gluteal muscles are the squat, deadllft, and lunge. Other thigh muscles Indude the following: 

Hip adductors (Inner thilgh): Gracilis; adductor longus, magnus, and brevis 

Hip abductors: Tensor fascia latae; gluteus medius and minimus Hlp flexors: Sartorius, Iliopsoas, rectus femoris 

Anatomy of the Legs and Glutes, Rear View 

Calves 

The lower leg contains 10 different muscles. The calf comprises two muscles: 

1. Gastrocnemius is the visible muscle of the calf. The two heads (medial and lateral) of the gastrocnemius arise from the rear of the femur bone. immediately above the knee joint. 

2. Soleus arises from the rear aspect of the tibia and lies underneath the gastrocnemius. 

The tendons of the gastrocnemius and soleus fuse to form the Achilles tendon that passes behind the ankle joint and attaches to the calcaneus (heel bone). The calf muscles cause plantar flexion of the ankle, the movement required for standing on tiptoes. The relative contribution of the two calf muscles depends on the angle of knee flexion. The gastrocnemius is the prime mover when the leg is straight, and the soleus becomes more active as the knee bends. Note that the gastrocnemius crosses both the knee and ankle joints, and therefore serves a double function: knee flexion and ankle flexion. The following are other lower-leg muscles: 

Ankle extension (dorsiflexion): libialis anterior 

Ankle eversion: Peroneus longus and brevis 

Ankle Inversion: libialis posterior 

Toe flexors and extensors: Flexor digitorum longus, flexor hallucis longus, extensor digitorum longus, and extensor hallucis longus