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Leg Muscles
~ Keep it Balanced ~
Keeping your leg muscles strong throughout life is very important because a lot mass and strength is lost in the lower body as we get older.
Our legs consist of the quadricep muscle, hamstring muscle, calve muscle, butt and hip muscles. We use these muscles everyday for things
such as standing, walking, jumping, kicking and running.
Being flexible in your lower leg will allow you to push your knee farther past the ankle. This angle of the shin will allow you to get in a lower stance while maintaining pretty much a vertical torso, like a runner getting in the starting position.
There are many muscles that make up the legs, the main ones are:
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Butt and Hip Muscles - There are four groups of muscles surrounding the hips that control the hips movements and there are 3 muscles that make up your butt.
- Quadricep Muscle - a large muscle group that includes four muscles on the front of the thigh. This is the strongest and leanest muscle in our body. It's important to have strong quads especially in sports or it can be commonly torn. The main function of this muscle is to extend and straighten your legs.
- Hamstring Muscle - This muscle group includes three muscles on the back of the thigh. They act upon the hip joint and the knee
joint. It's just as important to have strong hamstrings because if the quadriceps are always being worked, then it becomes out of balance
with the hamstring, which can lead to injury.
The main function of the hamstring is to extend the hips when the trunk is in place and also to
rotate the lower leg inward when the knee is bent.
- Gastrocnemius / Solues Muscle (aka Calve Muscle) - this is a powerful superficial muscle located on the back of the lower leg. It
has two heads that run from just above the knee to the heel. We commonly know of this muscle being the bulge called the calf muscle.
The soleus muscle is lower part of the calf muscle. The soleus is closely connected to the gastrocnemius muscle and some consider them to be a single muscle. This muscle is prone to spasms and injury. It can also become inflamed due to being overused. The main function of this muscle is to flex the leg at the knee joint and flex the foot at the ankle joint.
- Ankle - this is probably the most overlooked area in flexibility. Having a greater range of motion in the ankle increases your
ability to take off from the starting position and also gives you greater force while running. Basically having a flexible ankle can help you
to run faster.
Taking care of your ankles can prevent the sprains that are associated with sports and everyday life. The main function of the
ankle is to move your foot around and allow you to walk, run and jump.
So you can see how all these muscles put together helps to create powerful movements such as walking, running and squatting. Keep your legs strong because of the fact that as we get older we lose strength and muscle mass in our lower bodies.
Return from Leg Muscles to Muscle Anatomy
Return from Leg Muscles to Kick Into Fitness home page
Other Muscles of the Body:
Neck |
Back |
Chest |
Shoulders |
Arms |
Abdominals |
Hips and Butt
Related Articles:
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