Fibularis Longus - lateral compartment of lower leg

We've covered all the posterior lower leg muscles (on the back) NOW its time to most to the outside edge (aka LATERAL) on our way to the Anterior (front) compartment.

 

Today we'll be covering FIBULARIS LONGUS of the lateral compartment.

 

FIBULARIS:  referring to the lateral lower leg bone the FIBULA

LONGUS: remember that whenever a muscle includes the name "longus" there is a high chance that there is a very similar shorter version nearby.

 

To make this more fun, the fibularis muscle(s) are also known as the Perroneals, with fibularis longus aka "peroneus longus"

 

 

 

Fibularis Muscle Attachment Points:

 

ORIGIN:  Head of the Fibula & the lateral proximal half of the lateral fibula:

 

(head aka 'bony bump' at the top of the fibula bone & the top half (closest to the knee) of the outside edge of the fibula bone.)

 

INSERTION:  1st cuneiform and 1st metatarsal

 

(foot bones on the big toe side of the foot) approx. where your foot arch* is!

 

Whave two lower leg bones, the larger one is called the tibia. The smaller one is the fibula - and what would help me remember that is that a "fib" is a "small" lie ;)

 

 

 

 

 

*Fibularis is known as a "stirrup" muscle because its tendon crosses underneath the foot and supports the *medial longitudinal arch of the foot

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fibularis Muscle Actions:

 

a) Eversion of the foot at the ankle joint

 

 I find this muscle to be notoriously weak on most people - in which case they should be doing more of the above action :)

 

 

b) assists in Plantarflexion of the foot at the anklejoint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

remember STIRRUP leggings though.....? 

 

Plantaris - a lower leg muscle

Which muscle has the LONGEST tendon? I know you've always wanted to know right? It's

PLANTARIS - a lower leg muscle of the superficial posterior compartment

 (aka lives on the back closer to the surface)

Plantaris is also basically the 'sister muscle' of palmaris longus of the forearm, in that they both have that short muscle belly that turns into a long skinny tendon once it crosses the joint.

Plantaris Muscle Attachments

ORIGIN:  the distal lateral supracondylar line AND the lateral condyle of the FEMUR 
(on the back/outside edge of the thigh bone, just above the knee)

INSERTION:  calcaneus (heel bone)

Plantaris has a short muscle belly  but the longest tendon in the body! 

The muscle belly basically lives between the two gastrocnemius heads
once plantaris muscle crosses the knee joint - the muscle turns into a long skinny tendon that legit runs down the entire length of you lower leg and attaching onto the calcaneus

Plantaris Muscle Actions:

a) plantarflexion of the foot at the ankle joint

b) flexion of the leg at the knee joint

a) plantar flexion of the foot at the ankle joint

b) knee flexion


another lower leg muscle next week! we'll be moving into the 'anterior compartment'

and also...

doesn't Plantaris sound like the name of a metal band?

Gastrocnemius - lower leg muscle

Today we're talking GASTROCNEMIUS one of the more popular lower leg muscles of the "superficial posterior compartment" simply meaning a muscle on the back of the leg that's closer to the surface, not too deep.

Last week we talked SOLEUS, and these two muscles together are called "triceps surae" - the prime movers of plantar flexion (see below) of the foot at the ankle joint

Gastrocnemius Muscle Attachment points:

origin:  medial & lateral femoral condyles

((bony bumps at the distal end of the femur (thigh bone) closest to the knee))

insertion:  calcaneus via the calcaneus (aka Achilles) tendon

Gastrocnemius Muscle Action(s)

a) Plantarflexion of the foot at the ankle joint

b) flexion of the leg at the knee joint

a) plantarflexion

b) knee flexion

because gastrocs muscle attachments cross the knee joint

more leg muscles to come ! 

SOLEUS - lower leg muscle

We're still on the back of the lower leg,  getting into the more "superficial" ones now 

(ie - not as deep as tibialis posterior, and Tom, Dick, and Harry. :) 

The bulk of the muscle on the posterior leg that we see is mostly due to two muscles: Gastrocnemius (aka Gastrocs) & Soleus. I think that when most people refer to their 'calf muscles' - they are referring to Gastrocs & Soleus.

Soleus & Gastrocnemius are like bestfriends - together forming what is called "triceps surae" - both attaching to the achilles tendon on the back of your ankle.

Soleus is deeper, living underneath Gastrocs. But more on the Gastrocs NEXT week today is all about SOLEUS. 

SOLEUS Muscle Attachments:

Origin:  Head of Fibula & the proximal 1/3 of the fibula & the soleal line of the tibia

Insertion:  Calcaneus (aka heel bone)  via the Calcaneal tendon (aka Achilles tendon) 

SOLEUS muscle action:

plantarflexion of the foot at the ankle joint

flexes the foot to point the toes downward 

Did you know that Soleus translates to "fish belly" ? The muscle itself is kind of shaped like one I guess ;) Soleus is also a thick muscle responsible for the contours of the gastrocs being so visible..

 "behind every great gastrocs is a great soleus" 

And speaking of Sole...

Soul Train anyone...?

Rosie Perez on Soul Train

and who could forget Ursula and her "poor unfortunate soulsssss"...

Tune in next Monday for the other half  of 'triceps surae' - GASTROCNEMIUS (aka Gastrocs)

K bye!

Flexor Hallucis Longus - of the deep posterior compartment of the lower leg

Meet Harry ! Of 'Tom, Dick and Harry' of the deep posterior compartment of the leg.

'Harry' aka 

Flexor Hallucis Longus

ORIGIN:  Distal 2/3 of the posterior fibula and the distal 2/3 of the interosseous membrane

INSERTION:  Distal phalanx of the big toe

Flexor Hallucis Longus Muscle Actions:

a )flexes the big toe (#1) 

a) Plantar Flexion of the foot at the ankle joint

b)  inversion of the foot at the sub-talar joint

And that's Harry! The final posterior leg muscle of ' Tom Dick and Harry'  group.

Those three are closest to the bone, there are more lower leg muscles to cover stayyyy tuned!

Flexor Digitorum Longus - of the "deep posterior compartment of the lower leg"

Remember last week where I introduced 'Tom, Dick, & Harry' ? A group of three muscles that live deep in "deep posterior compartment of the lower leg"? Deep meaning closest to the bone & posterior meaning on the back of the lower leg.

They work together to perform the same two muscle actions of the ankle :)

Today we'll talk about Flexor Digitorum Longus (aka 'Dick' of Tom, Dick & Harry)

Flexor: probably performs the action of 'flexion'

Digitorum: refers to our digits (aka fingers and toes!)

Longus: whenever a muscle is named Longus there is usually a similar, shorter 

version of this muscle nearby :)

Flexor Digitorum Longus Muscle Attachment Points:

ORIGIN:  middle 1/3 of the posterior tibia (aka "middle posterior surface" )

INSERTION: distal phalanges of toes 2-5

Flexor Digitorum Longus Muscle ACTIONS:

same two actions as Tom & Harry:

1- 'weak plantar flexion of the foot at the ankle joint

2 - inversion of the foot at the ankle joint:

*and because this muscles tendons extend all the way to the tips of toes 2-5 :

3- flexes toes 2-5 (all toes except big toe - #1)

And that's Dick!

Next week we'll meet Harry!  

Tibialis Posterior - of the deep posterior compartment of lower leg

We are still covering muscles of the "deep posterior compartment of the lower leg"

-deep meaning closest to the bone

-posterior meaning on the back of the leg

Tibialis Posterior is aka "Tom" of  Tom, Dick & Harry

,a group of 3 deep posterior lower leg muscles that share the same actions. These three

are often tight and need a good massage (especially runners!)

So deep that they live underneath the gastroc & soleus muscle (the more popular calf muscles we see) 'Tom' is also the largest of the three: 

Tibialis: refers to its attachment point on the Tibia (leg bone)

Posterior: on the back

TIBIALIS POSTERIOR MUSCLE ATTACHMENTS:

ORIGIN:  the proximal 2/3 of the posterior tibia, fibula and interosseus membrane*

*a connective tissue that stretches between the tibia & fibula (lower leg bones)

INSERTION:   navicular, cuneiforms, cuboid, and bases of 2nd thru fourth metarsals

*you can see why we include your foot as part of a lower leg treatment - many clients come in with a lower leg injury but say that foot massage is not necessary, 

Let's take a closer look at those insertion points on the Bottom of the foot!

TIBIALIS POSTERIOR MUSCLE ACTIONS:

1- plantar flexion of the foot at the ankle joint:

2- inversion of the foot at the subtalar joint:

kinda similar eh? I think you can help but invert a lil' whilst you plantar flex ;)

Next week we'll cover ' DICK' of

Tom Dick & Harry

Tom = Tibialis Posterior

Dick = Flexor Digitorum Longus

Harry = Flexor Hallucis Longus

'gangs all here' 

....speaking of.... remember that 90s comedy  3rd rock from the sun?

ever notice that the 3 guys names are

Tom, Dick and Harry ?!?!

Because they're aliens and just trying to fit in...

like every other 'Tom Dick & Harry' ! 

Haha Harry was the weird one..