Quadriceps femoris muscle

Not to be confused with quadratus femoris.
Quadriceps femoris muscle

Quadriceps femoris, with different muscles in different colors.
rectus femoris - blue
vastus lateralis - yellow
vastus intermedius - green
vastus medialis - red
Details
Origin Combined rectus femoris and vastus muscles
Insertion Tibial tuberosity
Artery Femoral artery
Nerve Femoral nerve
Actions Knee extension; Hip flexion (Rectus femoris only)
Identifiers
Latin Musculus quadriceps femoris
Dorlands
/Elsevier
Quadriceps femoris muscle
TA A04.7.02.017
FMA 22428

Anatomical terms of muscle

The quadriceps femoris (/ˈkwɒdrsɛps ˈfɛmərs/) (Latin for "four-headed muscle of the femur"), also called simply the quadriceps, quadriceps extensor, or quads, is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the great extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large fleshy mass which covers the front and sides of the femur.

Structure

The quadriceps consists of four separate muscles

It is subdivided into four separate portions or 'heads', which have received distinctive names:

All four parts of the quadriceps muscle ultimately insert into the tibial tuberosity of the tibia. This is via the patella, where the quadriceps tendon becomes the patellar ligament, which then attaches to the tibia.

There is a fifth muscle of the quadriceps complex that is often forgotten and rarely taught called articularis genus.

Innervation

Femoral nerve (L2, L3, L4).

Function

All four quadriceps are powerful extensors of the knee joint. They are crucial in walking, running, jumping and squatting. Because rectus femoris attaches to the ilium, it is also a flexor of the hip. This action is also crucial to walking or running as it swings the leg forward into the ensuing step. The quadriceps, specifically the vastus medialis, play the important role of stabilizing the patella and the knee joint during gait.[1]

Society and culture

Training

In strength training, the quadriceps are trained by several leg exercises. Effective exercises include the squat and leg press. The isolation movement (i.e. targets solely the quadriceps) is the leg extension exercise.

In body building communities, this muscle is colloquially referred to as the "leg triceps".[2]

History

Etymology

The proper Latin plural form of the adjective quadriceps would be quadricipites. In modern English usage, quadriceps is used in both singular and plural. The singular form quadricep, produced by back-formation, is frequently used.

Additional images

See also

This article uses anatomical terminology; for an overview, see Anatomical terminology.

References

  1. Therapeutic Exercises, Carolyn Kisner & Lynn A. Colby, 5th ed. (2002) 692-93.
  2. Monaghan, L. (2002). Vocabularies of motive for illicit steroid use among bodybuilders. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 55(5), 695-708.

External links

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