Muscle Monday

With around 700 muscles in the human body, covering all of them would be a pretty long blog post. So instead I’m going to cover some of the major ones outlining their location, movement/actions and key exercises to train them.

So, lets begin with the big one…

Gluteals

AKA your buttocks. The largest muscle in the body is the one you are probably sat on right now- the gluteus maximus. This, along with the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus make up the buttock muscle and it is considered to be the most powerful in the body.

Location: Posterior- I’m pretty sure we are all familiar with its location!

Movement: Extend and abduct the hip, laterally rotates the thigh (movement away from the body). Used in most activities such as walking, running, climbing stairs, standing up from seated and even just standing upright!

Exercises: Glute bridges, hip thrusts, split squats, deadlift, step ups, abductor machine, clams.

Quadriceps

As the name suggests, this muscle has 4 (quad) parts. The rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis and vastus medialis. They originate at the top of the hip and insert into your knee joint (patella and tibia).

Location: Front of upper leg

Movement: Extend the knee and flex the hip. Used in actions such as running, walking, jumping and cycling, climbing stairs and standing.

Exercises: Squats, leg extension, leg press, lunges, adductor machine, step ups.

Hamstrings

The hamstring is made up of three muscles which start at the pelvis and insert into the knee and lower leg. The three muscles are the biceps fermoris (not to be confused with the one in your arm), semimembranosus and semitendinosus. Hamstring muscle injuries are the most common sports injury and are often reoccurring with long rehabilitation periods (Ernlund, 2017).

Location: Back of upper leg

Movement: Knee flexion and hip extension. Everyday activities involving a hip hinge movement such as bending down and climbing stairs. Used in sports such as football, rugby, cycling, running and walking (particularly uphill).

Exercises: Hamstring curl (seated or prone machine, Swiss ball), deadlifts (particularly Romanian), Nordic curl, good mornings, cable kick backs.

Chest

The pectoralis major and pectoralis minor form the upper and lower parts of chest muscle. Often one that ladies neglect to train, it shouldn’t be overlooked as it is important for good posture and is involved in the majority of upper body and over head movements involving your arms and shoulders.

Location: Front of the upper body between neck and torso

Movement: Shoulder flexion, shoulder adduction and rotation, retraction of the scapula. Used in sports such as swimming, gymnastics, rowing, throwing and racket sports.

Exercises: Chest or bench press (incline to target the upper portion; decline to work the lower portion), pec fly, push ups.

Back

The main muscle of the back is the Latissimus dorsi meaning “broad back”. Others that encompass the back muscles are the trapezius, rhomboids and erector spinae. They all originate from the spine and insert along the shoulder girdle or upper arm.

Location: L. dorsi is the main muscle from the upper to middle of the back; the trapezius is the upper portion of your back leading towards the back of your neck; rhomboid is a smaller 4 sided muscle between your shoulder blades and the e. spinae run along your vertebral column.

Movement: They are some of the main muscles which keep you upright! They are important for good posture and are involved in actions such as rowing, throwing, lifting and pulling motions.

Exercises: Lat pull down, seated row, face pulls, pull ups, prone lateral raise, rear delt fly, back extension, deadlifts, bird dog.

Torso

The front of the trunk is made up of your abdominals and obliques. Your “abs” are called the rectus abdominus and their visibility depends on your body fat percentage; believe it or not, everyone has a “six pack”! The external and internal obliques are on the outsides of your torso with the transverse abdominus lying inside them. Not only do they protect and support your intestines, they are also needed in coughing, vomiting, childbirth and defecation (nice).

Movement: Flexion, extension and rotation of the spine; bending forward, leaning backwards and twisting. These muscles stabilise the vertebral column and prevent hyperextension of the trunk.

Exercises: Crunches, V-ups, bicycle crunch, leg lowering, reverse crunch, Russian twist, lateral flexion, jack knives, plank variations, pallof press.

Shoulders

Known as the deltoid, your shoulders are made up of three compartments- the front, rear and lateral (side). It is triangular in shape and is key player in everyday movements, as well as being prone to overuse injuries.

Location: Front (as the name suggests) upper arm by your clavicle, rear; at the back of your upper arm above your shoulder blade (scapular) and lateral is the side of your upper arm at the very top.

Movement: Abduction of the shoulder joint; raising/lifting your arms. Assists in flexion and extension of the shoulder joint, moving your chest/shoulders forwards or backwards.

Exercises: Shoulder press, front raise, lateral raise, rear delt fly, clean and press, snatch, clean and jerk. Everyday activities such as overhead lifting and carrying as well as sports such as racket sports, swimming and rowing.

Arms

The main muscles I’ll mention are the biceps and the triceps, meaning 2 or 3 heads, respectively; this refers to the number of origin points for each muscle from within the shoulder region.

Location: Biceps brachii is the front of the upper arm (think Popeye), with the triceps brachii being at the back.

Movement: The bicep is used to flex the elbow and bend the arm and palm upwards (supination). On the flip side, the tricep is used to extend the elbow, causing the arm to straighten. These are used for everyday activities such as picking up objects, eating, drinking, etc and in a variety of sports that involve throwing along with rowing and racket sports

Exercises: Bicep curl, preacher curl, tricep pushdown, overhead tricep extension, tricep dips.

Lower leg

As I’ve covered the tops of the legs it’s best to mention the bottom part! The scientific name for the calf is the gastrocnemius meaning “belly of the leg” and is the bulky muscle at the back of the leg along with the soleus. The front is the tibialis anterior and this little but ever so important one is often forgotten!

Location: Front and back of the lower leg as mentioned above and with the gastrocnemius originating at the bottom of the femur and the other 2 originating from the tibia at the back. The calf and soleus insert into the heel bone whilst the tibialis inserts into the big toe.

Movement: The calf is responsible for plantar flexion of the foot (bending it down towards the floor- think “plant the foot”) and flexion of the knee with the soleus. This involves rising up onto the toes such as in running, dancing, skipping, hopping and jumping. The tibialis anterior is used for dorsi flexion, meaning to lift the foot upwards, and to invert the foot. Again, often used in running/walking, dancing and pretty much most things that involve moving around on your feet!

Exercises: Calf raise variations-standing, seated, eccentric, single or double leg, step ups

As mentioned, there are MANY more muscles in the body but I think this has covered the majority of the main ones. Think about which muscles you are trying to target in your training and the actions they perform. This is also where I come in as a Personal Trainer to ensure the exercises are carried out safely and effectively and are specific to you and your goals. I will use my knowledge to answer any other queries you have!

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