The Gastrocnemius Calf Muscle!

The gastrocnemius muscle is a powerful walking muscle located on the back of the calf in the lower leg. This muscle crosses the back of the knee and the ankle joint. When this muscle is tight it often leads to achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and other ankle, foot or knee injuries. The bottom portion of this calf muscle blends into a long white tendon. This tendon is known as the achilles tendon and inserts into the heel bone (calcaneus). The soleus muscle is another lower leg calf muscle and it lies just beneath the gastroc muscle. The soleus muscle differs from the gastrocnemius muscle as the soleus muscle does not cross the knee joint. Both of these calf muscles do cross the ankle joint.

How to Stretch the Calf

Face the wall pointing straight towards the wall. Make sure that your heel in not turned inward or the forefoot turned outward. The forefoot and the heel should be in straight alignment. Lean forward towards the wall to stretch the calf muscles.

Moving Up the Leg

The quadriceps are a group of four muscles on the front upper portion of the leg. Quadricep Muscles Rectus Femoris Vastus lateralis Vastus Medialis Vastus Intermedius Collectively, the quadriceps work to extend the knee. Kicking a ball or using the leg press at the gym will activate the quadricep muscles.

Stretching the Quadriceps

This is just one way to stretch the anterior quadricep muscles.

Stretching the Quadriceps

The muscles on the upper back of the leg are called the hamstrings. The hamstring muscle group is made up of three muscles: semimembranosus and semitendinosus , biceps femoris These muscles work together to bend the knee and extend the hip joint.

Stretching the Hamstring Leg Muscles

This is one stretching technique that stretches the hamstring muscles.

Hip Flexor Muscle Anatomy

These muscles are on the front of the hip and work to bend the hip and lift the leg. Pretend that you are in a marching band and take a few high lifting steps. When you march high with the leg, you use the hip flexor muscles on the front of the hip. Notice how some of these muscles attach to the back and spine. Tightness in these muscles can cause lower back pain, sacroliac pain, groin pain or hip pain.

Stretching the Anterior Hip Muscles

Here is one way to stretch the anterior hip muscles. The leg going downward towards the floor is the leg that has the anterior hip muscles on stretch.

Stretching the Anterior Hip Muscles

Here is another way to stretch the anterior hip muscles. In this case, the backward leg is the one that is stretching the muscles in the front of the hip

Iliotibial Band Anatomy

The iliotibial band (shown in pink on the picture) extends from the hip and inserts below the knee. It is often very tight, especially in runners. When it is tight it can pull the patella laterally and is often a contributing cause of chondromalcia

Stretching the Iliotibial Band (IT Band)

Build better health and a better body! Stretch it out!