How to Find Out More About the Gastrocnemius

The gastrocnemius is a muscle on the back part of the lower leg, or calf. It is opposed by the tibialis anterior muscle. The gastrocnemius muscle is very prone to painful, involuntarily cramping known as a "charley horse," primarily because it is so strong. The following steps will aid in your search for information about this muscle.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Read up on Greek roots to know that "gastro" means "belly" and "neme" means leg, so gastrocnemius means "belly of the leg" in Greek. This term refers to the shape of the calf.
   

2. Examine the gastrocnemius to see why some anatomists consider it to form a single muscle with the soleus, called the triceps surae which performs the following actions: it plantar flexes the ankle, stabilizes the knee and ankle when standing, and flexes the knee when not standing.
   
   

3. Observe how the lateral head originates on the posterior surface of the lateral condyle of the femur, and the medial head originates on the posteror surface of femur just above the medium condyle.
   

4. Look at the insertion point to the middle of three factets on the posterior surface of the calcaneus (heel) via the lateral portion of the calcaneal tendon, (Achilles tendon).
   

5. Research the nervous system to know that the nerve for the gastrocnemius is the tibial nerve from the first and second sciatic nerves. Study the circulatory system to know that the blood supply for the gastrocnemius is the muscular branches of the peroneal artery, the sural branches of the popliteal artery and the posterior tibial artery.
   

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