Anatomy Of The Gastrocnemius Muscle

Courtesy: Prof Nabil Ebraheim, University of Toledo, Ohio, USA
Video describes The Anatomy of Gastrocnemius Muscle. It arises from femur and crosses the knee joint and Ankle joint.It is part of the three Superficial Flexors in the leg. The Gastrocnemius Muscle has 2 heads, one medial and one lateral head. The Medial head originates from the posterior surface of femur above the Medial Femoral condyle while the lateral head originates from the Lateral surface of lateral Femoral condyle. The two bellies of Gastrocnemius Muscle end in a tendon which joins with the tendon of soleus muscle to form together the tendoachilles or tendocalcaneus which inserts into the middle third of the posterior surface of calcaneus. This Muscle is innervated by tibial nerve (S1,S2) and it is supplied by Sural Branch of Popliteal artery. Together with the soleus muscle, this Muscle is a powerful plantar flexor of Ankle. Along with that it also helps in knee flexion.