The lower limbs of the human body are made up of the hips, thighs, legs and feet. This set of members, also called lower limbs, are responsible for the balance, support and locomotion of the body.
The hip joins the trunk and, therefore, is a transitional region. The other members are classified as free, as they perform the movements.
The thigh is located below the hip and extends to the knee joint. After the knee is the leg that goes to the ankle joint. Finally, there is the foot, the extreme component of the lower limb.
Lower limb bones
O appendicular axis of the human skeleton, connected to the axial axis, is formed by the upper and lower limbs. The pelvic girdle, also called the hip or pelvis, is the region that connects the lower part to the torso.
In addition to the hip bones (ilium, ischium and pubis), there are other 30 bones located in the lower limbs: 1 bone in the thigh, 3 bones in the leg and 26 bones in the foot. Are they:
- Femur, located in the thigh;
- Patella, tibia and fibula, located in the leg;
- Tarsal bones (7), located at the top and back of the foot;
- Metatarsal bones (5), located in the middle region of the foot;
- Phalanx (14), located on the toes.
thigh bone
O femur, in addition to being the longest bone in the human skeleton, it is also the one with the greatest weight and the greatest strength.
leg bones
THE patella it is a bone that is located in the knee joint. It is a small triangular bone.
THE tibia it is located in the medial region of the leg. It is the largest bone in this region and supports human weight.
THE fibula it is considerably smaller than the tibia and is parallel to it, lying laterally.
foot bones
There are 26 bones that make up the structure of the foot. They are divided into: tarsal bones, metatarsal bones and phalanges.
US foot bones, the upper and posterior part is formed by the tarsus, composed of 7 bones. The strongest tarsal bone is the calcaneus. Besides it, there are also the talus, navicular, cuneiforms (lateral, intermediate and medial) and the cuboid.
The middle region of the foot has the metatarsal bones. The metatarsal is numbered from I to V, being the first responsible for supporting the weight, since it is thicker.
The fingers contain the phalanges, similar to those of the hands in quantity and disposition. In the hallux of finger number I, two large phalanges are located, proximal and distal. The remaining four fingers have three phalanges: proximal, middle and distal.
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Lower limb muscles
Muscles are tissues that allow movement and contraction to take place. Muscle fibers are also part of the lower limb, and the muscles in this region are the strongest, as they help with support and locomotion.
Skeletal striated muscle, the type that makes up the lower limbs, is controlled by the central nervous system and responds to stimuli by producing voluntary movements.
Some lower limb muscles
- Hip muscles: psoas major, psoas minor, gluteus maximus, medius and minumum;
- Thigh muscles: sartorius, pectineus and biceps femoris;
- Leg muscles: tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus and flexor digitorum longus;
- Muscles of the foot: extensor digitorum brevis, abductor hallucis and plantar interosseous.
The largest muscle in the human body is located in the thigh, it is the sartorius and its length is approximately 50 cm, but it can vary according to the individual's height.
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