Gastrocnemius
Function
The gastrocnemius muscle does the following:
- Flexes the leg at the knee.This means that the gastrocnemius muscle bends the leg at the knee joint such that there is a decrease in the angle between the lower leg and the upper leg.
- Plantar flexes the foot.This means that the gastrocnemius muscle extends the ankle such that the angle between the top of the foot and the shin increases.
Common Name(s)
"calves" - the gastrocnemius muscle forms part of the calf muscle group, along with soleus.
The muscular anatomy image shown here is in the public domain. It may have been modified by ShapeSense.com, but was originally acquired at the following address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gastrocnemius.png
