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Along with the soleus muscle, the gastrocnemius forms half of the calf muscle. Its function is plantar flexing the foot at the ankle joint and flexing the leg at the knee joint. The gastrocnemius is primarily involved in running, jumping and other "fast" movements of leg, and to a lesser degree in walking and standing.
The gastrocnemius muscle is heterogeneous, composed of both "red" and "pale" muscle, and thus containing fast-twitch high force fibers. Henneman's and colleagues took advantage of the differences between the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles to show that the neurons innervating the soleus muscle:
Weakly assists gastrocnemius in plantarflexing ankle Soleus: Posterior aspect of head and superior quarter of posterior surface of fibula; soleal line and middle third of medial border of tibia; and tendinous arch extending between the bony attachments: Plantarflexes ankle independent of position of knee; steadies leg on foot
The soleus exhibits significant morphological differences across species. It is unipennate in many species. In some animals, such as the rabbit, it is fused for much of its length with the gastrocnemius muscle. The soleus is a complex, multi-pennate muscle in humans, normally having a separate (posterior) aponeurosis from the gastrocnemius ...
The superficial portion (the gastrocnemius) gives off two heads attaching to the base of the femur directly above the knee. The deep (profundus) mass of muscle (the soleus) forms the remaining head which attaches to the superior posterior area of the tibia. The triceps surae is innervated by the tibial nerve, specifically, nerve roots L5–S2.
The first category includes movements such as standing calf raises, donkey calf raises and stair calves. The second category includes movements that maintain a bent knee, such as seated calf raises. Movements with a straight knee will target the gastrocnemius muscle more, and movements with a bent-knee will target the soleus muscle more.
While not as thick as the achilles tendon, the plantaris tendon (which tends to be between 30–45 centimetres (12–18 in) in length) is the longest tendon in the human body. Not including the tendon, the plantaris muscle is approximately 5–10 centimetres (2.0–3.9 in) long and is absent in 8-12% of the population.
The lateral gastrocnemius is an example of this muscle architecture. ... The pennation angle is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the entire muscle and its ...