Here is some simple anatomy to follow so you understand what the bones and muscles of your legs look like from their connections to the pelvis down to the feet.
The body is amazingly organized and our body parts are like puzzle pieces. Our job is to keep each piece of the puzzle in its right position. If a piece of the puzzle is misaligned it will begin to bother us over time. When you begin to see this you realize how the muscles of a muscle chain overlap each other to continue the movement through the entire muscle chain. The bones also connect in chains.
The Bones of Your Legs
Your pelvis is the superior foundation of your legs. The pelvis has the perfect socket in which the round head of the femur rests. At the other end of your femur are your tibia and fibula. They are the 2 bones of the lower leg.
Where the femur and the tibia meet is the knee joint. The patella, your kneecap, floats perfectly on top of where these bones meet. In between the femur and the tibia there are different cartilage, ligaments, and disc-like material that cushions the space between the 2 bones.
At the other end, the tibia and fibula form what we commonly call the ankle. The ankle is actually the distal ends of these 2 bones.
Next comes the talus which is in between the tibia and fibula and the calcaneus.
When each of these bones is aligned perfectly and where the bones meet to form joints there is sufficient space, then ideally everything should move smoothly.
Sounds easy, but then each of us has our patterns, misalignment and physical activities that we partake in which often throw this delicate bone balance out of whack. It is usually how we improperly use the muscles that move these bones that cause the problems.
The repetitive movements create imbalances of the muscles which begin to pull the bones out of their perfect alignment. Then the muscles hold to the misaligned bones and then break down begins.
Here are the basic muscle groups of the legs:
Hamstrings
Adductors
Quadriceps
I-T band (though not a muscle)
Flexor muscles of the lower leg
Extensor muscles of the lower leg
Peroneus muscles (muscles of the lateral lower leg)
In Yamuna® Body Rolling it is easy to work the major muscle groups of the legs. You can work the hamstrings, quadriceps and adductors using the silver ball. In the Yamuna® Save Your Legs DVD there are variations for working these muscle groups.