What is the largest muscle in the human body? | eNotes
What is the largest muscle in the human body?
dano7744 | College Teacher | (Level 2) Educator
Posted on
May 22, 2010 at 10:56 AM
The gluteal muscles are largest. The gluteus minimus and maximus comprise this group. They are your buttocks. A very close second is the bilateral latissimus dorsi muscles which are your "lats". They run more than half way up your back and wrap around laterally (the sides). They connect distally in the hip or coxal area. The gluteals are indeed much thicker and have more mass. Another large muscle group is the adductor group on the anterior thigh and also the quadriceps group which is also on your anterior thigh(front thigh). As you can imagine, the muscles of the legs are very strong inpart because they help to support your weight. The masseter muscles of the bilateral jaws are also very strong, and the strongest of all.
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discussion | College Teacher | (Level 1) Assistant Educator
Posted on
May 18, 2010 at 1:18 AM
According to most online sources, the gluteus maximus or buttock muscle is the biggest of the 639 named muscles in the human body.
The longest muscle in the human body is the sartorius. This narrow muscle of the thigh passes obliquely across the front of the thigh and helps rotate the leg to the position assumed in sitting cross-legged.
The strongest muscle depends on how you measure strength. A good case could be made for the heart!
Information from ehow.com:
In terms of absolute force, the strongest muscle in the body is the masseter, the prime mover of the jaw for chewing. It can create force of 55 lbs. on the incisors or 200 lbs. on the molars.
The hardest-working muscle in the body is the heart. It pumps 2 oz. blood at every heartbeat, at least 2,500 gallons daily.
The muscle that can pull with the greatest force is the soleus, underneath the calf muscle. It is this muscle that keeps us from falling backward while standing up, and it is essential to running, walking and dancing.
The largest muscle in the body is also one of the strongest--the gluteus maximus. This large muscle in the buttocks keeps us standing upright and fights against gravity when we walk up stairs.
The most flexible muscle is the tongue, which can take many shapes and also is always moving, even in sleep.
The most active of muscles is the eye muscles. Muscles of the eye are constantly moving. In an hour's worth of reading, they can move 10,000 times. Unlike the heart, however, eye muscles can get fatigued easily.
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August 2, 2012 at 7:03 AM
The gluteus muscle is the largest muscle in the human body. It consists of gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus. it is called asbuttockmuscles.
Hip region is the most important region in the human structure because human stands on both legs and when he stands this buttock region gives support to the human structure. Also, above the hip region there are so many internal organs (including respiratory, digestive system) which are very important for the human life,to protect these organs and to support them the muscle in the buttock should be very thick and large