The sartorius muscle is a long, thin muscle that wraps around your thigh from the top of the pelvis (anterior superior iliac spine), across the upper front part of the thigh, and into a tendon that connects the thigh to the knee. According to Anthony Carey of Function First, there are no exercises that isolate any single muscle group, particular the sartorius, because every part of your body moves as a whole in sports and daily activities. When you exercise your legs, you are also training the sartorius.
Function
According to Michael Boyle, director of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Windchester, Mass., the sartorius works with the buttocks, hip flexors, legs, and abdominals to move the hips in abduction (away from the body), flexion and lateral rotation. An example of this movement is when you stand or sit to check the bottom of your shoe to see if you had stepped on something. In sports, the muscle assists in internal and external hip rotation, such as in swinging a baseball bat or kicking a soccer ball across your body.
Misconceptions
Many people tend to isolate muscle groups when they exercise rather than focusing on movement patterns. According to physical therapist Gray Cook, founder of Functional Movement Systems, your brain does not recognize muscles; it remembers movement patterns. In real life, you rarely use any single muscle group to move. When you train your lower body, focus on movement, not muscle. When you move your lower body in various directions, you are also training the sartorius.
Sample Exercises
There are many exercises that you can do train movement with lower body emphasis. Multi-planar lunges train lowering and decelerating your body with one leg in front of the other while maintaining a tall posture. You can lunge to the front, side, back, and with rotation.
A step-up is when you place one foot on a flat, elevated surface, such as a box or a step, and lift yourself up like you are climbing stairs. Like the multi-planar lunge, you can do step-ups to the front, from the side, or with a rotation.
Standing trunk rotation moves your torso while moving the hip joint and legs together. Stand with your legs hip-distance apart and fold your arms across your chest. When you turn to your left, your right hip externally rotates while the left hip internally rotate. Turn your body left and right while moving the hip joints in and out.
Prevention/Solution
The connective tissues surrounding the sartorius and adjacent muscles tend to get tight and tender from too much sitting or from poor posture. Before and after training, you should use a foam roller to massage the inner, outer, and middle parts of your thigh and upper hips. This self-massage technique, known as self-myofascial release (SMR) breaks apart muscle and tissues adhesions that cause tightness and stiffness. By gently rolling on the affected area, you will increase tissue elasticity and blood flow and decrease pain.
Expert Insight
One way you can train is alternating exercises with lower body emphasis with upper body emphasis. This way, one system rests while the other works. This is known as a superset, and you can burn a lot of calories and gain muscular strength and endurance. An example pattern would be a multi-planar lunge followed by a push-up, or a body weight squat followed by a pull-up.
References
- "Athletic Body in Balance"; Gray Cook; 2003
- "Understanding Hip Flexion"; Mike Boyle; 2005
- "Pain-Free Program"; Anthony Carey; 2005
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