The sartorius muscle -- your body's longest muscle -- connects your hip's outside portion to your lower leg's middle portion. This two-joint muscle crosses both the hip and the knee. The sartorius is a slender, ribbon-like muscle directed on a downward angle inward on your front thigh. It can easily be seen and felt on slender individuals. Many competitive bodybuilders display prominent sartorius muscles.
Hip Function
The sartorius is a hip flexor that acts with other muscles to raise the thigh to the front. However, unlike other hip flexors, it does so under special circumstances. Specifically, the muscle is active when raising the thigh to the side if external resistance is present; it rotates the thigh outward when the hip is flexed.
Knee Function
Despite that at least two-thirds of the sartorius is on the front thigh, the muscle's function at the knee is to curl the lower leg upward. The muscle, then, works in concert with your back legs' hamstrings. Much like its function at the hip, the sartorius only performs leg curls under special circumstances. Specifically, due to its orientation, the muscle assists in inwardly rotating the lower leg when the leg is bent at the knee, bearing no weight.
Overall Function
The sartorius contributes to numerous movements at both the hip and knee, but it is no major contributor to any of them. To isolate this muscle with a resistance-training exercise, combine all the actions it produces in one complex maneuver. The sartorius derives its name from the Latin word "sartor," which means tailor, and this provides insight on how to isolate its function. The exercise is similar to what tailors do when pressing the pedals of their sewing machine.
Exercise
To work the sartorius, fix an ankle weight to your ankle and stand erect; hold a support structure for balance. Raise your thigh at the hip at a 45-degree angle between your front and side while turning it outward. As you perform this movement, also bend your knee and twist your lower leg inward. Raise your leg in this manner until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Contract your sartorius forcibly before lowering your leg to the starting position and repeating.
Sets and Reps
American College of Sports Medicine guidelines suggest performing resistance training for a specific muscle for one set of eight to 12 repetitions, two days each week. They suggest continuing sets until volitional fatigue, which means you should choose an ankle weight heavy enough to bring you to failure once eight to 12 repetitions of this sartorius exercise have been completed. Consult a doctor before starting an exercise program.
References
- "Kinesiology: Scientific Basis of Human Motion -- Twelfth Edition"; N. Hamilton, W. Weimar and K. Luttgens; 2008
- American College of Sports Medicine Recommendations and Position Stand: Weight Training Guidelines
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