Great volleyball players use the Magnus effect to make the ball drop suddenly in flight, or float unpredictably above the opposing team. Gustav Magnus discovered the physics behind bending the flight path of projectiles in 1852, according to Human...
The adductor magnus is the largest muscle in the adductor group of your inner thighs. It works with other adductors and muscles in your hip and legs to move your hip joints and legs in different directions, such as hip adduction, abduction,...
The Magnus effect, also referred to as the Magnus force, is named after Gustav Magnus, who discovered it in 1852 when trying to determine why a cannonball curves. The physics of the Magnus effect play a part in aviation and sports that involve...
Your adductor magnus is the largest muscle in your groin. This muscle has two parts -- the hamstring and adductor parts. The two parts work together to help with hip adduction, flexion and extension. You use this muscle during any type of athletic...
David Beckham is a famous, world-class soccer player who is known for his ability to cause a soccer ball to curve dramatically when he kicks it. His trademark shot has inspired the phrase and the movie “Bend It Like Beckham.” To kick a...
Lunges work all your major lower body muscles at once. But the same compound movement that provides such an efficient exercise means more than one thing can go wrong if you don’t pay close attention to maintaining proper technique....
Gravity dictates that a thrown baseball curves downward on its path through the air. Yet pitches are often described as "dropping" or "rising" as they reach home plate. As recently as Karnavas, Bahill and Regan in 1990, and...
Altitude is one of a number of factors that affects the speed of a pitched baseball. Coors Field in Denver is the highest-altitude park in the major leagues --- the home of the Colorado Rockies sits about 5,280 feet above sea level. Because the...
When a tennis ball is struck by a racket, there are several forces at work that are immediately identifiable. The force exerted by the tennis racket causes the ball to accelerate forward, while the air resistance experienced by the ball causes the...
Like a host of other Brazilian stars, Ronaldinho at practice seems to enjoy exploring new moves that often end up uploaded online. A video camera caught him training with the Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo, standing behind the goal. He lifted his...
The extension of a joint refers to straightening and increasing its angle. Extending the hip involves moving the thigh backward. Exercises that include hip extension work the rear thigh and the buttocks. Many muscles are involved in extending the...
All three muscles in your inner thigh, the adductor brevis, adductor longus and adductor magnus, perform more than one movement. The adductor brevis and adductor longus flex your leg at the hip, the adductor magnus extends your leg, and both the...
Working out, whether it is a muscle-strengthening activity targeting a specific muscle group or a whole body aerobic activity, is important to your health and weight management. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physical...
The dumbbell step-up exercise is an effective workout that targets several muscles in your legs, back and abdomen. The exercise targets muscles either primarily, as synergists, or as stabilizers during the exercise. You can also perform step-ups...
The squat is among the most popular strength-training exercise because it effectively develops all of the major muscle groups in your legs and improves physical function. According to a position statement by the National Strength and Conditioning...
The leg press is done using a specific machine found at your local gym. Several different types of leg press equipment vary in how position you are positioned while doing the exercise. Common varieties include 45-degree, seated, lying and hack...
In order to throw a curve ball, a pitcher must hold the ball so he can put maximum rotation and spin on the ball. That spin is what allows a curveball from a right-handed pitcher to curve down and away from a right-handed batter. The position of...
The good morning exercise is a compound exercise that engages a number of muscle groups in various ways. The exercise is executed by placing a barbell across the rear of shoulders and bending at the hips until your torso is parallel to the floor...
The vastus medialis, along with the adductor longus, brevis and magnus, make up the inner thighs. All of these muscles become activated when you perform hip flexion and adduction exercises, which helps to burn fat on the inside of the thighs. Hip...
An inner-thigh muscle pull, or groin strain, can be painful and impair your activity level until it has healed. The inner thigh is made up of the adductor magnus and the sartorius, both of which help pull your legs together. Inner-thigh strains...
The leg press exercise effectively works out almost your entire lower body. It targets your quadriceps, but also utilizes your gluteus maximus, adductor magnus and soleus muscles, while engaging your hamstrings and gastrocnemius muscles as...
The inner thigh consists of three muscles: the adductor brevis, the adductor longus and the adductor magnus. The adductor brevis and longus enable you to flex your leg at the hip, while the adductor magnus is what allows you to extend the leg. The...
Hip extension involves the backward movement of your hip. This decreases the angle between your thigh and torso. While there is much less movement during hip extension than any other movement of the hip, hip extension is required for day-to-day...
The thighs and calves can be trained without weights by performing body-weight exercises. Beginners especially benefit from body-weight training, as they can gain enough strength to eventually add weights to the workouts. Beginners should perform...
A stiff- or straight-leg deadlift is a weight training move that primarily targets your hamstrings, gluteus maximus, erector spinae and adductor magnus. It is important you do the move correctly to prevent injury. The deadlift is usually done...
The muscles and bones of your hip joints must remain strong to maintain your functional capacity. Your hip joint is a ball and socket joint, which means the muscles of that joint can move your leg bone forward, backward, sideways, at a diagonal...
Yoga connects breath and movement to build internal heat using your body weight. Yoga postures tone and exercise the entire body and certain poses focus on firming different parts. Yoga in Sanskrit means yoke or to join, so the practice is...
The adductor longus is the longest of the three adductor muscles. Responsible for drawing your leg into the midline of your body, the adductor longus works with the adductors brevis and magnus and is located on the inside of your thigh. The...
Deadlifts and bent-over barbell rows are weightlifting exercises that target different muscles in your body; though they may look similar to the untrained eye, they are performed from different positions. Both can strengthen your muscles and...
