Objectives:

• Be familiar with the major segments, bones, and muscles of the human body
• Describe anatomical position
• Describe the three principal anatomical planes and axes
• Describe the joint actions that occur at each of the major joints

Anatomical Systems for Describing Limb Movements:

Before you describe limb movements, you should be familiar with the anatomy of the human musculoskeletal system.

The body segments you should be familiar with (for the context of this class) are:

The bones you should be familiar with for the context of this class are: Image

The muscles you should be familiar with for the context of this class are:

1. deltoid
2. pectoralis major
3. latissimus dorsi
4. biceps brachii
5. triceps brachii
6. rectus abdominis
7. external oblique
8. internal oblique
9. psoas major
10. rectus femoris
11. gluteus maximus
12. gluteus medius
13. vastus lateralis
14. vastus intermedius
15. semitendinosus
16. semimebranosus
17. biceps femoris
18. gastrocnemius

When describing motion, the anatomical position is helpful. The anatomical position is the standard reference position for the body when describing locations position, or movements of limbs or other anatomical structures.

 

Spatial and directional terminology to be familiar with:
 

Anterior/Posterior
Superior/Inferior
Medial/Lateral
Proximal/Distal

Sagittal Plane--Frontal, or Meidal-lateral Axis

Frontal Plane--Sagittal, or Anterior-posterior Axis
Transverse Plane--Longitudinal (Long) Axis

Joint Actions

Sagittal Plane
 

Flexion, extension, hyperextension, dorsiflexion, and plantar flexion

Frontal Plane

Adduction, abduction, radial deviation, ulnar deviation, eversion, inversion, and lateral flexion

Tranverse Plane

Rotation, horizontal abduction and adduction, and forearm supination and pronation

Other joint actions to know:

Scapular motion: elevation/depression, and upward (lateral boarder moves up)/downward (lateral boarder moves down) rotation

Circumduction: multiple axis joint action

Pronation (subtalar joint): a combination of dorsiflexion, eversion, and abduction

Supination (subtalar joint): a combination of plantarflexion, inversion, and adduction

 

An exercise in describing human motion.