Name of the muscles in the human legs - stretches

[mydogs]

I was hoping someone with a medical background might, or anyone with experience, could give me the names of the muscles in the human legs that needs to be stretched/loosen to effectively get your heel down and wrap your legs around the horse and stretches that can be done at home to stretch those muscles. I only know of the abductor and soleus muscles, but I’m sure there are others.

Due to an injury, my right leg is much stiffer than my left, so I have a hard time pointing my toe forward and getting my heel down. This was never a problem before the injury (torn ligaments in the ankle). My left leg has no problem pointing forward and laying softly against the horse’s side.

My trainer gave me several good exercises to do in the saddle to help stretch my legs, but since I only ride once a week, I have been stretching at home.

I have several stretches that I was taught in physical therapy, but they focus mainly on the calf muscles (the soleus and one other). I believe I need to stretch the muscles along the outside of hip and thigh, down to my calf. I’m sure there are other muscles, but I don’t know what they are.

[SugarRush]

Tensor fasciae latae muscle…sounds like a bizarre coffee, but it is the name of the outer hip muscle you’re looking to stretch to help rotate your hip and bring your toe forward. It’s tough to describe stretches without photos but if you google exercises a bunch will come up (that’s how I dealt with my hip constantly cramping while riding). Hope that helps a bit (Professional experience: RN)

[IFG]

I would go to a good PT. They will know effective exercises to get you going.

[North_Dakota]

I agree with PT, and explain to them the whole horse riding thing. I’m doing PT for an injury and I gave her a very in-depth explanation on what I need this body part to be able to do again. I also had her hold a band, and I held the other end so show the small movements (half halt) I need to be able to do. She had no idea I needed such fine movements for riding, so she’s tailored my plan to get back that ability.

I also have a love hate relationship with my foam roller when it comes to all things lower body, if you don’t mind a bit of pain, I highly recommend it.

[subk]

Find a good Active Release Technique therapist. ART therapists work almost exclusively with soft tissue. To me it sounds as if part of your problem is not the old injury itself, but secondary issues caused by compensating for the injury that are happening higher up in your leg. This is one of the things this type of therapy is great for.

For physical issues find the people who work on the serious athletes in your area. If you have a major pro sports team in your region they likely have an ART therapist they work with. Another indicator of a good ART therapist is that is what they hang their shingle out as–as opposed to someone like chiropractor that is trained in it or does a whole host of different therapies. My guy in addition to his own practice sub contracts for both the NFL Titans and the NHL Predators.

It is possible (no promises) that ART therapy can “fix” you pretty quickly–or at least make major improvements in your range of motion in a session or two. A good one will also give you specific stretches and foam rolling suggestions to help prevent relapse.

Were I to have an injury that put me on crutches or had me seriously limping/compensating for a few weeks I’d schedule to see him just for general purposes. Secondary and tertiary soft tissue issues and impingements are very common when you start compensating your gait.

[Robby_Johnson]

[QUOTE=mydogs;8101133]
I was hoping someone with a medical background might, or anyone with experience, could give me the names of the muscles in the human legs that needs to be stretched/loosen to effectively get your heel down and wrap your legs around the horse and stretches that can be done at home to stretch those muscles. I only know of the abductor and soleus muscles, but I’m sure there are others.

Due to an injury, my right leg is much stiffer than my left, so I have a hard time pointing my toe forward and getting my heel down. This was never a problem before the injury (torn ligaments in the ankle). My left leg has no problem pointing forward and laying softly against the horse’s side.

My trainer gave me several good exercises to do in the saddle to help stretch my legs, but since I only ride once a week, I have been stretching at home.

I have several stretches that I was taught in physical therapy, but they focus mainly on the calf muscles (the soleus and one other). I believe I need to stretch the muscles along the outside of hip and thigh, down to my calf. I’m sure there are other muscles, but I don’t know what they are.[/QUOTE]

You’ve gotten some great advice and I definitely would encourage you to seek out an ART practitioner.

Since you can’t “point your toe”, you actually can’t plantar flex your ankle. The muscles responsible for this function are gastrocnemius as well as soleus (often referred to as the gastrocsoleus complex).

Ligament injury/tear is very traumatic, since ligaments attach bones to bones to form a joint: they’re foundation architecture, much like rebar used in pouring concrete forms, which establish structural integrity.

An “abductor” isn’t a muscle per se, but a group of multi-functional muscles, and specifically a direction of movement. Abduction moves the limb away from the ventral line, adduction moves it closer. To get your leg around a horse, you must first LATERALLY ROTATE the hip in the socket. If you can rotate the hip in the socket, you likely don’t have a proximal discrepancy (or compensation) but, instead, residual discrepancy from the original distal joint compromise.

Here are some links to consider:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrocnemius_muscle
http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=36345
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_fasciae_latae_muscle

If you’re going to keep riding, I would definitely recommend you work with a practitioner/therapist who understands your physical expectations and how to help you achieve them safely and sustainably.