Soleus

Introduction

Soleus is a powerfull lower limb muscle which along with gastronemius and plantaris forms the CALF muscle or TRICEPS SURAE.It runs from back of knee to the ankle. Its name is derived from the Latin word, "solea," meaning "sandal."It is located in superficial posterior compartment of the leg.

The soleus muscle contained predominantly slow twitch (Type I) fibers with the mean for all subjects being 80% (range 64 to 100%). In contrast the gastrocnemius muscles only contained 57% slow twitch fibers (range 34–82%).

Anatomy

ORIGIN

• posterior surface of the head and upper 1/3 of the shaft of the fibula;
• middle 1/3 of the medial border of the tibia, tendinous arch between tibia and fibula.
  

INSERTION

Into calcaneus with gastrocnemius by way of achilles tendon

ACTION

• Plantar flexion of the foot at the ankle;
• Reversed origin insertion action: when standing, the calcanius becomes the fixed origin of the muscle;
• Soleus muslce stabilizes the tibia on the calcaneus limiting forward sway.
  

NERVE SUPPLY

Tibial nerve, L4, L5, S1 , S2

SYNERGISTS

Gastrocnemius, Plantaris, Tibialis posterior, Peroneus longus and Brevis, FHL and FDL.

ANTAGONIST

Tibialis anterior

ARTERIAL SUPPLY

Sural arteries