Vastus Lateralis
Function
The vastus lateralis muscle does the following:
- Extends the leg at the knee.This means that the vastus lateralis muscle straightens the leg at the knee joint such that there is an increase in the angle between the lower leg and the upper leg.
Common Name(s)
"thigh"
"quadriceps," "quads" - the vastus lateralis muscle forms part of the quadriceps femoris muscle group, along with rectus femoris, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius (vastus intermedius is not shown in the muscle anatomy section since it is located below rectus femoris).
The muscular anatomy image shown here is in the public domain. It may have been modified by ShapeSense.com, but was originally acquired at the following address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vastus_lateralis_muscle.png
