Quadriceps femoris

Looks like

Four muscles on the front of the thigh joining into one tendon over the kneecap.

What it does

Straighten the knee, and stop it buckling on every step and stair.

Keeping it well

Squats, cycling, stairs; they waste fast with rest and are the key to a knee that holds.

Its parts

• Rectus femoris
• Vastus intermedius
• Vastus lateralis
• Vastus medialis

Related conditions

• Botulism
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Dermatomyositis and polymyositis
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Growing pains
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis)
• Lymphoedema
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscle strain (pulled muscle)
• Muscular dystrophy
• Osgood–Schlatter disease
• Poliomyelitis
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Restless legs syndrome
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Runner's knee (patellofemoral pain)
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Spinal muscular atrophy
• Tetanus
• Trichinellosis
• Varicose veins