Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1476304
58 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k s e p te m b e r/o c to b e r 2 0 2 2 2. STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID I include the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) in our group of cool muscles because of the sides of the body where it is located. Most muscles of the body cross joints on one side or the other. For example, when looking at sagittal-plane function, fl exors of the neck cross the cervical spine in front; extensors cross the cervical spine in back. But the SCM crosses in front and in back. It begins anteriorly on the sternum and clavicle (as its name implies); therefore, as it ascends the neck, it crosses the cervical spine anteriorly. Its path, however, is not perfectly superior. Rather, it is superior and posterior, ultimately attaching to the mastoid process of the temporal bone (also implied in its name); therefore, the SCM crosses the upper cervical spine posteriorly. Due to its path, the SCM fl exes the lower and middle neck but extends the head and upper neck (exactly where this division occurs depends on the posture of the person's cervical spine). Consequently, this gives the SCM a different role than the other neck fl exors, such as the scalene and longus muscles. And, as a result, forward-head posture (which involves an overly fl exed lower/middle neck with hyperextension of the head) and tight (locked short/overly facilitated) SCM muscles are intimately involved with each other. 3. SARTORIUS The sartorius is well known by many therapists as being the longest muscle in the human body. It is also known for having a name that implies its joint actions. The name sartorius comes from the Latin word for tailor. Before the advent of sewing machines, tailors would sit in a cross-legged position. To attain this position, the thigh (from anatomic position) would have to be fl exed, abducted, and laterally rotated at the hip joint, and the (lower) leg would have to be fl exed at the knee joint . . . precisely the four major joint actions of the sartorius. However, there is another aspect to the sartorius that makes it cool, similar in reasoning to the inclusion of SCM on this list, but even more dramatic. The sartorius attaches proximally on the anterior side of the pelvic Sartorius: Anterior to posterior to anterior. 3 Sternocleidomastoid (SCM): The SCM is located in both the anterior and posterior cervicocranial regions. 2 Gluteus maximus Sternal head Tensor fasciae latae Sartorius Iliotibial band Clavicular head Sternocleidomastoid