Underrated Muscles

In the human body, there are important muscles that we sometimes forget about until there is an injury or even altogether. 

In physical therapy if there is an injury to these regions, these muscles are ones I will be sure to check out. Also, they are ones I will be sure to exercise myself to avoid any problems.

Muscles:

• Anterior Tibialis
• Serratus Anterior
• Piriformis
• Multifidus
• Subscapularis

Anterior Tibialis

This muscle is in the front of the shin and does the opposite of the calf muscles. It raises the toes up towards your head. 

This is an important muscle for running and walking. With tight calf muscles, the Anterior Tibialis can become strained.

Strengthening this muscle can also help to decrease knee pain with those activities. Exercises for the Anterior Tibialis are dorsiflexion activities.

Serratus Anterior

An important muscle for stabilization of the shoulder blade. This muscle helps keep the shoulder blade from lifting (winging) off of the back. 

Strengthening this muscle can help to decrease scapular winging and stability of the shoulder blade. 

Strengthen this muscle with pushups and serratus punches.

Piriformis

I have spoken about this muscle many times in the past with previous blog posts (check those out here). I believe this is one of the most important muscles that needs to be taken care of due to implications it can have in several injuries.

Some injuries that can be caused by issues with the piriformis are sciatic nerve issues, Sacroiliac  joint dysfunction (tailbone injuries), piriformis syndrome, abnormal hip mobility. 

Exercises to help work the piriformis include: clamshells, side lying hip abductions, and piriformis stretch.

Multifidus 

This is a small muscle in the low back that helps with stabilization of the lumbar spine. The multifidus also helps with extending backwards.

If there is an injury or weakness to this muscle, a person could experience back pain. I always include exercises for this muscle to improve core and back strength in patients with low back pain. If you want to learn more about the multifidus role in low back pain check out this article here.

Exercises to work this muscle include: Bird dogs, planks, and supermans.

Subscapularis

The subscapularis is, in my opinion, the least worked muscle in the rotator cuff group even though it is considered the strongest of the 4 muscles. 

This muscle is responsible for internal rotation of the shoulder and stabilization of the scapula (like the serratus anterior). The subscapularis muscle also becomes very tight with rotator cuff injuries and requires releasing with massage and stretching. 

Exercises to work this muscle include: resisted internal rotation which can be gone in multiple positions and angles.

There are also stretches you can perform: doorway stretch and External rotation stretch.

All of these muscles listed above are what I believe to be the most underrated muscles in the body. They are muscles we sometimes forget about when working out in different capacities. 

But with adding some of these exercise to your regimen, you can decrease the likelihood of injury.