Muscles / Hips
Gracilis
- Hips
- Thigh & knee
- Superficial layer
Anatomy
- Origin
- Body and inferior ramus of the pubis
- Insertion
- Superior part of the medial tibia (pes anserinus)
- Nerve
- Obturator nerve (L2-L3)
Actions
- Adducts the hip
- Flexes the knee
- Medially rotates the flexed knee
Exercises that train it most
Copenhagen adduction
Adductor squeeze (isometric)
Standing cable hip adduction
Side-lying inner thigh lift
Notes
- Used as a tendon graft (with semitendinosus) in ACL reconstruction.
References (4)
- Standring S, ed. Elsevier. Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. 42nd ed.
- Dalley AF, Agur AMR. Wolters Kluwer. Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy. 9th ed.
- Neumann DA. Elsevier. Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System: Foundations for Rehabilitation. 3rd ed.
- Betts JG, Young KA, Wise JA, et al. OpenStax (free, openly licensed textbook). Anatomy and Physiology 2e