Human Anatomy for Physiotherapy, Sports & Massage Therapists

In this lecture, we explore the calf muscles (Triceps Surae) and the lateral ankle muscles (Peroneals/Fibularis group). You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action and innervation (OIAI) with real-world context to help you link structure to movement.

We’ll also introduce the tibial and common peroneal nerves, helping you understand how nerve supply connects to clinical reasoning and rehab application.

By the end, you’ll confidently identify and recall the anatomy of key lower leg muscles and understand their role in walking, running, and injury management.

Welcome to Awesome Anatomy — a study-friendly course designed to take the stress out of learning muscle anatomy.

This course focuses purely on the musculoskeletal system, helping you understand the key muscles you'll use in real-world practice. Whether you're studying physiotherapy, sports rehab, massage therapy, or personal training, you'll gain clarity on origins, insertions, actions, and innervations (OIAI) without getting bogged down in irrelevant detail.

We break anatomy down by region, focusing on practical understanding — not memorisation for the sake of it. Each section includes clear, structured video lessons and downloadable Anki decks to help you retain the content through proven spaced repetition methods.

You'll also get clinical context, movement insight, and revision strategies to help you feel confident whether you're prepping for an OSCE, working with clients, or revisiting anatomy after a break.

This is more than just a course — it's a study companion. You're also invited to join the Awesome Anatomy Study Group for support, discussion, and weekly live focus sessions covering key muscles in more depth.

Let’s make anatomy less overwhelming, more memorable, and actually enjoyable to learn.

In this video, I’ll walk you through how to download and install the Anki decks that go with this course.

We’ll cover:

• How to download Anki (completely free)

• Where to find the deck files in the course resources

• How to import the decks into your Anki account

• Quick tips on getting started with your first review session

These decks are organised by joint and region, and they’re designed to help you memorise origins, insertions, actions, and innervations using spaced repetition — a proven learning technique for long-term retention.

If you’re new to Anki, don’t worry — this video will get you up and running in just a few minutes. You’ll also find a separate video explaining how Anki works if you want to dive deeper into how to make it work best for you.

Head to the resources tab below this lecture to download your decks and let’s get started ?

In this lecture, you’ll learn the origins, insertions, actions, and innervations of the key dorsal foot muscles, including extensor digitorum brevis and extensor hallucis brevis. We’ll also explore how the deep peroneal nerve supplies these muscles and why this region matters for gait, toe extension, and clinical assessments. By the end, you’ll be able to confidently locate and describe these muscles and their nerve supply.

In this lecture, we cover the key toe flexor muscles, including flexor digitorum brevis, flexor hallucis brevis, and flexor digitorum longus. You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, along with their functional role in foot stability, propulsion, and toe movement. We’ll also look at their relevance in gait and common dysfunctions. By the end, you’ll be able to confidently identify and describe each flexor muscle and understand its role in maintaining healthy foot mechanics.

In this lecture, we cover the abductor and adductor muscles of the foot, including abductor hallucis, abductor digiti minimi, and adductor hallucis. You’ll learn their origins, insertions, actions, and innervations, along with their roles in balance, toe alignment, and medial arch support. By the end, you’ll understand how these muscles contribute to foot stability and movement control in both function and dysfunction.

In this lecture, we explore the smaller, often-overlooked stabilising muscles of the foot, including the lumbricals, interossei, and quadratus plantae. You’ll learn their origins, insertions, actions, and innervations, and how they support fine motor control, toe alignment, and coordinated movement. By the end, you’ll be able to explain how these muscles contribute to balance, foot posture, and efficient gait mechanics.

In this video, we break down the key knee extensor muscles, including the quadriceps group: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action and innervation (OIAI), along with how they work together to extend the knee. We’ll also cover their functional relevance to movement, posture, and knee injury prevention.

This lecture focuses on the primary knee flexors, including the hamstring group (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus). You’ll learn their OIAI, how they contribute to gait and hip-knee coordination, and why understanding these muscles matters in clinical and rehab settings.

In this session, we explore the supporting and often-overlooked muscles of the knee, including the popliteus, sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosus – collectively known at their insertion as the SGT (Pes Anserinus) junction.

You’ll learn each muscle’s origin, insertion, action, and innervation, as well as how they contribute to knee stability, rotation, and control — especially in functional movements like walking, changing direction, and climbing. We also discuss the clinical relevance of the Pes Anserine region in tendinopathy and postural compensation.

In this lecture, we explore the key hip flexor muscles, including iliopsoas (psoas major and iliacus), rectus femoris, sartorius, and tensor fasciae latae (TFL). You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and understand their role in powerful hip flexion, posture control, and dynamic movement. By the end, you’ll be able to confidently identify and describe each muscle, and understand how they contribute to both performance and injury risk.

In this lecture, we cover the primary hip extensor muscles, including gluteus maximus and the hamstrings (biceps femoris long head, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus)

You’ll learn each muscle’s origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and how they work together to drive powerful hip extension during activities like running, climbing, and lifting. We’ll explore their role in postural alignment, gait, and pelvic stability, as well as how dysfunctions in these muscles can affect performance and contribute to common injuries such as lower back pain or hamstring strains.

In this lecture, we focus on the hip abductor muscles, including gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and tensor fasciae latae (TFL). You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, along with their crucial role in pelvic stability, balance, and lateral movement.

We’ll break down how these muscles control hip alignment during walking and running, prevent pelvic drop (such as in Trendelenburg gait), and contribute to injury prevention in both rehab and performance settings. By the end, you’ll be able to confidently identify and explain the function of each abductor and understand how they interact in dynamic movement and postural control.

In this lecture, we explore the hip adductor group, including adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus, gracilis, and pectineus. You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and how they contribute to hip adduction, stabilisation, and multi-planar movement.

We’ll also discuss the unique structure and dual role of adductor magnus, the functional involvement of these muscles in gait, sport-specific movements, and posture, and their clinical relevance in issues like groin strain, pelvic imbalance, and core stability.

In this lecture, we explore the deep lateral rotator muscles of the hip, including piriformis, gemellus superior, obturator internus, gemellus inferior, obturator externus, and quadratus femoris — often remembered as the "deep six."

You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and understand their collective role in external rotation, hip stability, and fine motor control of the femoral head within the acetabulum.

We’ll also discuss gluteus medius and minimus as contributors to internal rotation, especially in functional movement and gait.

In this lecture, we focus on the key muscles involved in trunk and lower back movement, including rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, external obliques, internal obliques, and quadratus lumborum.

You'll learn the origin, insertion, action, and innervation of these muscles, and explore how they contribute to core stability, trunk flexion and rotation, intra-abdominal pressure, and protection of the spine.

We’ll also discuss their clinical relevance in rehabilitation and performance, especially when treating or preventing lower back pain and postural dysfunction.

This lecture explores the erector spinae muscle group — iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinalis — and their segmented divisions across cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions.

You’ll examine each muscle’s attachments, functions, and innervation, and learn how they contribute to spinal extension, posture control, and resistance to forward flexion.

We’ll also discuss how overuse or weakness of these muscles may lead to compensatory movement patterns and dysfunction, particularly in athletes, desk-based clients, and manual workers.

In this lecture, we delve into the deep intrinsic muscles of the spine, including multifidus, rotatores, semispinalis, and interspinales/intertransversarii.

You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and understand how they contribute to segmental spinal control, proprioception, postural stability, and protection of the spinal cord.

We’ll explore how dysfunction in these deep layers may be linked to chronic pain, poor core stability, and impaired movement control — especially in cases of recurring low back pain or spinal injury.

In this lecture, we focus on the muscles responsible for shoulder abduction and flexion, including deltoid (particularly anterior and middle fibres), supraspinatus, coracobrachialis, and pectoralis major (clavicular head).

You’ll learn their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and understand how they contribute to dynamic overhead movement, lifting actions, and shoulder joint stability.

We’ll discuss common overuse patterns, muscular imbalances, and how dysfunction in these muscles can affect performance in sports, daily activities, and rehabilitation following shoulder injury.

This session explores the muscles involved in shoulder adduction and rotation, including latissimus dorsi, teres major, subscapularis, infraspinatus, teres minor, and pectoralis major.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles work together to produce powerful pulling and throwing movements, as well as maintain glenohumeral joint stability during complex actions.

You’ll learn how muscular dysfunction, particularly asymmetry between medial and lateral rotators, may contribute to rotator cuff injuries, impingement syndromes, and performance deficits.

In this lecture, we shift our attention to the muscles controlling scapular movement, including the trapezius (upper, middle, lower), serratus anterior, levator scapulae, rhomboids, and pectoralis minor.

We’ll explore their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and how they coordinate to allow scapular elevation, depression, protraction, retraction, and rotation — movements essential for full, pain-free shoulder mobility.

You’ll gain insight into scapulohumeral rhythm, the impact of poor scapular control on shoulder mechanics, and how faulty movement patterns contribute to overuse injuries and postural dysfunction.

In this lecture, we break down the four key movements of the elbow and forearm — flexion, extension, pronation and supination. You’ll learn their typical ranges of motion, end feels, and simple ways to remember each one. This is your foundation before diving into the muscles that make these actions possible.

This session explores the muscles involved in elbow flexion, including biceps brachii, brachialis, brachioradialis, and supporting contributors such as pronator teres.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles interact to create controlled and forceful flexion of the elbow joint, particularly in movements requiring lifting, pulling, and stabilising under load.

You’ll gain insight into joint mechanics, the role of leverage and muscle recruitment, and how dysfunction in these areas can contribute to movement compensations, tendinopathies, and reduced performance in both athletic and clinical populations.

This session explores the muscles involved in elbow extension, including triceps brachii and anconeus.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles work together to produce powerful pushing, striking, and stabilising actions, as well as maintain elbow joint integrity during load-bearing tasks.

You’ll learn how muscular dysfunction, particularly weakness or imbalance between flexors and extensors, can contribute to elbow instability, overuse injuries, and reduced upper limb performance.

This session explores the muscles involved in forearm pronation and supination, including pronator teres, pronator quadratus, supinator, and the biceps brachii, with supporting contributions from extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) and extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL) in grip and wrist stabilisation during rotational movements.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles coordinate to produce precise and forceful rotation of the forearm, essential for tasks involving tool use, racquet sports, and throwing mechanics.

You’ll learn how dysfunction, particularly poor coordination or weakness in these muscles, can lead to loss of grip efficiency, tennis elbow syndromes, and reduced performance in rotational strength and control.

This session explores the primary wrist extensors, including extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL), extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB), extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU), and extensor digitorum, with supporting contributions from deeper extensors that stabilise and fine-tune wrist and finger extension.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles work together to provide controlled wrist extension, radial and ulnar deviation, and dynamic stabilisation of the hand during load-bearing tasks.

You’ll learn how dysfunction or imbalance—such as weakness in the ECU or overactivity of the ECRB—can contribute to conditions like lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), reduced grip strength, or poor shock absorption in activities like lifting, cycling, and racquet sports.

This session explores the primary wrist and finger flexors, including flexor carpi radialis (FCR), flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU), palmaris longus, flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), and flexor digitorum profundus (FDP). Together, these muscles generate flexion at the wrist and fingers, with additional roles in stabilising the carpus and modulating fine grip.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how they coordinate to produce controlled wrist flexion, radial and ulnar deviation, and the precise curling of the fingers essential for grasping and load-bearing.

You’ll learn how dysfunction or imbalance—such as weakness in the FDP limiting finger strength, or overactivity of the FCU contributing to ulnar-sided wrist pain—can present in athletes and active populations. These imbalances can affect grip endurance, alter force transmission through the forearm, and contribute to conditions like medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow), carpal tunnel–related symptoms, or overuse injuries in activities involving repeated gripping, pushing, or pulling.

This session explores the primary thumb muscles, including abductor pollicis longus (APL), extensor pollicis longus (EPL), extensor pollicis brevis (EPB), flexor pollicis longus (FPL), and adductor pollicis, alongside the thenar group (abductor pollicis brevis, flexor pollicis brevis, opponens pollicis) that form the functional base of thumb control.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles coordinate to provide precise movements such as flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, and opposition, as well as the stability required for pinch, grip, and fine motor control.

You’ll learn how dysfunction or imbalance—such as weakness of the opponens pollicis, overactivity of the adductor pollicis, or tightness in the long extensors—can contribute to conditions like De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, reduced dexterity, impaired grip strength, or altered load distribution during tasks such as typing, weightlifting, or handling handlebars.

This session explores the intrinsic muscles of the hand, including the thenar and hypothenar groups, the lumbricals, and the dorsal and palmar interossei. Together, these muscles form the fine-tuned control system of the hand, working in close coordination with the extrinsic muscles of the forearm.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how the intrinsic group contributes to delicate movements such as opposition, precision pinch, abduction and adduction of the fingers, and the subtle adjustments needed for tasks like writing, typing, and playing instruments.

You’ll learn how dysfunction or imbalance—such as lumbrical weakness, interossei tightness, or thenar atrophy (as in carpal tunnel syndrome)—can lead to impaired grip patterns, clawing deformities, reduced dexterity, or inefficient load distribution in activities ranging from sport to everyday tasks.

This session explores the key anterior and lateral neck muscles, including sternocleidomastoid (SCM), scalenes (anterior, middle, and posterior), and longus colli/capitis, with supporting contributions from smaller stabilisers that guide fine control of cervical movement.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles work together to provide controlled flexion, lateral flexion, rotation, and stabilisation of the cervical spine during everyday and load-bearing tasks.

You’ll learn how dysfunction or imbalance—such as overactivity of the SCM, tight scalenes, or weakness in the deep flexors—can contribute to conditions like forward head posture, cervicogenic headaches, nerve impingement, or reduced breathing efficiency under exertion.

This session explores the primary posterior neck muscles, including trapezius (upper fibres), levator scapulae, splenius capitis and cervicis, and semispinalis capitis, with additional contributions from the deeper suboccipital group that provide fine motor control of head positioning.

We’ll cover their origin, insertion, action, and innervation, and examine how these muscles coordinate to extend the cervical spine, control rotation and lateral flexion, and stabilise the head during both static posture and dynamic tasks.

You’ll learn how dysfunction or imbalance—such as overactivity in the upper trapezius or weakness in the deep stabilisers—can contribute to conditions like neck strain, tension-type headaches, restricted cervical mobility, or shoulder–neck imbalances that affect lifting, swimming, and cycling posture.