Rectus femoris muscle  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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femoris.png Latin Musculus rectus femoris Gray's subject #128
470 Artery descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex
artery Nerve femoral nerve Actions knee extension; hip flexion
Antagonist Hamstring   The rectus femoris is situated in the
middle of the front of the thigh; it is fusiform in shape, and
its superficial fibers are arranged in a bipenniform manner, the
deep fibers running straight down to the deep aponeurosis. Its
functions are to flex the thigh at the hip joint and to extend
the lower leg at the knee joint.[1]  Origin and insertion[edit]
The rectus femoris, sartorius and iliopsoas are the only muscles
that are involved in flexion of the hip, since they are the only
ones that originate in the pelvis and not the femur. By crossing
the pelvic femoral joint they can act as a lever to flex the leg
at the hip.  The rectus femoris is a weaker hip flexor when the
knee is ext