Muscles of the hip and thigh (Anterior view) (English)

From this anterior perspective the iliopsoas muscle as well as the muscles of the anterior and medial compartments can be identified. The iliopsoas muscle group consists of the iliacus, psoas major, and psoas minor muscles which function to flex the trunk and thigh at the hip joint. The quadriceps femoris muscle forms the great anterior muscle of the thigh. It consists of four parts: the vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, and rectus femoris muscles. The quadriceps femoris muscle is a powerful extensor of the knee. The rectus femoris muscle of this group also works together with the sartorius muscle of the anterior thigh to produce flexion of the thigh at the hip joint. The medial thigh muscles mainly function to adduct the thigh at the hip joint. Muscles of this region include the gracilis, pectineus, adductor longus, adductor brevis and adductor magnus. This group of muscles may also be known as the adductor muscle group. The obturator externus muscle is also classified as a member of the medial compartment of the thigh due to its innervation by the obturator nerve, however is often grouped with the other lateral rotators of the hip joint (deep gluteal muscles) due to its shared function with these muscles.