Muscular anatomy

Question

Which is the largest muscle in the human body?

Answer 1

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body. It is located in the buttocks and plays a key role in movement, particularly in activities such as walking, running, and climbing, as it helps with hip extension, outward rotation, and stabilizing the pelvis.

Answer 2

The largest muscle in the human body is the gluteus maximus, which has a variety of functions including postural support, extension of the hip joint and helps in most lower body movements

Answer 3

It depends a bit on what you mean by largest. Muscles also tend to work as groups, so some individual muscles might be small, but the group they belong to might be extensive. Longissimus and the erector spinae muscles are arguably the longest if you count them as a group. Latissimus dorsi probably spans the widest area, but it's also a relatively thin muscle, so it won't be the heaviest. Gluteus maximus is certainly one of the heaviest single muscles in the body, and also one of the strongest. The masseter is much smaller, but often described as the strongest muscle in the body for its weight. Finally, the quadriceps (including rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis) is technically one big muscle with 4-5 bellies, so collectively it has one of the greatest volumes of any muscle in the body.