Latissimus dorsi muscle
muscle on the back trunk of the upper body
The latissimus dorsi (), also known simply as latissimus, is a large, flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides, behind the arm, and is partly covered by the trapezius on the back near the midline.
The word latissimus dorsi (plural: latissimi dorsi) comes from Latin and means "broadest [muscle] of the back", from "latissimus" (Latin: broadest) and "dorsum" (Latin: back). The pair of muscles are commonly known as "lats", especially among bodybuilders.
The latissimus dorsi is responsible for extension, adduction, transverse extension also known as horizontal abduction (or horizontal extension), flexion from an extended position, and (medial) internal rotation of the shoulder joint. It also has a synergistic role in extension and lateral flexion of the lumbar spine.
Due to bypassing the scapulothoracic joints and attaching directly to the spine, the actions the latissimi dorsi have on moving the arms can also influence the movement of the scapulae, such as their downward rotation during a pull up.
Structure
The latissimus is a large fan-shaped muscle which covers a wide area of the back, being broad at its (medial) origin, narrow at its (lateral) insertion. It originates from the spinous processes of the six lower thoracic vertebrae (deep to the trapezius), and, through the thoracolumbar fascia, the spinous processes of the lumbar and sacral, and the posterior third of the outer lip of the iliac crest, and the last four ribs (interdigitating with external oblique muscle). Its fibers pass upward and laterally over the lower angle of the scapula, from which an extra slip is typically added to the muscle. Its upper fibers are nearly horizontal, middle, oblique, and lower, vertical: it then wraps around the lower border of the teres major and is inserted, ventrally to that muscle, by a tendon 1.5 inches wide into the floor of the intertubercular sulcus (sin.
The public source identifies “Latissimus dorsi muscle” as muscle on the back trunk of the upper body. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Latissimus, dorsi and muscle.
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This entry incorporates text from “Latissimus dorsi muscle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.