Muscles of the abdominal wall

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Ever tried doing a plank exercise for longer than 10 seconds? Then you surely must’ve felt your abdominal muscles. The abdominal muscles are divided into the anterolateral and posterior groups, thus comprising the anterolateral and posterior abdominal walls.

• The anterolateral muscles are those that compose the front and the sides of our abdomen. There are five muscles in this group (deep to superficial): transversus abdominis, internal abdominal oblique, rectus abdominis, external abdominal oblique, and pyramidalis muscles.
• The posterior abdominal muscles are those that compose the back portion of your abdomen. The posterior group consists of one true posterior wall muscle, the quadratus lumborum, as well as the iliopsoas muscle group which continues into the lower limb.

These muscles not only compose the walls of the abdomen, but they also support the abdominal viscera and participate in the formation of important anatomical passageways that allow structures from the abdomen and pelvis to reach the perineum and lower limb (e.g. superficial inguinal ring).

This video tutorial will help you learn the anatomy of these muscles. 

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Summary