Understanding Muscle Names Made Easy

Learning muscle names sounds impossible until you realize they literally describe what they do and

where they are. Your anatomy textbook just became ten times easier. The deltoid muscle

got its name because it looks like the Greek letter delta, which is a triangle. It sits on your

shoulder forming that rounded shape. When someone says they are working on their delts,

they mean their shoulder muscles. The biceps literally means two heads in Latin.

If you feel your upper arm, you can actually find where the muscle splits into two

parts at the top. The triceps has three heads. Count the prefix and you know the

anatomy. The rectus abdominis runs straight down your abdomen. Rectus means straight.