Femur

Femur

// Structure & location

According to OpenStax, the femur is the single bone of the thigh. At the top, the round head sits on an angled neck in the hip socket. Below are the greater trochanter (palpable on the outside) and the lesser trochanter, where large hip muscles attach. At the bottom it ends in two condyles that form the knee with the tibia.

// Function

It carries body weight when standing, walking and jumping and serves as a long lever for the hip and knee muscles. The kneecap glides in a groove at the front between the condyles.

// For training & sport

• Bones adapt to load. Strength training and jumping are a good stimulus for strong bones.
• Thigh length relative to the torso partly determines how far you lean forward in a squat.

// Good to know

In older people with bone loss it often breaks at the narrow neck below the head in falls. This is called a hip fracture.

// Sources

• LehrbuchOpenStax – Anatomy and Physiology, 8.4 Bones of the Lower Limb ↗cite

// More from the atlas: Bones

// Related topics