Hip Muscles Quiz – Glutes, Deep Rotators and Hip Flexors

All 11 muscles on the diagram

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Back, surface 2

Gluteus maximus (glutes) The largest of the gluteal muscles and the one nearest the skin. It gives the buttock its shape. Its fibers slope down and out from the hip bone, sacrum and tailbone to the thigh. It is the main muscle that straightens the hip, used for run
Gluteus medius A fan-shaped muscle between the gluteus maximus and the gluteus minimus. It runs from the hip bone to the big knob of the femur, moves the leg out to the side and keeps the pelvis level in walking.

Back, deep 6

Gluteus minimus The smallest and deepest of three gluteal muscles. It lies under the gluteus medius, alike in shape and job. It runs from the hip bone to the front of the big knob of the femur.
Piriformis The highest of the deep muscles. It starts on the front of the sacrum, leaves the pelvis through the large notch in the hip bone and ends on the big knob of the femur. It turns the thigh outward.
Superior gemellus A narrow muscle just above the tendon of the obturator internus. It helps that muscle turn the thigh outward. It runs from the spine of the ischium to the big knob of the femur.
Obturator internus It starts inside the pelvis. It turns round the small notch of the hip bone and runs to the big knob of the femur between the two gemelli. Some books count the three as one muscle.
Inferior gemellus A narrow muscle just below the tendon of the obturator internus. It runs from the sitting knob of the hip bone to the big knob of the femur.
Quadratus femoris A flat, square muscle, the lowest of the deep ones. It runs from the sitting knob of the hip bone straight across to the back of the femur and turns the thigh outward.

Front 3

Psoas major It bends the hip. It starts on the sides of the lowest chest vertebra and the lumbar vertebrae, runs down and out under the band at the groin and ends on the small knob of the femur.
Iliacus A fan-shaped muscle that fills the hollow of the hip bone. Its fibers join the tendon of the psoas major; the pair is called the iliopsoas, the main muscle that bends the hip.
Tensor fasciae latae (TFL) A small muscle near the skin. It lies below the front corner of the hip bone. It ends in the long band down the side of the thigh, tightens that band and helps the gluteus medius and minimus.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was checked on 2026-09-30 against Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition, 1918 (public domain), the chapters on the muscles of the iliac and gluteal regions, https://archive.org/details/anatomyofhumanbo00grayrich; TeachMeAnatomy, Muscles of the Gluteal Region, https://teachmeanatomy.info/lower-limb/muscles/gluteal-region/, and The Posterior Abdominal Wall, https://teachmeanatomy.info/abdomen/muscles/posterior-wall/, for the psoas major and iliacus; and Kenhub, Hip and thigh muscles, https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/hip-and-thigh-muscles. The wording is in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A right hip drawn three times: from behind at the surface, from behind again with the two big muscles lifted off, and from the front with the belly wall removed. Eleven muscles to find and name.

Read the full guide

From behind: the glutes, then the rotators

The gluteus maximus covers the buttock and the fan of the gluteus medius shows above it. Take both away and the second drawing shows the gluteus minimus and, below it, five small muscles running across to the top of the thigh bone: piriformis, superior gemellus, obturator internus, inferior gemellus and quadratus femoris.

From the front: the hip flexors

Psoas major comes down from the spine and iliacus fans out of the hollow of the hip bone. They share one tendon on the thigh bone and are often named together as the iliopsoas. The tensor fasciae latae sits at the outer side.

Top to bottom under the glutes: piriformis, superior gemellus, obturator internus, inferior gemellus, quadratus femoris.
The two gemelli lie one each side of the obturator internus tendon.
Psoas major and iliacus together make the iliopsoas, the main muscle that bends the hip.

Questions and answers

What are the three gluteal muscles?

Gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, from the surface inward and from largest to smallest. The maximus straightens the hip. The medius and minimus move the leg out to the side and keep the pelvis level during walking.

What are the deep muscles of the hip?

Five small muscles under the gluteus minimus: piriformis, superior gemellus, obturator internus, inferior gemellus and quadratus femoris. They turn the thigh outward and help hold the head of the femur in its socket.

Where is the piriformis muscle?

Deep in the buttock. It is the highest of the row of small deep muscles: it starts on the front of the sacrum, leaves the pelvis through the large notch of the hip bone and ends on the top of the femur.

Which muscles bend the hip?

Mainly the iliopsoas, which is two muscles with one tendon: the psoas major from the spine and the iliacus from the hip bone. The tendon ends on a small knob near the top of the femur.