Pereneol Muscles

Before we get into the actual muscles, let’s look at the anatomy quick. I’m sure most have you have heard of or at least googled the bones in the lower leg. You have the big tibia bone which is on the inside and then you have the little fibula bone on the outside. In the picture below, #3 is the tibia while numbers 1 and 2 are the two ends of the fibula. #1 is the “head” of the fibula and #2 is the lateral malleolus. When talking about the peroneal muscles (we’ll be talking about two of them in this post), it’s important to realize that they are located just behind the fibula and run down behind that malleolus and into the foot.

For the sake of this post we’re going to talk about two peroneal muscles (the longus and brevis). The long muscle runs from the fibular head, down the outside of the leg, behind the lateral malleolus and wraps under the foot just before heel. The short muscle starts midway down the fibula and follows the same path.

Typical injuries for these muscles include a tendonitis at one end or the other (usually at the bottom end going into the foot), or a muscle strain in the middle.

So how did I hurt these skinny little muscles?

There are two ways to really hurt these guys. The first is an ankle sprain where you roll the ankle and stretch them to the point of injury. The second (and more common way in endurance athletes) is to beat them up until you end up with an overuse injury. When it comes to the peroneals the thing to remember is that they are a stabilizer muscle. They help the ankle and foot keep you upright when you hit uneven/loose terrain. They work as a pair with the posterior tibialis muscle.