08/24/2026
While Sunday nights aren’t for work, I’m allowed to remind those who know about changing your fixed point!
If you don’t, ask me about the
What if we think the other way around? 🤷♂️
Meet the quadratus plantae. 👋
It connects the calcaneus to the tendons of flexor digitorum longus (FDL).
The conventional description starts at the heel: quadratus plantae pulls on the FDL tendons, helping to straighten their oblique line of pull towards the toes.
Perfectly reasonable.
But what happens if we reverse the question?
During late stance in walking, the toes are extended and constrained by the ground while the heel rises above them.
So instead of asking:
What does quadratus plantae do to the FDL tendons?
ask:
What might the FDL tendons allow quadratus plantae to do to the calcaneus?
Now the same anatomy suggests another possibility.
The connection from the toes, through the FDL tendons and quadratus plantae to the heel, may help organise forces acting on the calcaneus as it moves over the forefoot.
Could quadratus plantae therefore contribute to the control and tracking of the calcaneus during heel rise? 👣
It's a functional hypothesis—but one that comes directly from looking at the same anatomy from the opposite direction.
Same muscle.
Same attachments.
Different direction of thinking.
Anatomy tells us what connects to what.
Understanding function requires us to ask what happens when those relationships meet the real world. 🎯
Sometimes understanding more begins by thinking the other way around.
