Muscle · Lower leg

Extensor digitorum longus

Musculus extensor digitorum longus

The muscle that lifts the outer four toes. It runs down the outside of the front of the shin and splits into four tendons that fan across the top of the foot — the ones that stand out visibly when you pull your toes up. It helps lift the whole foot at the ankle and, because it sits toward the outside of the leg, it also tips the foot slightly outward. When the toes claw upward at rest or during walking, this muscle is usually working harder than it should — often covering for a foot whose small intrinsic muscles have stopped doing their share.