Muscle · Lower leg

Extensor hallucis longus

Musculus extensor hallucis longus

A thin muscle buried between its neighbours on the front of the shin whose single job is to lift the big toe. Its tendon is the cord you can see standing up on the top of the foot when you pull the big toe back. It also helps lift the whole foot at the ankle. It matters more than its size suggests: the big toe has to clear the ground as the leg swings through, and its position at push-off sets up how the arch stiffens. It is also the muscle clinicians test when they want a clean read on the L5 nerve root, because it is supplied almost purely by that level.