Muscle · Lumbar spine

Longissimus

Musculus longissimus

The longest and thickest of the three erector spinae columns, and the one your fingers land on first either side of the spine. It runs from the same common tendon on the sacrum and pelvis all the way up to the mastoid process behind the ear, which is why it straightens the low back and extends the head with the same continuous sheet of muscle. Clinically it links the two ends of the postural complaint: the client with a hard lumbar column from sitting and the client with a headache from holding the head up are often describing opposite ends of longissimus.