Here is a detailed illustration showing the location of the Minor and Major Rhomboid Muscles as well as the origin and insertion points. Please keep in mind the Trapezius Muscle is removed from this picture because the Rhomboid muscles lie underneath the Trapezius.
The Rhomboid Muscles are located on the upper back of the torso underneath the Trapezius Muscle. They are rhombus-shaped muscles which are primarily responsible for the retraction of the Scapula, in other words pulling of the shoulder blades together as well as rotating the scapula in a downwards direction and providing stability for the shoulder complex. There are two rhomboid muscle, the Minor and Major.
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1.Rhomboid Minor
The Rhomboid Minor muscle is a small skeletal muscle which connects the scapula with the vertebrae. Located on the upper back of the torso underneath the Trapezius muscle and just above the Rhomboid Major, it works in tandem with the major to keep the Scapula pressed against the Thoracic Wall as well as pulling the shoulder blades together and rotating the scapula in a downwards direction. The origin of the Rhomboid minor muscle is the seventh cervical vertebra and it’s insertion point is a small area near the top of the scapula.
2.Rhomboid major
As with the Rhomboid Minor muscle the major muscle is a skeletal muscle which connects the shoulder blade to the back bone. It lies just below the minor muscle which it works with to keep the scapula pressed against the thoracic wall, pull the shoulder blades together and rotate the scapula in a downwards motion.The origin of the Rhomboid Major muscle is the thoracic vertebrae T2-T5 (top part of the back bone) and it’s insertion point is the middle region of the scapula.
Working together the major and minor Rhomboid Muscles retract or pull together the scapula inwards when the Trapezius muscle is contracted. Acting as an antagonist muscle to the Trapezius, both Rhomboids work in unison to provide stabilization to the scapula while other shoulder muscles are active.
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Rhomboid,
[…] Courtesy of musclesused.org […]
As a medical student these are very helpful (especially when it comes to visualizing anatomy). Thank you!! 🙂
[…] Rhomboid Major: is a small muscle in your upper back which connects the vertebrae of the spine with the scapula. This and the Rhomboid Mainor muscle act to keep the scapula against the thoracic wall and retract the scapula any time the trapezius is contracted and acts at times in opposition to the trapezius muscle. Source: “Rhomboid” […]
Thank you for such a great pictures, very helpful. I am studying muscles in Anatomy and your page help me a lot.
[…] to Musclesused.com, the rhomboid muscles are grouped into two, the Major rhomboid and the Minor […]