The purpose of this study was to develop a method for estimating 3-D coordinates of lower trunk muscles using orientation angles during a motion. Traditional 3-D motion analysis system with DLT technique was used to track down the locations of eight reference markers which were attached on the back of the subject. In order to estimate the orientations of individual lumbar vertebrae and musculoskeletal parameters of the lower trunk muscle, the rotation matrix of the middle trunk reference frame relative to the lower trunk reference frame was determined and the angular locations of individual lumbar vertebrae were estimated by partitioning the orientation angles (Cardan angles) that represent the relative angles between the rotations of the middle and lower trunks. When the orientation angles of individual intervertebral joints were known at a given instant, the instantaneous coordinates of the origin and insertion for all selected muscles relative to the L5 local reference frame were obtained by applying the transformation matrix to the original coordinates which were relative to a local reference frame (S1, L4, L3, L2, or L1) in a rotation sequence about the Z-, X- and Y-axes. The multiplication of transformation matrices was performed to estimate the geometry and kinematics of all selected muscles. The time histories of the 3-D coordinates of the origin and insertion of all selected muscles relative to the center of the L4-L5 motion segment were determined for each trial.