6 Biceps Femoris Exercises: Targeted Hamstring Training

This text is gonna show you the right way to train your biceps! But not the biceps in your arms, the biceps in your legs!

The biceps femoris comprise one in all the three hamstring muscles and play an important role in knee flexion and hip extension. Nonetheless, the biceps femoris has a novel structure, making it stand out from the opposite hamstring muscles making it.

We’ll show you the right way to hit this hamstring muscle by providing you with the most effective biceps femoris exercises.

What Is The Biceps Femoris?

The biceps femoris is one in all the three muscles that collectively comprise the hamstrings. These muscles work as antagonists to the quadriceps, with the bicep’s femoris being the strongest. We’ll take a fast moment to review the anatomy and performance of your hamstrings as a complete and more specific information for the biceps femoris.

Anatomy Of The Hamstrings Muscle

The hamstring muscle is a big muscle on the upper leg’s back side. For a muscle to be considered a hamstring, it must meet a number of requirements;

• Muscles have an origin in ischial tuberosity.
• Muscles which might be inserted over the knee joint, within the tibia, or within the fibula.
• Muscles are innervated by the tibial branch of the sciatic nerve.
• Muscles will take part in knee flexion and hip extension.

These requirements will likely be vital when talking in regards to the biceps femoris. With that said, the three muscles are:

• Semitendinosus – Runs down the center of the thigh between the opposite two.
• Semimembranosus – Run down the thigh toward the center of the body.
• Biceps Femoris – Sits farthest on the skin of the thigh. 

Now, it is vital to indicate that though these muscles work together in unison, they’re independent. Each has its own origin and its own insertion. Compare this to the quadriceps which is a muscle that has 4 (quad) muscle heads (ceps). These muscles have different origins but merge right into a single tendon for a standard insertion. 

That said, the hamstrings are a biarticular muscle, meaning that they cross two joints—on this case, the hips and knees. On the hips, the hamstrings are one in all several muscles that work together to increase the hips, with the glutes being the first hip extender.

When traveling right down to the knees, the hamstrings are the one knee flexor.

Function Of The Biceps Femoris

Attributable to its structure, the biceps femoris stands out from the opposite two hamstring muscles. We will see the primary difference in its name: the biceps femoris. The opposite two hamstring muscles are a single muscle. Nonetheless, the biceps femoris has two (bi) heads (ceps). This is comparable to the biceps brachii on the arn. In truth, similar to your arm biceps, the biceps femoris comprises a protracted head and a brief head.

The origin of the long head is situated across the hips and travels right down to the knee, which suggests it’s involved in each hip extension and knee flexion. Nonetheless, the short head’s origin is situated below the hips. This implies it is not involved in hip extension, which is its sole job, knee flexion.

Attributable to this, some argue that it shouldn’t actually be considered a real hamstring muscle. That can have no effect on training it but it surely’s an interesting remark.. 

The biceps femoris is the most important and strongest of the three hamstring muscles. 

How To Train The Biceps Femoris?

So long as you are training your hamstrings, you do not need to search out a special exercise to focus on the biceps femoris. Keep in mind that the biceps femoris is the largest of the three muscle heads that comprise the hamstrings. It is also the strongest. Because of this the biceps femoris are “the hamstrings” and are involved in all the things. Consider that when most EMG studies have a look at the muscle activation of the hamstrings, they measure the biceps femoris.

The 6 Best Biceps Femoris Exercises:

The great thing is that quite a number of studies have checked out the muscle activation of the biceps femoris from resistance training¹. Listed here are the most effective biceps femoris exercises you may include in your training.

1. Nordic Curl

The Nordic curl is probably the greatest exercises for training the biceps femoris and one of the crucial underused. It is a body weight exercise normally seen within the athletic world, but its advantages are beginning to be appreciated typically fitness. 

It is a body weight exercise that primarily utilizes eccentric contraction. Ideally, you have got a partner to assist hold your ankles down. In the event you don’t, you might arrange a support—using a Smith machine barbell may be useful. Chances are you’ll also desire a towel or something to your knees.

From here, you let your torso down slowly so far as you may go until you fall. Remember to have your hands out to catch yourself should you fall. You possibly can also use your hands to supply minimal support as you come down.

How To Perform The Nordic Curl

• Kneel together with your knees about hip-width apart.
• Keep your torso upright and have interaction your core.
• Together with your hips prolonged and your body straight out of your knees to your shoulders, brace your core.
• Slowly lean your torso forward while keeping your hips prolonged. Your knees should remain in place, and your descent ought to be controlled. Go as little as you may while maintaining good form.
• Stop at that time should you cannot go further without losing form or control.
• Use your hamstrings to then pull yourself back as much as the starting position. This movement requires significant strength and control.
• As you come up, concentrate on driving your hips forward to help the hamstrings in returning to the upright position.

2. Barbell Deadlift

The deadlift! Everyone knows the deadlift as being the king of exercises so does that mean it’s the king of biceps femoris exercises? We will’t say that needless to say but it surely’s definitely up there. The deadlift is a big compound movement that focuses on the posterior chain; this includes the hamstrings and biceps femoris.

The first movement in the course of the deadlift is hip extension so the hamstrings will likely be working with the glutes to boost the barbell. Further, the deadlift is a heavy movement and for many individuals, it’s the heaviest. As such, this heavy load goes to be placed on the biceps femoris generating crazy strength gains! 

How To Perform The Barbell Deadlift

• Use standard Olympic-sized weight plates. Smaller plates could cause the barbell to take a seat too low, making the lift significantly harder.
• Stand in order that the barbell is centered over your midfoot.
• Keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Bend down and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
• Push your hips back to lower your body, ensuring your arms stay parallel to your shins.
• Keep your shoulders barely before the bar, allowing your arms to hold straight.
• Retract your shoulder blades to maintain your torso aligned.

First Pull

• Start by “pushing the bottom away” from you, which engages your quadriceps and creates a stronger lift.
• Make sure the barbell moves vertically in a straight line.
• Keep the barbell near your shins throughout the movement.
• Pull the barbell as much as your knees, maintaining the identical back angle.

Second Pull

• Because the barbell passes your knees, start extending your hips forward.
• The barbell should proceed to maneuver straight up as you complete the hip extension.
• Proceed until you might be fully upright.

Eccentric Phase

• Steadily lower the barbell in the identical controlled manner.
• For heavier weights, you could decide to perform a controlled drop as a substitute.

3. Trap Bar Deadlift

We do want to deal with the trap-bar (hexagon bar) deadlift. This has gained numerous attention over the past few years since it is perceived as a safer alternative. It is a highly nuanced subject, so we can’t review it here as we imagine each are effective options. 

That said, we wanted to deal with biceps femoris activation in the course of the trap bar deadlift. Two studies have examined the trap bar deadlift in comparison with a barbell deadlift. One concluded that the barbell deadlift activated the rectus femoris more², while the opposite concluded that the trap bar deadlift did³. 

What is going on on? We will not say needless to say, but it surely more than likely involves the execution of the trap bar deadlift. 

Unlike the barbell, which helps keep the legs from moving forward, the trap bar deadlift allows much movement. As such, it is not unusual for lifters to let their knees track forward significantly. If this happens, the quads will see greater recruitment as they need to extend the knees. 

In fact, the knees can come forward some with a barbell, but it surely’s more pronounced with the trap bar. We examined the images of the study that reported less activation in the course of the trap bar and it does seem the lifters knees are tracked forward.

Regardless, should you use a trap bar, keep your shins vertical to maximise biceps femoris activation. 

4. Barbell Hip Thrust

Many coaches regard the barbell hip thrust as the one best exercise for glute activation, and diverse studies support this claim. As an illustration, a comprehensive review published in 2019 compared the barbell hip thrust with various other exercises, including the back squat and deadlift⁴. 

Nonetheless, it is also an amazing exercise to hit the biceps femoris. In a study from 2015 comparing muscle activation in the course of the barbell hip thrust and back squat, it found that the barbell hip thrust had a better mean (40.8% vs. 14.9%) and peak (86.9% vs. 37.5%) biceps femoris EMG activity⁵.

While you perform them, be sure you have your feet directly under your knees or barely farther away. Research has shown that performing the hip thrust together with your feet farther away ends in less activation within the biceps femoris⁶.

How To Perform The Barbell Hip Thrust

• Use a bench, or an analogous elevated surface, that’s around knee height.
• Load a barbell after which roll it over your legs as much as your hips. Position it so it rests just above your hips.
• Sit on the ground together with your upper back resting against the bench. Your shoulder blades ought to be positioned slightly below the highest fringe of the bench.
• Place your feet flat on the ground, about shoulder-width apart. Your knees ought to be tucked in so your shin is around a vertical position or barely outward. Chances are you’ll need to regulate after your first reps. At the highest position, your hips ought to be prolonged and knees at a 90-degree angle.
• With the barbell resting above your hips and your upper back supported by the bench, brace your core and ensure your head is neutral.
• Push through your heels and thrust your hips upward. Squeeze your glutes tightly at the highest of the movement. Your body should form a straight line out of your shoulders to your knees.
• Hold the highest position momentarily, ensuring a robust contraction in your glutes.
• Slowly lower your hips back down toward the ground, controlling the movement. Your hips should descend until you come to the starting position, together with your glutes barely off the ground.

To further contract the glutes, really concentrate on digging your heels in the bottom. You possibly can even attempt to “drag” your body – this might be as should you were doing a leg curl.

5. Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is one other great variation that enables many individuals to isolate the hamstrings more easily. Unlike a standard deadlift, it doesn’t start on the bottom. Moderately, it starts up top and uses an eccentric contraction. Further, there’s much more emphasis on the hip hinge, which really maximizes concentration on the biceps femoris.

While you perform these, one major error messes up your entire movement—attempting to get the burden all the way in which right down to the bottom. Many individuals will perform this and think they should get the burden all the way in which right down to the bottom. To do that, they’ll let the knees come forward, which releases all of the built-up tension within the hamstrings! You wish that tension!

You’ll go down so far as you may while maintaining proper form and specializing in constructing tension within the hamstrings – it ought to be “tight.” For most individuals, this will likely be about halfway down their shins or higher, but again, the precise spot doesn’t really matter as long as tension is built up. 

How To Perform The Romanian Deadlift

• Resolve whether to start out with the barbell on the bottom or elevated. Either way works, but we would love to start out elevating it. Load the barbell together with your chosen weight plates.
• Stand in front of the barbell and grip it with a double overhand grip with hands shoulder-width apart. In case your grip becomes fatigued, you could use lifting straps. Let the barbell hang naturally in front of your body as you arise. Some people may use a wider grip, but that is for back development.
• Begin the movement by pushing your hips and letting your torso drop.
• This is vital: Your knees should remain almost stationary with minimal forward movement. Letting the knees come too far forward will release the strain in your hamstrings.
• Proceed to lower the barbell while keeping your shoulder blades pulled back to make sure your back stays straight throughout the movement. Your back should stay straight, but watch out to not hyper-extend. Keep the barbell near your body.
• Lower until your form begins to interrupt and your back starts to round. There is no specific depth, however the barbell should typically reach mid-shin height. Again, DO NOT try to the touch the bottom. This is just not the goal. Your goal is to maximise tension within the hamstrings and biceps femoris.
• When you reach your required depth, drive your hips forward and concentrate on contracting your glutes to return to the starting position until you might be fully upright.

6. Glute-Ham Raise

The glute-ham raise is an awesome exercise for training the biceps femoris, but it surely is difficult to perform. This could limit the number of people that can perform it effectively enough to focus on the hamstrings.

You would like a GHD machine to perform these, holding your feet in place while supporting your thighs. This means that you can drop your torso in a way much like a Nordic curl after which pull your body back up.

What sets the glute-ham raise other than the Nordic curl is that it involves hip extension and knee flexion, hitting the biceps femoris from each ends.

How To Perform The Glute-Ham Raise

• Kneel on the machine together with your thighs resting on the pad. Your feet ought to be firmly secured against the footplate or anchored under the rollers. Keep your body upright and have interaction your core.
• Start together with your body straight out of your knees to your shoulders. Your hips ought to be prolonged and your core engaged.
• Slowly lower your torso toward the bottom by bending on the knees and hips. Keep your back straight and avoid letting it around. Move in a controlled manner to maximise tension within the hamstrings.
• Lower yourself so far as you may while maintaining good form. Ideally, it is best to lower until your torso is sort of parallel to the bottom or as little as you may comfortably go without compromising form.
• Push through your heels and contract your hamstrings and glutes to lift your body back up. Concentrate on using your posterior chain to return to the starting position.
• At the highest of the movement, ensure your body is straight and aligned. Avoid using momentum to lift yourself and maintain a controlled motion throughout.

Other Biceps Femoris Exercises

We just listed 5 awesome exercises but that’s removed from all. Listed here are a number of more you might throw in your leg training day.

Training Your Biceps Femoris

Training the biceps femoris most effectively requires your basic hamstring exercises. You needn’t worry about using fancy exercises or any secrets to find. All it’s worthwhile to do is utilize the exercises present in this text with intensity and focus.

Range Of Loads

Use quite a lot of loads when training the hamstrings. This includes very heavy (90% or higher) loads, assuming your skill and form are adequate. It also performs light loads and better reps, going as high as 15+.

The hamstrings are very powerful muscles, yet they’re used extensively for long durations. This requires a rise in maximal strength, endurance, and all the things in between.

Eccentric Training For The Biceps Femoris

One aspect of coaching that stands out when taking a look at training the biceps femoris is eccentric training. Eccentric training refers to concentrating on the eccentric portion of an exercise, which can or will not be done with the concentric as well. Most studies have shown the eccentric contraction plays a greater role in muscle growth⁷.

Some examples are doing an prolonged eccentric contraction (4+ seconds), using a heavier load, and letting the burden down as slowly as possible. This is actually what a Nordic curl is.

Mind-Muscle Contraction

One method you might concentrate on is actually concentrating on the contraction as it might probably help isolate the hamstrings and increase muscle growth⁸. Keep in mind that the glutes and hamstrings work in unison for a lot of exercises. The glutes are so powerful that they might overpower the hamstrings in case your form is off. So once you train the biceps femoris, concentrate on the muscle fibers and feel them working.

Train Your Biceps Femoris: Final Say

Using these biceps femoris exercises are going to make sure you have got some big, powerful hamstrings. These are going to extend your performance, aesthetics, and reduce risk of injury. All it’s worthwhile to do is get to the gym and include these exercises frequently and lift more weight!

Take a look at our exercise library for more!

References:

1. Llurda-Almuzara, L., Labata-Lezaun, N., López-de-Celis, C., Aiguadé-Aiguadé, R., Romaní-Sánchez, S., Rodríguez-Sanz, J., Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C., & Pérez-Bellmunt, A. (2021). Biceps Femoris Activation during Hamstring Strength Exercises: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(16), 8733. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168733‌
2. Camara, K. D., Coburn, J. W., Dunnick, D. D., Brown, L. E., Galpin, A. J., & Costa, P. B. (2016). An Examination of Muscle Activation and Power Characteristics While Performing the Deadlift Exercise With Straight and Hexagonal Barbells. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(5), 1183–1188. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000001352
3. Byoung-Hyoun Moon, Young-Jin Lim, & Ji-Won Kim. (2020). Effects of Various Deadlifts on the Muscle Activity of the Trunk and Lower Extremity: Medico-Legal Update. Medico-Legal Update, 20(1), 2203–2207. https://doi.org/10.37506/v20/i1/2020/mlu/194634‌
4. Neto, W. K., Vieira, T. L., & Gama, E. F. (2019). Barbell Hip Thrust, Muscular Activation and Performance: A Systematic Review. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 18(2), 198–206. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6544005/
5. Contreras, B., Vigotsky, A. D., Schoenfeld, B. J., Beardsley, C., & Cronin, J. (2015). A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyographic Activity within the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust Exercises. Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 31(6), 452–458. https://doi.org/10.1123/jab.2014-0301
6. Llurda-Almuzara, L., Labata-Lezaun, N., López-de-Celis, C., Aiguadé-Aiguadé, R., Romaní-Sánchez, S., Rodríguez-Sanz, J., Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C., & Pérez-Bellmunt, A. (2021). Biceps Femoris Activation during Hamstring Strength Exercises: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(16), 8733. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168733
7. ‌https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2017/09000/Hypertrophic_Effects_of_Concentric_vs__Eccentric.31.aspx%25C2%25A0
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