Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Sam Coleman, Co-Founder
FACT CHECKED
This article is gonna show you how to train your biceps! But not the biceps on your arms, the biceps on your legs!
The biceps femoris comprise one of the three hamstring muscles and play a crucial role in knee flexion and hip extension. However, the biceps femoris has a unique structure, making it stand out from the other hamstring muscles making it.
We will show you how to hit this hamstring muscle by giving you the best biceps femoris exercises.
What Is The Biceps Femoris?
The biceps femoris is one of 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 quick moment to review the anatomy and function of your hamstrings as a whole and more specific information for the biceps femoris.
Anatomy Of The Hamstrings Muscle
The hamstring muscle is a large muscle on the upper leg's back side. For a muscle to be considered a hamstring, it must meet a few requirements;
- Muscles have an origin in ischial tuberosity.
- Muscles that are inserted over the knee joint, in the tibia, or in the fibula.
- Muscles are innervated by the tibial branch of the sciatic nerve.
- Muscles will participate in knee flexion and hip extension.
These requirements will be important when talking about the biceps femoris. With that said, the three muscles are:
- Semitendinosus - Runs down the middle of the thigh between the other two.
- Semimembranosus - Run down the thigh toward the middle of the body.
- Biceps Femoris - Sits farthest on the outside of the thigh.
Now, it's important to point out that even though these muscles work together in unison, they are independent. Each one has its own origin and its own insertion. Compare this to the quadriceps which is a muscle that has four (quad) muscle heads (ceps). These muscles have different origins but merge into a single tendon for a common insertion.
That said, the hamstrings are a biarticular muscle, meaning that they cross two joints—in this case, the hips and knees. At the hips, the hamstrings are one of several muscles that work together to extend the hips, with the glutes being the primary hip extender.
When traveling down to the knees, the hamstrings are the only knee flexor.
Function Of The Biceps Femoris
Due to its structure, the biceps femoris stands out from the other two hamstring muscles. We can see the first difference in its name: the biceps femoris. The other two hamstring muscles are a single muscle. However, the biceps femoris has two (bi) heads (ceps). This is similar to the biceps brachii on the arn. In fact, just like your arm biceps, the biceps femoris comprises a long head and a short head.
The origin of the long head is located across the hips and travels down to the knee, which means it's involved in both hip extension and knee flexion. However, the short head's origin is located below the hips. This means it's not involved in hip extension, which is its sole job, knee flexion.
Due to this, some argue that it shouldn't actually be considered a true hamstring muscle. That will have no effect on training it but it’s an interesting observation..
The biceps femoris is the largest and strongest of the three hamstring muscles.
How To Train The Biceps Femoris?
As long as you're training your hamstrings, you don't need to find a special exercise to target the biceps femoris. Remember that the biceps femoris is the biggest of the three muscle heads that comprise the hamstrings. It's also the strongest. This means that the biceps femoris are "the hamstrings" and are involved in everything. Consider that when most EMG studies look at the muscle activation of the hamstrings, they measure the biceps femoris.
The 6 Best Biceps Femoris Exercises:
The good thing is that quite a few studies have looked at the muscle activation of the biceps femoris from resistance training1. Here are the best biceps femoris exercises you can include in your training.
1. Nordic Curl
The Nordic curl is one of the best exercises for training the biceps femoris and one of the most underused. It's a bodyweight exercise usually seen in the athletic world, but its benefits are starting to be appreciated in general fitness.
It's a bodyweight exercise that primarily utilizes eccentric contraction. Ideally, you have a partner to help hold your ankles down. If you don't, you could set up a support—using a Smith machine barbell can be useful. You may also want a towel or something for your knees.
From here, you let your torso down slowly as far as you can go until you fall. Be sure to have your hands out to catch yourself if you fall. You could also use your hands to offer minimal support as you come down.
How To Perform The Nordic Curl
- Kneel with your knees about hip-width apart.
- Keep your torso upright and engage your core.
- With your hips extended and your body straight from your knees to your shoulders, brace your core.
- Slowly lean your torso forward while keeping your hips extended. Your knees should remain in place, and your descent should be controlled. Go as low as you can while maintaining good form.
- Stop at that point if you can't go further without losing form or control.
- Use your hamstrings to then pull yourself back up to the starting position. This movement requires significant strength and control.
- As you come up, focus on driving your hips forward to assist 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 can’t say that for sure but it’s definitely up there. The deadlift is a large compound movement that focuses on the posterior chain; this includes the hamstrings and biceps femoris.
The primary movement during the deadlift is hip extension so the hamstrings will be working with the glutes to raise the barbell. Further, the deadlift is a heavy movement and for many people, it’s the heaviest. As such, this heavy load is going 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 can cause the barbell to sit too low, making the lift significantly more difficult.
- Stand so 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 slightly before the bar, allowing your arms to hang straight.
- Retract your shoulder blades to keep your torso aligned.
First Pull
- Start by "pushing the ground away" from you, which engages your quadriceps and creates a stronger lift.
- Ensure the barbell moves vertically in a straight line.
- Keep the barbell close to your shins throughout the movement.
- Pull the barbell up to your knees, maintaining the same back angle.
Second Pull
- As the barbell passes your knees, start extending your hips forward.
- The barbell should continue to move straight up as you complete the hip extension.
- Continue until you are fully upright.
Eccentric Phase
- Gradually lower the barbell in the same controlled manner.
- For heavier weights, you may choose to perform a controlled drop instead.
3. Trap Bar Deadlift
We do want to address the trap-bar (hexagon bar) deadlift. This has gained a lot of attention over the past few years because it is perceived as a safer alternative. This is a highly nuanced subject, so we won't review it here as we believe both are effective options.
That said, we wanted to address biceps femoris activation during the trap bar deadlift. Two studies have examined the trap bar deadlift compared to a barbell deadlift. One concluded that the barbell deadlift activated the rectus femoris more2, while the other concluded that the trap bar deadlift did3.
What's going on? We can't say for sure, but it most 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's not uncommon for lifters to let their knees track forward significantly. If this happens, the quads will see greater recruitment as they must extend the knees.
Of course, the knees can come forward some with a barbell, but it's more pronounced with the trap bar. We examined the pictures of the study that reported less activation during the trap bar and it does seem the lifters knees are tracked forward.
Regardless, if you use a trap bar, keep your shins vertical to maximize biceps femoris activation.
4. Barbell Hip Thrust
Many coaches regard the barbell hip thrust as the single best exercise for glute activation, and numerous studies support this claim. For instance, a comprehensive review published in 2019 compared the barbell hip thrust with various other exercises, including the back squat and deadlift4.
However, it's also a great exercise to hit the biceps femoris. In a study from 2015 comparing muscle activation during the barbell hip thrust and back squat, it found that the barbell hip thrust had a higher mean (40.8% vs. 14.9%) and peak (86.9% vs. 37.5%) biceps femoris EMG activity5.
When you perform them, be sure to have your feet directly under your knees or slightly farther away. Research has shown that performing the hip thrust with your feet farther away results in less activation in the biceps femoris6.
How To Perform The Barbell Hip Thrust
- Use a bench, or a similar elevated surface, that’s around knee height.
- Load a barbell and then roll it over your legs up to your hips. Position it so it rests just above your hips.
- Sit on the floor with your upper back resting against the bench. Your shoulder blades should be positioned just below the top edge of the bench.
- Place your feet flat on the floor, about shoulder-width apart. Your knees should be tucked in so your shin is around a vertical position or slightly outward. You may need to adjust after your first reps. At the top position, your hips should be extended 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 top of the movement. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
- Hold the top position momentarily, ensuring a strong contraction in your glutes.
- Slowly lower your hips back down toward the floor, controlling the movement. Your hips should descend until you return to the starting position, with your glutes slightly off the floor.
To further contract the glutes, really focus on digging your heels in the ground. You could even try to “drag” your body – this would be as if you were doing a leg curl.
5. Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift is another great variation that allows many people to isolate the hamstrings more easily. Unlike a conventional deadlift, it doesn't start on the ground. Rather, it starts up top and uses an eccentric contraction. Further, there's even more emphasis on the hip hinge, which really maximizes concentration on the biceps femoris.
When you perform these, one major error messes up the entire movement—trying to get the weight all the way down to the ground. Many people will perform this and think they need to get the weight all the way down to the ground. To do this, they will let the knees come forward, which releases all the built-up tension in the hamstrings! You want that tension!
You will go down as far as you can while maintaining proper form and focusing on building tension in the hamstrings – it should be "tight." For most people, this will be about halfway down their shins or higher, but again, the exact spot doesn't really matter so long as tension is built up.
How To Perform The Romanian Deadlift
- Decide whether to start with the barbell on the ground or elevated. Either way works, but we would like to start elevating it. Load the barbell with your chosen weight plates.
- Stand in front of the barbell and grip it with a double overhand grip with hands shoulder-width apart. If your grip becomes fatigued, you may use lifting straps. Let the barbell hang naturally in front of your body as you stand up. Some people may use a wider grip, but that's for back development.
- Begin the movement by pushing your hips and letting your torso drop.
- This is important: Your knees should remain almost stationary with minimal forward movement. Letting the knees come too far forward will release the tension in your hamstrings.
- Continue to lower the barbell while keeping your shoulder blades pulled back to ensure your back stays straight throughout the movement. Your back should stay straight, but be careful not to hyper-extend. Keep the barbell close to your body.
- Lower until your form begins to break and your back starts to round. There's no specific depth, but the barbell should typically reach mid-shin height. Again, DO NOT try to touch the ground. This is not the goal. Your goal is to maximize tension in the hamstrings and biceps femoris.
- Once you reach your desired depth, drive your hips forward and focus on contracting your glutes to return to the starting position until you are fully upright.
6. Glute-Ham Raise
The glute-ham raise is an awesome exercise for training the biceps femoris, but it is difficult to perform. This can limit the number of people who can perform it effectively enough to target the hamstrings.
You need a GHD machine to perform these, holding your feet in place while supporting your thighs. This allows you to drop your torso in a manner similar to a Nordic curl and then pull your body back up.
What sets the glute-ham raise apart from the Nordic curl is that it involves hip extension and knee flexion, hitting the biceps femoris from both ends.
How To Perform The Glute-Ham Raise
- Kneel on the machine with your thighs resting on the pad. Your feet should be firmly secured against the footplate or anchored under the rollers. Keep your body upright and engage your core.
- Start with your body straight from your knees to your shoulders. Your hips should be extended and your core engaged.
- Slowly lower your torso toward the ground by bending at the knees and hips. Keep your back straight and avoid letting it around. Move in a controlled manner to maximize tension in the hamstrings.
- Lower yourself as far as you can while maintaining good form. Ideally, you should lower until your torso is almost parallel to the ground or as low as you can comfortably go without compromising form.
- Push through your heels and contract your hamstrings and glutes to lift your body back up. Focus on using your posterior chain to return to the starting position.
- At the top 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 far from all. Here are a few more you could throw in your leg training day.
Training Your Biceps Femoris
Training the biceps femoris most effectively requires your basic hamstring exercises. You don't need to worry about using fancy exercises or any secrets to discover. All you need to do is utilize the exercises found in this article with intensity and focus.
Range Of Loads
Use a variety 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 higher reps, going as high as 15+.
The hamstrings are very powerful muscles, yet they are used extensively for long durations. This requires an increase in maximal strength, endurance, and everything in between.
Eccentric Training For The Biceps Femoris
One aspect of training that stands out when looking at training the biceps femoris is eccentric training. Eccentric training refers to concentrating on the eccentric portion of an exercise, which may or may 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 extended eccentric contraction (4+ seconds), using a heavier load, and letting the weight down as slowly as possible. This is essentially what a Nordic curl is.
Mind-Muscle Contraction
One method you could focus on is really concentrating on the contraction as it can help isolate the hamstrings and increase muscle growth8. Remember that the glutes and hamstrings work in unison for many exercises. The glutes are so powerful that they could overpower the hamstrings if your form is off. So when you train the biceps femoris, focus on the muscle fibers and feel them working.
Train Your Biceps Femoris: Final Say
Using these biceps femoris exercises are going to ensure you have some big, powerful hamstrings. These are going to increase your performance, aesthetics, and reduce risk of injury. All you need to do is get to the gym and include these exercises on a regular basis and lift more weight!
Check out our exercise library for more!
References:
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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/
- 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 in the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust Exercises. Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 31(6), 452–458. https://doi.org/10.1123/jab.2014-0301
- 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
- https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2017/09000/Hypertrophic_Effects_of_Concentric_vs__Eccentric.31.aspx%25C2%25A0
- Schoenfeld, B. J., & Contreras, B. (2016). Attentional Focus for Maximizing Muscle Development. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 38(1), 27–29. https://doi.org/10.1519/ssc.0000000000000190
Garett Reid
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