Biceps femoris: how to pump up the biceps femoris muscle, top 5 exercises

The hamstrings are extremely important in powerlifting. By strengthening these muscles, the athlete increases his strength in the deadlift and squat. In addition, hamstrings create a more harmonious appearance of the legs, which is beneficial for performing bodybuilders. For girls, exercises on the back of the thighs will help get rid of sagging and cellulite. Therefore, we recommend that all athletes training for strength, mass and external aesthetics be sure to train the biceps femoris muscle.

Anatomy of the hamstring muscles

This muscle group consists of three muscles:

Semitendinosus muscle of the thigh. A thin, long muscle located closer to the inner edge of the back of the thigh. Functions: hip extension, participation in flexion and rotation of the lower leg;
Semimembranosus femoris muscle. A narrow, long muscle located on the inner edge of the back of the thigh. Functions: extends the thigh, flexes the lower leg, turns the lower leg inward when the leg is bent;
Biceps femoris. Consists of two heads: long and short. Occupies most of the back of the thigh. Functions of the biceps femoris muscle: participates in leg extension, bends and rotates the tibia outward.

Hamstring muscles

How to pump up your gluteal muscles at home

Today, a whole set of exercises has been developed that are aimed at increasing the muscles of the buttocks. Each woman will be able to choose the most suitable option for herself. It is important to remember to follow proper technique to prevent any kind of injury or strain.

In addition, before you start training, you need to warm up your muscles well. Go for a run or exercise on an exercise bike if you have one at home for ten minutes.

The warm-up can be supplemented by twirling a hoop and jumping rope for 2-3 minutes.

Squats

One of the most popular and most effective exercises for the buttocks is the squat. You can squat with either a narrow or wide stance, with or without weights.

Technically incorrect execution not only makes the exercise “wrong”, but sooner or later leads to injury. How to squat correctly to pump up a girl’s buttocks:

the back is always straight, not vertical but straight;
the knees move strictly in the direction of the feet;
in the lower position, the knees should not go beyond the line of the toes - the movement should imitate sitting on a chair, that is, the fifth point should be pulled back, and not try to land it on the heels;
the speed of movements should be such as to fully control the muscles: do not fall down or jump out, fixate in extreme positions;

To perform wide stance squats, you need to stand straight and spread your legs wide. In this case, the socks should be directed in directions opposite to each other. You should lower yourself into a half-sitting position quite slowly, making sure that your knees are spread out in different directions as much as possible. At the lowest point, the hip line should be parallel to the floor - “butt below the knees.”

To increase the load, you can use a kettlebell or dumbbell, which hangs in straight arms in front or behind your back.

Due to the “feet together” squats, the gluteal muscles swing the most, creating the greatest load. You need to stand straight with your legs pressed together and your knees tightly connected. In this case, the hands are on the belt. Then, while inhaling, slowly perform a squat, and on the way out, you need to take the starting position.

When performing squats, several muscles are used simultaneously:

large muscles of the buttocks;
quadriceps;
shin;
adductor muscles of the thigh;
hamstring biceps;
calf muscles;

Squatting on one leg also has a positive effect, but this is a very difficult and traumatic exercise and not even all pros can perform it correctly. It makes sense to try if you can do 100 or more regular squats at a time.

The technique is based on the fact that you need to stand near the door frame with your feet shoulder-width apart. In this case, one serves as a support, and the other bends at the knee and is brought slightly forward. Inhaling, they lower themselves down on the supporting leg, and fully extend the bent leg. You must keep your back straight and hold the door with your hand. Then they switch to the other side, changing legs, and repeat this exercise.

Features of the training

In this case, the well-known principle - “we train lagging muscles at the end of the lesson” - does not work. After several approaches of squats and leg presses, there will be practically no energy left to pump up the hamstrings. Therefore, we propose the following rules for training the hamstring muscles:

First priority. Place loads on the hamstrings at the beginning of the session. Don't worry, the muscle fibers of the thighs are very durable, so you can perform the following exercises in full.
Quantity. It is believed that to grow small muscles you need to do 12 to 15 repetitions per set. With the hamstrings the opposite is true. Despite their small size, it is best to work them with serious weight and 6-8 repetitions.
A complex approach. Do hamstring exercises in the same session as other leg exercises. The fact is that the quality of training increases if you pump antagonist muscles together (quadriceps are antagonists to biceps).
Different types of loads. To pump up your hamstrings, combine isolation and heavy basic exercises in one training session. This principle of training allows you to use muscle fibers as deeply as possible and accelerate their hypertrophy.

Exercises for terrain training

When training for cutting, the set of exercises for the hamstrings is almost similar to the mass movements.

The basis of the program for relief is the same squats, Romanian deadlifts and bends. But the share of load on blocks and simulators increases. To improve the detail and quality of the muscles, perform various variations and combinations of leg bending - lying down, standing, one leg at a time.

During this period, girls often supplement their training with various options for leg abduction (standing, on all fours, in the simulator). Here the biceps of the thigh also experiences a noticeable load. True, it works in conjunction with the gluteal muscles.

But despite a similar set of exercises, the training load changes dramatically in the drying mode. The number of movements, working approaches and repetitions increases (high-repetition load mode). At the same time, pauses between approaches are reduced to a minimum (30-40 seconds), or classes are conducted without rest (circuit training in the CrossFit style).

To cope with such an intense load regime, the training weights in the exercises are reduced.

Also, when training for relief, a diet with a reduced calorie content is followed, aimed at burning fat, and regular cardio training is performed, lasting 40-60 minutes each.

Only by observing all three conditions will the athlete achieve success. It is especially important for girls to adhere to these rules. Indeed, due to physiology, the biceps thigh area is more problematic for them.

Recommendations for training hamstrings

When doing a hamstring workout, follow these tips:

Before exercising, warm up the muscles and joints of your lower body well.
If your palm grip is weak, use wrist straps to hold the barbell in a deadlift.
Work with large weights very carefully, do not allow pain in the muscles and joints of the legs.
During the pause between sets, massage the muscles of the legs at the back to avoid “clogging” with blood.
Avoid doing aerobic or jumping exercises after strength training your legs.
At the end of the session, very carefully perform a simple stretch of the lower limbs.

How to Avoid Injury

To avoid injury, certain rules must be followed:

The deadlift is performed with straight legs, only from a barbell support or other reliable elevation. Not from the floor!
The movement begins and the weight is lowered only from the middle of the shins.
It is not recommended to straighten up completely.
You need to calculate the weights wisely - a heavy strength regime is inappropriate here - the likelihood of injury is too high.

If pain or discomfort occurs, then the exercise should not be done!

Experience shows that the Romanian deadlift is safer and not effective enough!

Example training plan

As we have already said, it is better to train the biceps muscles on the same day as the other leg muscles. We offer an example of a comprehensive program for the lower body, but with an emphasis on the hamstrings.

Warm-up (treadmill, bending, rotating the legs in the joints);
Power lunges with a barbell (4/6-8);
Squats (3-4/10-12);
Deadlift (3-4/6-8);
Leg press in the simulator (3-4/10-12);
Russian Curl (3-4/10-12);
Ab crunches (3/15-20).

At the end of the session, do a simple stretch on your legs. This will help relax the muscles of the lower body and reduce post-workout pain.

How to make your buttocks beautiful

There is one indisputable fact - the buttocks will not become more elastic and attractive thanks to only one strict diet.

To achieve the desired result, you need to regularly perform special physical exercises, loading the gluteal muscles. With the help of physical activity, you can quickly pump up the corresponding muscles and put them in order. Thanks to which, the buttocks become more rounded, toned and seductive.

Formation of the gluteal muscles

The following muscles are involved in the formation of the buttocks:

gluteus maximus;
gluteus medius;
gluteus minimus;
iliocostal lumbar muscle;
quadratus lumborum muscle;
multifidus lumbar muscle;

In order to get sexy buttocks, you need to actively train all these muscles, and to achieve the fastest possible results, alternate exercises wisely and increase weights in a timely manner.

Thus, to form the gluteus maximus muscle, careful study of hip stretching is necessary. The medius muscle is worked through leg adduction and lateral rotation of the hips. The gluteus minimus muscle is corrected in exactly the same way.

Many people don’t have access to going to the gym, so we’ve put together some tips on how to pump up your buttocks at home. Moreover, they clearly outlined the training schedule from the very beginning level to the advanced.

Sports nutrition

I left this topic for last because, frankly, it is much less important than proper nutrition and training if you want to build hamstrings.

You see, supplements can't transform your physique the way diet and exercise can.

Unfortunately, the sports nutrition industry is plagued by a plethora of junk science, misleading advertising, and outright deception, while the products themselves are crammed with unnecessary ingredients or contain truly essential elements but in insufficient quantities.

Most supplement companies release cheap and useless products in an attempt to sell them through marketing gimmicks (loud slogans, flashy packaging, etc.).

Remember, sports supplements do not play a decisive role in building muscle mass and burning fat, and buying many of them is a waste of money.

However, there are safe, natural substances with scientifically proven effectiveness that will actually help you increase strength, improve endurance, lose fat, etc.

Part of my job was to find supplements that I could take myself and recommend to others.

However, finding high-quality, effective and inexpensive products has always been a difficult task.

Let's take a quick look at the supplements that will help you get the most out of your hamstring workouts.

Creatine

Creatine is a substance found naturally in the human body and in foods such as red meat. This is perhaps the most studied supplement in the world of sports nutrition. Hundreds of studies have been devoted to it, from which it is clear that it helps:

Build muscle mass and strength
Improve anaerobic endurance
Reduce muscle soreness and damage

You may have heard that creatine is harmful to your kidneys, but such claims have been repeatedly and categorically refuted. It has been proven that in healthy people, even with long-term use, it does not cause any side effects. Although people with kidney disease are not recommended to take creatine supplements.

Read: how to take creatine correctly.

If you are in good health, then I strongly advise you to take this supplement. It is safe, inexpensive and effective.

Protein

Protein supplements are not needed to build muscle mass, but when you consider how much protein you need to eat daily to maximize muscle growth, it becomes clear that you cannot do without them.

This is the reason why I recommend taking whey protein.

Naturally sweetened and flavored whey protein isolate made from milk is available in stores.

Pre-workout drinks

There's no doubt that pre-workout supplements help you train. However, there are disadvantages and potential risks.

Many pre-workout drinks contain many ineffective ingredients and/or tiny amounts of effective ones, making them little more beneficial than most of the cheap stimulants sold on fancy labels and persuasive advertising copy.

Many other supplements don't even contain stimulants, making them just duds.

In reality, it is very difficult to find a pre-workout supplement that is low in stimulants and high in natural, safe, and performance-enhancing ingredients like beta-alanine, betaine, and citrulline.

A good pre-workout supplement contains 6 of the most effective performance-enhancing ingredients:

Caffeine . Caffeine is good for more than just boosting your energy levels. It also increases muscle endurance and strength;

Beta-alanine . It is a natural amino acid that reduces post-workout fatigue, increases anaerobic capacity, and can accelerate muscle growth.
Citrulline malate . Citrulline is an amino acid that increases muscle endurance, relieves muscle pain and improves anaerobic performance;

Betaine . This is a substance found in plants (such as beets) that improves muscle endurance, increases strength, and stimulates the production of growth hormone and IGF-1 in response to short, intense exercise.

Ornithine . An amino acid found in large quantities in dairy products and meats that reduces fatigue during prolonged exercise and promotes lipid oxidation (burning fat rather than carbohydrates or glycogen for energy).

Theanine . An amino acid found primarily in tea that reduces the effects of mental and physical stress, increases the production of nitric oxide, which increases blood flow, and also improves mental performance, attention, memory and mood.

Leg raises while lying on your stomach

An excellent static load for girls and women, acting mainly on the biceps femoris muscle. The difficulty is not high, the main thing is to concentrate on the area being worked and feel the muscle tension in it. This movement is also called “Lying Hyperextension.”

Starting position - Lay a mat, lie on your stomach, arms and legs straight and extended down;
As you inhale, we lift 2 straight legs up 15-20 centimeters from the floor level, hold for 2-3 seconds;
Exhaling, we come to the starting position.

Execution technique

Let's look at the technique of performing the exercise while lying down. When doing curls while sitting or standing, follow the same principles.

First of all, adjust the machine to your height and leg length. The knee joints should extend beyond the edge of the bench, and the bolster into which you will rest the lower part of your shin should be located a few centimeters above your heel. Everything is simple here - the closer the roller is to the heel, the greater the leverage and the more effective the exercise. You lie down on your stomach at the bend of the bench so that you are comfortable and there is no tension in your lower back.

Lie down on the machine and place your feet under the bolster. Use your hands to grasp the special handles or the edges of the bench.
As you exhale, bend your shins, trying to bring the roller as close to your buttocks as possible. The front surface of the thighs is pressed against the bench.
As you inhale, straighten your shins, gently lowering the weight down. There is no need to fully straighten your knees and relax your hamstrings at the lowest point.
Repeat as many times as necessary.

You can vary the load in this exercise by changing the position of your toes. By pointing your toes outwards, you will shift the emphasis towards the outer thighs. Bringing them inward - towards the inner.

You can also alternate bending on the machine in a sitting or lying position. If you have an appropriate simulator, you should try to do the exercise while standing, first with one leg, then with the other. The more versatile the muscle work, the better the result you will get.

After your workout, do some stretching. This will help relax the hamstrings and improve blood circulation.

Deadlift

One of the most effective basic loads for the hamstring muscles. The front of the legs and the torso of the back are also involved. Also remember that this row is one of the best movements for lifting the buttocks.

about the difference between “Deadlift” and “Romanian” for girls here.

Implementation complexity is medium. Concentration and endurance are required. It is better to use dumbbells or a barbell of a comfortable weight from the equipment.

Technique:

Starting position – feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, back straight, arched in the lower back, weights in the hands in the groin area;
Inhaling, bend at the back, hands with weights slide along the body to the middle of the shin;
Without stopping at the bottom point, we exhale and return to the starting position.

Watch the video for more details:

You should try to push off from the bottom point with the biceps and the muscles leading to it. If you don’t feel the area being trained, all your efforts are in vain.

Deadlifts should be performed in 3-4 sets of 6-10 times.
Carefully! The dumbbells or barbell must move strictly along the body. The farther the bar is from the body, the greater the negative load on the spine and the chance of injury.

Biceps injuries and their causes

Typical injuries are sprains and torn ligaments. In rare cases, the biceps femoris may be torn from its attachment site. Injuries most often occur as a result of:

excessive stress during sports;
uneven distribution of loads between the biceps and quadriceps muscles of the thigh;
sudden movements and jerks;
performing physical activity without preliminary warm-up;
blows, bruises, twisted legs, falling due to slipping;
general muscle weakness.

The main symptoms of injury are:

sharp pain that occurs when moving;
a characteristic click that occurs when a ligament ruptures;
swelling and redness of tissue in the affected area;
formation of subcutaneous hematomas at the site of muscle fiber damage;
limited mobility of the limb, or, in the case of complete separation of the ligaments, its pathological mobility;
dysfunction of the limb, inability to walk with support on the injured leg.

Jumping Lunges

The combination of aerobic and strength training will have a wonderful effect on tightening your figure. The complexity of the execution due to jumping is quite high .

more about 7 types of different lunges here.

In addition to the main muscle group being worked, lunges will help tighten the buttocks and calf muscles.

Starting position – Legs together, back straight, arms at your sides, gaze directed forward;
As you inhale, lunge forward with your right leg, exhale while hovering;
On the next inhalation, we jump and land in a lunge on the other leg.

Learn more from the video:

You can do this exercise with or without weights. For beginners, you should start with 10-12 repetitions on each leg in 2-3 sets.

For the necessary coordination of movements, help yourself when jumping with characteristic swings of your arms.

Basic errors during execution

When it gets to this point, many builders start saying, “This is not about me.” My technique is perfect, etc...." If this is indeed the case, then congratulations. But even in this case, this information may be useful to you. After all, there are a lot of people in the halls who have not yet achieved mastery. And our task is to help them avoid these mistakes!

Heavy weight

This is one of the common mistakes. This is all due to the fact that people overestimate their strength and want to achieve results as quickly as possible. But this approach can only lead to injury and delay progress. Therefore, take a weight that you can safely work with for 10-15 repetitions. And as you feel that you are ready for heavier loads, you can add weight.

Bending jerkily and lifting by inertia

This error follows smoothly from the first. When an athlete cannot cope with the weight, he begins to use the force of inertia. In fact, it looks very terrifying. At the beginning, the legs fall sharply with the load down, and then when they spring back, they are sharply squeezed up. I think it’s clear what consequences this can have. Take care of your knees! Movements must be under your control.

Body displacement during movement

Many athletes have this peculiarity: in order to reduce their fate, they begin to reduce the amplitude of movement. They do this very simply, changing their position on a bench or in a standing exercise machine. That is, they either slide down or, on the contrary, creep up. This changes the position of the roller on the legs. I wrote above that if you shift the weight to your heels, the load goes to your calves. And if you put the roller on your calves, the range of movement will become very short. Therefore, neither option will work the hamstrings.

Good luck to everyone in your training!