10 Biceps femoris exercises for runners – why and how to do them?  

For any runner, the condition of their legs is the most important. Of course, one should not forget about other muscles and parts of the body that also work during running, such as the abdomen, arms, and back. However, it is the legs that we focus on the most. 

As you know, the legs consist of muscles that are worth exercising and stretching one at a time. Therefore, in this article, I will show you several biceps femoris exercises for runners. However, that’s not all! I will also tell you why this muscle is worth exercising, where it is located and what it is responsible for. Let’s get started!

Where is the biceps femoris located? 

The biceps femoris is located at the back of your leg – more precisely in its upper part, the back of the thigh. It belongs to the ischiofemoral muscle group. 

What is the biceps femoris muscle responsible for?

The biceps femoris muscle is primarily responsible for bending the knee joint. However, 

it is not everything. It also plays the role of extensor at the hip joint and is responsible for rotating and adducting the thigh. Moreover, it can also lift the pelvis. 

As you can see, this muscle is responsible for several very important functions. Therefore, you should take care of it during your training and do some exercises that will help with this. This is also important because the biceps thigh muscle often tends to get injured. Because of this, you may be excluded from training.

Biceps femoris exercises – why do them? 

Runners most often look at how to take care of the quadriceps muscle of the thigh. Admit it, you’ve heard more about this part of the body, and you’ve done exercises just for this muscle. The quadriceps of the thigh is often overlooked, and that’s not good. 

Regardless of how you run and what distances you run, you need to take care of it. It is the one responsible for fast running – acceleration, spurts while running, and sprinting. It also activates when jumping, climbing higher steps, or lifting weights. 

To ensure that the muscle does not quickly become injured, it is important to remember to strengthen and stretch it. 

What can you lead to by not exercising this muscle?

• getting injured more easily – by doing so, you can say “goodbye” to running for a few or even several weeks. 
• muscle imbalance – if you don’t exercise, you don’t develop the muscle. This means that it is not developing, like other muscles. Therefore, be sure not to skip it when exercising.

When do you have to start doing exercises for the biceps femoris? 

These exercises should especially interest people who like or want to run faster. Add them to your training when: 

• you are preparing for sprints, 
• you are going to do intense intervals – this is really good preparation for this type of training. 
• you want to improve your speed – it will positively affect your performance. People who plan to compete in competitions will be particularly pleased with this. 
• you do a lot of cycling, 
• you run a lot on a treadmill.

Biceps femoris and gluteus – what is the relation between these two muscles? 

I mentioned muscle imbalance earlier. This case is also about this issue. 

As you already know, the biceps femoris is one of those muscles that easily tends to get injured. This happens most often when it is weak, untrained, and unstretched. 

However, did you expect that you can injure the biceps femoris when your gluteal muscles are weak? Yes, it is possible. Then, the biceps femoris often takes over the load of the weak gluteal muscles, which creates unnecessary risks for it.

That’s why you need to remember to focus not only on running but also on strengthening various muscles, stretching, and proper diet. All of these factors affect your fitness and resistance to injury.

Biceps femoris – running outdoors vs running on the treadmill 

The condition of your biceps femoris is also affected by how you exercise. If you run outside then the biceps femoris works more and gets stronger. 

The situation is different if you do your workouts on a treadmill because the biceps femoris does not work as much. Why? All because of the help that is the scrolling roller of the treadmill. 

Therefore, if you use a treadmill frequently and train at the gym then try to add at least a few exercises for the biceps femoris to your training routine.

Exercises for the biceps femoris 

A lot of people don’t do exercises because they think they’re a waste of time, boring, or they’re just too hard. In this section, I will show you some cool exercises that you can vary. What’s more, they won’t be difficult, so you’ll easily perform them! You’re not convinced? Find out for yourself. Let’s get started!

Air squats 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. 
• Then do a squat – bend your legs. While performing this movement, straighten your arms in front of you and lift them slightly. 
• During the squat, make sure your back is straight and your heels do not pull away from the floor. 
• Then return to the initial position and repeat this exercise.

Hip raise lying down

• Lie down on a mat. 
• Bend your legs at the knees. 
• Then slowly raise your hips upward. 
• Return to the initial position and repeat the exercise. 

When performing this exercise, you mustn’t pull your feet off the floor. Your entire foot should be “glued” to the floor during this exercise.

Stand up straight 

• Raise one leg and bend it at the knee toward your buttocks. 
• While lowering your leg, perform this movement slowly. 

If you can’t keep your balance, stand close to the wall and lean against it with one hand. Then your position will be more stable. To make the exercise effective, repeat it 20 times in 3 series.

Dynamic ground strokes 

• Sit on a mat – support yourself on your elbows, forearms, and buttocks.
• Keep your legs bent at the knees and lift them so that your calves are parallel to the ground. 
• Without moving the hip, do dynamically, alternately strike the ground with your feet. 

Repeat this exercise for about 30 seconds. Do 4 series and remember to take a short half-minute break after each series.

Sidewalk 

For this exercise, you will need a rubber band, which should be right under your knees. 

• Put the rubber band under your knees. 
• Perform a half squat and start taking steps to one side. First to one side and then the other. 
• Take the same number of steps to the left side and the right side. 

Lunges 

• Stand straight and then make a forward movement with one leg. At the same time, begin to lower your hips. 
• During this exercise, both legs should be slightly bent at the knees. 
• Keep your hands on your hips. You can also improve this exercise by using small weights that you can hold in your hands. In this case – hands along the torso. 

You can also perform walking lunges. What does it mean? When doing a step, you move the leg that was behind to the front when returning to the starting position.

Backward leg swings 

For this exercise, you will need ladders or a chair. 

• Stand sideways to the ladders or chair and support yourself with one hand.
• Stand on one leg – the one closer to the chair. 
• Then, with the other leg, start doing backward swings – as high as you can. 

In this exercise, it is important not to take your foot closer to the chair or ladders off the ground. You can also add forward swings to this exercise.

Biceps femoris exercises – at the gym 

Deadlift

Why do you need to do this exercise in the gym? Because you need a barbell for it. 

• Stand straight apart – feet shoulder-width apart. 
• Push your hips back and bend your knees.
• Then grab the barbell also at shoulder width. 
• Tighten your shoulder blades and start slowly lifting the barbell while straightening your back. 
• Guide the barbell as close to your body as possible – close to the tibia in the first phase.
• Lift the barbell until your body is fully upright – your arms should be held along your body. 
• Then start lowering the barbell slowly down again. In this case, also guide it close to the body.

Leg press on the machine 

This is an exercise you absolutely must do at the gym because you need a leg press machine for it. 

• Lie comfortably on the designated place on the machine and put your legs on a special footplate placed in front of you.
• Simply release the foot placement lock and lift it with your legs. When performing this movement, remember to keep your head flat on the backrest. Do not lift it upwards.
• Pause the movement at the top for a moment.
• After this, lower the platform. 

If you are just beginning your adventure with this machine then remember not to overexert yourself. Repeat the exercise for 3 sets of 10-leg presses. 

What about stretching the biceps femoris? 

Here the best solution is to lie flat on the mat – legs straight. Then bend one leg at the knee and lift it. Grasp it below the knee and slowly begin to draw it towards your chest. Repeat this exercise for the other leg as well. Maintain balance. 

These are all the exercises for the biceps femoris that I have prepared for you. It’s a good idea to change them every few workouts so that your body doesn’t get used to the same stimuli. In this article, you also learned where is the biceps femoris located, what it is responsible for and why it is worth exercising it. I hope you will take all the comments to heart and devote even a few minutes to strengthening the biceps femoris muscle.