Is it Hamstrings or Leg Biceps?
by
Alan Runacres
FCollP. FISM. BSc. Hons. DipHMan. MICM Dip
Director of Training
WABBA Qualifications
Hello and welcome back to another thought provoking article! We all know that ‘Hamstrings’ is now the ‘universally accepted name’ for the muscles at the back of the leg, but just how correct is this, and how misleading is it?
Just like any individual body part, there are correct names for each and every one of the 650 muscles and 202 bones in the human body, and then there are the more common or popular generic names adopted by various nations around the world and the public at large. So if you are not careful, you will end up having to know close on to a thousand name variations! Let’s clear up exactly what are the Hamstrings & what are the Leg Biceps: -
Leg Biceps (correct anatomical name Biceps Femoris) is the term given to describe the main muscle group on the back of the upper leg. This muscle group forms the main “belly” of all the muscles situated in this region. It is the largest and strongest muscle group situated at the back of the upper leg. Muscle names often give a clue about themselves in their name, for instance the word “Biceps” is a modern Latin term with ‘Bi’ meaning 2 whilst ‘Cep’ means head. This means that any muscle group that has the word Biceps in its name has 2 parts or “heads” that make up its structure.
In the case of the Biceps Femoris muscle group they are called the Biceps Femoris Short and Long heads. Looking at the back of the leg, the Biceps Femoris Short Head is on the outside edge, with the larger Biceps Femoris Long Head being situated more centrally towards the middle of the back of the upper leg.
Hamstrings (correct anatomical names Semitendinosis and the Semimembranosus) are the term given to describe the secondary muscle group on the back of the upper leg. These muscle groups do not form the main “belly” of all the muscles situated in this region, but are the smaller weaker muscles within the group to be found here.
Looking at the back of the leg, the Semitendinosis and the Semimembranosus are situated more towards the inside (medial) edge of the back of the leg. They begin (medially) on the inside edge of the Biceps Femoris Long Head with the Semitendinosis muscle. Going further inwards is where the Semimembranosus muscle can be primarily found, leading more towards the very inside edge of the leg next to the Gracilis muscle. The Hamstrings look similar to long strap-like “belt muscles” running down the back of the inside half of the rear upper leg.
In truth, today everyone now calls the muscles at the back of the leg Hamstrings, more than possibly following the on-set of television coverage of such sporting events where commentators affectionately refer to players with injuries to the back of the leg as a suspected “Hamstring Injury”! More often than not, when someone strains a muscle at the back of their leg it will be a Leg Bicep (Biceps Femoris) Injury, as this is the main muscle belly which is often very “tight and inflexible” with many sports players focusing large amounts of training and work on the much stronger front thigh muscles, the Quadriceps.
When we train in the gym, we should focus equal amounts of work onto the weaker Leg Bicep muscles to prevent these common muscle imbalances, and we must remember that we do not do “Hamstring Curls” on the weight-training machines, but in fact we do Leg Curls. The machine is called a Leg Curl Machine, not a Hamstring Curl Machine! Until next time, enjoy your training and don’t forget about your hamstrings!
Author: Alan Runacres has over 35yrs gym experience, been WABBA director of training for 14 yrs and is the author of 3 books, and over 100 published articles.
BACK
