FLEXIBILITY "BICEPS FEMORIS"

This is part three in a series of articles covering simple tests to confirm the importance of flexibility. Typically these articles appear on Thursdays, except last Thursday. So we are back, as Willie Nelson said "on the road again".
The Biceps Femoris (BF) is one of three muscles, the others being the Semitendinosus and Semimembranosus, that make up the hamstring. The sciatic nerve, which is the longest nerve in the body, innervates or sends messages to the BF to go. If the sciatic nerve is inflamed, then the BF and other hamstring muscles won't work as effectively. People that have suffered from sciatica know what I am talking about.
Now for the science. The BF actually has a long and short head. The origin of the long head is the upper area of the ischial tuberosity (part of the pelvic wall) and the short head has its origin on the lateral lip of the linea aspera (mid part of the femur). The insertion for both the long and short head of the BF is the head of the fibula. The fibula is the smaller bone on the lateral or outside part of the lower leg. The lower leg runs from the knee to the ankle. It flexes the leg at the knee joint and laterally rotates the thigh at the hip, and laterally rotates the leg at the knee joint.
O.K. you can come back know. The bottom line is you need to be flexible in your hamstrings to run fast. The best description I've read is how can a car go fast when you have the parking brakes on!! If you are not flexible in the hamstrings you will have a shorter stride length and more than likely a less explosive stride. So yes it is important to stretch after you have worked out.
This flexibility test primarily test the short head of the BF, but is usually a good indicator of overall hamstring flexibility. The athlete will lie on their stomach, with the legs curled at a 90 degree angle. The test should be done on a table. The toes of their feet will be pointed up to the sky. This is the start of the test. The legs will be extended so that the feet will hang off the end of the table. If the lower leg is completely flat on the table, with the feet hanging off the side if the table, this would be considered normal flexibility in the BF. If the shins of the athlete are not flat on the table, this is considered tightness of the hamstrings, or what is referred to as hypo-extensibility. If you are not flexible in the hamstrings you could also have a higher probability of pulls and other injuries in the BF. Beware, in the dog days of the summer, when you are trying to get in shape for football, take care of your hamstrings.
Next week we test the other portions of the hamstrings while on your back. For questions on this or other related topics, I can be reached at acudave@yahoo.com