Short Head Biceps Femoris

The short head Biceps femoris is one part of the biceps femoris muscle. The biceps femoris muscle is part of the hamstrings muscle group but sometimes the short head biceps femoris is left from this group.

Anatomy of the Short Head Biceps Femoris

The short head Biceps femoris arises from the lateral lip of the linea aspera, between the adductor magnus and vastus lateralis.

It extends up almost as high as the insertion of the gluteus maximus; from the lateral prolongation of the linea aspera to within 5 cm of the lateral condyle; and from the lateral intermuscular septum.

The short head Biceps femoris also contains the common nerve.

Functions of the Short Head Femoris

The main function of the short head femoris is to aid in knee extension. However, in modern society, hamstring inflexibility is becoming a common problem.

This is mainly due to the fact that we rarely keep the hamstring limber by sitting on the ground, bending over regularly, etc. as our ancestors had. It is only relatively recently, as far as evolutionary time is concerned, we stopped performing manual labor and began regularly sitting in chairs for prolonged periods of time.

This may be one of the reasons that the short head may be absent in some people.

Bookmark this:

Bookmark this page