The effect of various exercises on the biarticulate muscles

The principles of biarticulate action, including active and passive insufficiency and dynamic
stabilisation are all explored below for each muscle that acts in this way.

Biceps

There are two heads to the biceps, hence the name. Both originate on the scapula or
shoulder blade and insert into the medial or inner side of the forearm. Since the scapula is a
moving part of the shoulder and the forearm is a moving part of the arm, both ends of the
biceps are not fixed. The biceps therefore cross two joints and can therefore act at both. The
position of the shoulder can influence the use of the biceps at the elbow and vice versa.

When the shoulder is flexed or abducted, in other words it is raised upwards to the front or
side, this recruits the biceps, particularly the short head because of its origin point. If you
then flex your elbow, the biceps will enter active insufficiency at the top of the range of
motion. This is because you have used the biceps to move two joints, and there is not
enough contractile length left to complete flexion of the elbow. This shifts the load onto the
brachialis which completes the elbow flexion, shortening the biceps passively because they
were actively insufficient. You will notice this when doing preacher curls, which flex the
shoulders intentionally to work the brachialis; the top of the movement will be very hard
because there is less bicep involvement.

The reverse of the situation occurs when you hyperextend the shoulder, in other words your
elbows are behind your back. In this position, the biceps enter passive insufficiency, which is
when they cannot stretch enough to complete the full range of motion in both joints. The
shoulder is fully extended as is the elbow, and this will create a stretch in the biceps which
can be felt. This is the reasoning for performing incline supinating curls, because the biceps
are pre-stretched prior to the contraction of the muscle, which initiates the stretch reflex
and increases force production.

Triceps

The triceps work in much the same way as the biceps, or rather the long head does. The
medial and lateral heads of the triceps are monoarticulate, and so they only act at the elbow
joint. The long head attaches to the scapula and so it acts at two joints and hence is
biarticulate. When you flex your shoulder upwards, passive insufficiency is achieved when
the elbow is fully flexed, you can feel this as a stretch in the long head. Overhand tricep
extensions take advantage of this, and increase force generation in the long head through
the pre-stretch reflex.

Active insufficiency is achieved when the shoulder is extended or adducted down to the
sides and the elbow is fully extended. The long head has contracted to lower the shoulder,
but also to straighten the elbow, and therefore it doesn’t have enough contractile length to
fully complete the very last section of the movement, which shifts load onto the medial and
lateral heads. This does not affect dips however, because the shoulder is internally rotated.
The long head will only enter active insufficiency when the shoulder is externally rotated, as
in tricep pushdowns or tricep pulldowns.
Hamstrings

There are short and long hamstrings. The long hamstrings connect at the hip and the knee,
and so they are biarticulate, whereas the short hamstrings only act at the knee. If the knee
is fully extended but the hips are flexed and then extended as in stiff leg deadlifts, the long
hamstrings are placed in passive insufficiency and you feel the stretch. The hamstrings will
contract only to move the hip and so they are recruited well. When you perform squats
however, the knee flexes which means the long hamstrings are not stretched, which reduces
their recruitment. The hamstrings instead act as dynamic stabilisers, which means there is
simultaneous shortening and lengthening at two joints, so there is no real change in length.

The long hamstrings enter active insufficiency when the hip is fully extended and the knee is
flexed, as in ham curls lying on a bench, thus meaning that the short hamstrings take over
at the end of the movement.

Calves

The gastroscnemius is biarticulate because it acts at the ankle and at the knee. The soleus,
which forms the rest of the calve is monoarticlate because it only performs plantar flexion at
the ankle. When the knee is straightened or extended, the gastroscnemius will enter passive
insufficiency when full dorsal flexion is achieved, which is when you pull your toes towards
you. This gives an incredible stretch because your whole weight is acting on your ankles.
The gastroscnemius enters active insufficiency when the knee is flexed by sitting and the
ankle is fully plantar flexed, moving your heel towards you. This causes the soleus to take
over the movement at this point. That is why seated calf raises exist, to work the soleus.