An improved magnetoresistive element may include a pinned magnetic structure, a free magnetic structure, and a spacer layer coupled between the pinned magnetic structure and the free magnetic structure, where the free magnetic structure includes (i) a synthetic anti-ferromagnetic structure (SAF) including two or more anti-ferromagnetically coupled ferromagnetic layers, and (ii) a first biasing layer coupled to the SAF that impedes a decoupling of the two or more anti-ferromagnetically coupled ferromagnetic layers. The first biasing layer may be an anti-ferromagnetic layer, and may be weakly coupled to the SAF. The free magnetic structure may also include (i) a second biasing layer coupled to the SAF that further impedes a decoupling of the two or more anti-ferromagnetically coupled ferromagnetic layers, and/or (ii) a non-magnetic layer coupled between the first biasing layer and the SAF that controls a coupling strength between the first biasing layer and the SAF.