5 effective exercises to increase BICEPS

In the development of biceps, beginners often make a big mistake: they mistake the anterior surface of the shoulder for one whole muscle, but in fact, it consists of three parts - the biceps muscle (long, short head) and brachialis. The short head of the biceps is interesting because it gives maximum volume to the muscle and is a bundle of the largest volume. Without working on this part of the biceps muscle, it will be more difficult to develop large volumes of the shoulder. Therefore, next we will consider the most effective exercises for the short head of the biceps.

Biceps - exercises and training features[edit | edit code]

Yuzhakov Anton BEST EXERCISES FOR BICEPS AND TRICEPS

The best exercises for biceps

Biceps (highlighted)

Biceps

or
biceps brachii
, is a large, easily visible muscle on the front of the shoulder. The biceps, according to general opinion, is the formal embodiment of a person's musculature, and traditionally the assessment of physique comes down to assessing the size of the biceps. Many bodybuilders, especially beginners, focus most of their attention on the biceps. In this regard, countless articles, literature, training programs, tips and recommendations dedicated to biceps training have been created.

Anatomy[edit | edit code]

Read the main article:
Biceps - anatomy and functions

The biceps has two heads or bundles (“bi” means “two”). The long head is located in the front, outer part of the arm, starting from the upper edge of the shoulder blade, called the glenoid fossa. The short head runs closer to the inside of the arm and also starts from the shoulder blade, but slightly lower. Next, both heads merge and enter the tuberosity of the radius. The main function of the biceps is to flex the arm at the elbow joint, so almost all exercises consist of this movement.

Features of the training[edit | edit code]

Beginners should not train every day because... your muscles are not yet accustomed to heavy loads, develop them gradually. For example, start with 3 workouts a week for an hour and do not forget that muscles love a large number of repetitions and exercise through strength - this will not only create muscle relief, but will also contribute to the growth of the biceps muscle (biceps).

It is enough to train biceps once every 1-2 days. This should not be done more often, since the muscles will not have time to recover, and growth is possible only if there is complete recovery.

Properly distribute the load between days

I will say right away that the biceps belongs to small muscle groups, so it will recover faster than large muscles such as the back, chest and legs. Therefore, you can train your biceps more often and more intensely.

But this does not mean that you can pump it up almost every day; you shouldn’t load your biceps on Monday, your back on Tuesday, and your biceps again on Wednesday; your arms won’t have time to fully recover, since any exercises on the back put a lot of stress on your arms.

If you train your arms 2 times a week, during the first workout, pay attention to heavy basic exercises for the short and long sections of the biceps, and devote the second session exclusively to isolated exercises for the internal section. In addition, change the position of the grip, hands, inclinations of the bench, use more variety so that the exercises in 2-unit workouts are not repeated.

The best exercises for biceps[edit | edit code]

One of the most common misconceptions is that some exercises develop the width of the biceps, others form the peak, others the upper part, fourth the lower part, and so on. In fact, the shape of the biceps is determined 90% genetically, and most exercises use the entire biceps. Thus, it is almost impossible to change the shape of the biceps, which cannot be said about its volume.

Study

Electromyography results

Scientists from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil compared the most popular biceps exercises: standing dumbbell biceps curls, dumbbell biceps curls while sitting on an incline bench, and dumbbell curls on a “Scott bench”, with the goal of finding out which is most effective for hypertrophy muscles. It turned out that biceps curls on the “Scott Bench” turned out to be the least effective exercise

. Firstly, this exercise has the shortest range of motion. Secondly, on the “Scott Bench” the biceps receives less load in the last third of the flexion amplitude, as well as in the first third of the arm extension amplitude (the negative phase of the movement). When lifting dumbbells for biceps while standing, as well as sitting on an incline bench, the neuromuscular load is distributed evenly throughout the entire amplitude of movement, making them the most effective exercises for both developing strength and muscle hypertrophy (for the data obtained on all exercises, see Fig. “Electromyography results”) ").

Basic or isolation exercises[edit | edit code]

Most biceps exercises are isolation exercises because:

the relatively small biceps brachii muscle and an even smaller muscle, the brachioradialis or brachialis, work;
Only one joint is involved in the work - the elbow.

The only undisputed basic biceps exercise is the close-grip pull-up. This exercise involves two main muscle groups - the back muscles (mostly the latissimus muscle) and the biceps. Pull-ups are a complex exercise in which the biceps are trained through the movement of two joints - the elbow and shoulder.

Elbow position[edit | edit code]

The long head of the biceps brachii muscle is highlighted in red, the short head is highlighted in green.
When training the biceps brachii, it is important to distinguish between the long and short heads of the biceps brachii muscle. The long head is the outer part of the muscle that creates the silhouette of the biceps, its largest part. The short head creates volume at the lower part of the muscle and its inner surface, which is closer to the body. Which head works more depends on the position of the elbows, in front of you (raised), near the body or behind the body.

Biceps curl with elbows raised.

When you raise your elbows, you work your brachialis a little more and your biceps a little less than with a classic reverse-grip biceps curl.
This position isolates the inside of the biceps and the bottom
, i.e. short head. This is what happens on most machines and Scott benches.

Scott Bench Curls
Lifting the barbell on the “prayer bench” (Scott bench)
Biceps curl while sitting on a machine
Curling arms with handles of upper blocks
Block row for biceps
One arm curl with lower pulley handle
Spider Curls

Scott Bench Curls
Lifting the barbell on a Scott bench
Biceps curl while sitting on a machine
Curling arms with handles of upper blocks
Block row for biceps
Spider Curls

Biceps curl with elbows pulled back.

By moving your elbows back (for example, doing incline biceps curls), you are more effective in isolating and
pumping the outer part of the biceps
, i.e. long head. The inner heads of the biceps and brachial muscles are worked to a lesser extent.

Incline Dumbbell Curl
Dumbbell biceps curl
Barbell curl
Seated dumbbell curls for girls
Alternating arm curls with dumbbells
Seated biceps curl
Concentrated arm curl

Incline Dumbbell Curl
Dumbbell biceps curl
Barbell curl
Seated dumbbell curls for girls
Alternating arm curls with dumbbells
Seated biceps curl
Concentrated arm curl

Meaning of grip[edit | edit code]

Grip options for biceps curls
The position of the hands (pronation and supination) plays an important role in determining the muscles worked, whether it will be the biceps or the brachialis muscles. Therefore, when working on biceps, you need to think not only about what exercises to do, but also about how to hold the apparatus correctly. Only if these basic conditions are met, the desired result will not take long to arrive.

Reverse grip

or classic, is an ideal option for working out the biceps.
Hands in supination
, example of exercises:

Close grip pull-ups
Dumbbell biceps curl
Barbell curl
Crossover Curl
Scott Bench Curls
Seated dumbbell curl
Seated dumbbell curls for girls
One arm curl with lower pulley handle
Alternating arm curls with dumbbells
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Seated biceps curl
Spider Curls
Block row for biceps
Concentrated arm curl

Close grip pull-ups
Dumbbell biceps curl
Barbell curl
Crossover Curl
Scott Bench Curls
Seated dumbbell curl
Seated dumbbell curls for girls
One arm curl with lower pulley handle
Alternating arm curls with dumbbells
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Seated biceps curl
Spider Curls
Block row for biceps
Concentrated arm curl

Neutral grip

.
If you want the brachioradialis and brachioradialis muscles to work more actively when working your biceps, a neutral grip is ideal. Hands in a pronated
.

Standing hammer grip dumbbell curl
Seated dumbbell curl with hammer grip
Hammer grip dumbbell curls on an incline bench

Hammer grip dumbbell curls

Direct grip (fingers away from you).

In this case, most of the work is performed by the shoulder and brachioradialis muscles.
Hands in a pronated
. Biceps are almost not involved!

Pull-ups, most variations, with the exception of close-grip pull-ups (biceps work actively)

Classic pull-ups
Wide grip pull-ups on the machine
Low bar pull-ups

Forearms

Literally before filming the story, I went to my VKontakte wall to find out what other questions concern you. It turned out not in vain. Many people are concerned about the question of how to pump up their forearm. You know, over many years I have already developed a clear formula for the relationship between the level of fitness in general and the development of the forearms. It sounds something like this:

The lower a person’s level of fitness, the more concerned he is about training the forearm and other small muscles.

Understand that if you are not involved in arm wrestling and your goal is purely muscle size (including forearms), then YOU DO NOT NEED SPECIAL EXERCISES for FOREARMS! It’s like in that notorious story about jeep wheels that you are trying to “stick” on a Zaporozhian car. There will be no growth in small groups until you achieve growth in large ones. Think about the growth of strength in large groups, and over time the little ones will have nowhere to go and will grow up on their own.

When performing any weighted arm curls (barbell lifting in particular), the forearm actively works. Regular barbell raises work the inner part of the forearm, while reverse-grip raises work the outer part of the forearm. Most professional bodybuilders never specifically train their forearms.

By the way, if your wrists get clogged before your biceps in barbell curls and thereby limit your achievements, then it makes sense for you to switch to a curved bar or do variations of the exercise with a parallel grip (this takes the load off your forearms).

We recommend Underground 155. How to bench press a true bump!

But, if you are still concerned about how to train this small muscle group, then the main exercises for the forearm are:

barbell curls;
bending with a barbell with a reverse grip;
pronation and supination;
squeezing the expander and other joys.

Biceps exercises with weights[edit | edit code]

Dumbbell biceps curl
Barbell curl
Seated dumbbell curl
Seated dumbbell curls for girls
Alternating arm curls with dumbbells
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Seated biceps curl
Standing hammer grip dumbbell curl
Seated dumbbell curl with hammer grip
Hammer grip dumbbell curls on an incline bench
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Concentrated arm curl
Spider Curls

Dumbbell biceps curl
Barbell curl
Seated dumbbell curl
Seated dumbbell curls for girls
Alternating arm curls with dumbbells
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Seated biceps curl
Hammer grip dumbbell curls
Concentrated arm curl
Spider Curls

How to quickly build big biceps at home without dumbbells

How to build biceps using your own weight? Realistically assessing the likelihood of pumping up your arms at home without dumbbells, you should study the anatomy of the action. The biceps can only be activated by bending your arms. This can be done most effectively with reverse-grip pull-ups, but if you don’t have a horizontal bar, cable pull-ups will do.

How to quickly pump up a man's biceps without having dumbbells or horizontal bars nearby? You can resort to performing a set of workouts suitable for home conditions. Without using exercise equipment, you can still build muscle, although less effectively. But you can pump up your biceps as quickly as possible only with equipment - a barbell or dumbbells.

Without dumbbells in a biceps workout, it is difficult to put the optimal load on the muscles to ensure good growth. Working to failure using heavy weights and limited repetitions can increase muscle size.

Biceps exercises on machines[edit | edit code]

Scott Bench Curls
Lifting the barbell on the “prayer bench” (Scott bench)
Biceps curl while sitting on a machine
Curling arms with handles of upper blocks
Block row for biceps
One arm curl with lower pulley handle

Scott Bench Curls
Lifting the barbell on a Scott bench
Biceps curl while sitting on a machine
Curling arms with handles of upper blocks
Block row for biceps
One arm curl with lower pulley handle

Exercises for pumping the external beam

So, bodybuilders who believe in the possibility of accentuated loads perform a number of generally accepted exercises on the biceps brachii muscle using a special technique.

The outer head of the biceps is more heavily loaded in the following movements:

Lifting the barbell for biceps while standing (or sitting) with a narrow grip

It is advisable to use an EZ-bar (curved). In this case, the body is tilted slightly forward, and the elbows are placed slightly behind the body.

Lifting dumbbells while sitting on an incline bench

The tilt angle is 45-70°. The position of the elbows is also behind the body.

It is claimed that by regularly performing these exercises at the beginning of your arm training (based on the principle of priority), you will work the outer biceps band better than anywhere else, thereby improving your progress.

But let's turn to science.

Isolated muscle training - myth or reality

There have been no scientific studies on whether it is really possible to load the desired part of the muscle in isolation. And, most likely, they will never exist, since no one is going to do such nonsense.

A person familiar with anatomy will say that it is anatomically impossible to pump one muscle bundle of the biceps in isolation from the second!

For example, just look at the structure of the biceps muscle - at the bottom, two bundles combine into one and are attached to the radius by one tendon! This means that the two heads work in sync and engage in the same movements at the same time.

Another popular myth: if you lift biceps with a barbell using a narrow grip, the long head works, and if you lift the biceps with a barbell, the short, inner head works.

In this case, I wonder what part of the biceps is working when you do standing dumbbell curls and how to adjust your grip here. And where is the mechanism in the muscle that determines which of the bundles should be more involved? Nobody knows this, because there is no such mechanism.

But many bodybuilding champions perform various (and even weird) exercises on the biceps muscle and with a smart expression on their faces talk about the isolated effect on the desired muscle bundle.

So, this is just an established tradition. It is not uncommon for the bodybuilding community to know about an old myth but continue to repeat it.

For example, like the myth about dividing the press into upper and lower. In accordance with this, all abdominal movements are divided into exercises for the upper (various options for lifting the body) and for the lower press (with lifting the legs and knees).

Although everyone has long known that it is impossible to pump only one part of the rectus abdominis muscle in isolation. It is fully (along its entire length) included in the work in any abdominal exercise.

Likewise with the biceps bundles. Everyone knows that they do not work in isolation. And even shifting the greater emphasis of the load to one of the beams is a dubious idea, although theoretically possible.

But according to tradition, the same exercise is used to pump supposedly different parts of it. And all you need to do is simply change the grip width.

Yes, there are exercises that more effectively engage the desired muscle group. But this applies to the entire muscle, and not its specific area.

Causes

Proximal biceps tendon rupture is usually caused by chronic inflammation resulting from subacromial impingement and the end result of chronic microtrauma. Repeated injuries often lead to wear and tear of the tendon, with subsequent loss of strength, increasing the risk of rupture even after relatively minor injuries.
Tendon rupture due to chronic inflammation can occur in rheumatoid arthritis.
Overuse or rapid stress on a tendon, such as in weightlifting, is often the cause of acute tendon rupture.
Biceps tendon rupture or degeneration is often associated with rotator cuff injuries in older patients and is often diagnosed during surgery for rotator cuff injuries. This may be associated with impingement syndrome.
Most ruptures occur where tendons attach to bone proximally and distally:
Distal avulsion of the tendon from the radius is usually due to chronic irritation, such as in chronic elbow bursitis.
Acute avulsions result from forced extension of the elbow in flexion and supination.
Rarely, ruptures of the short head of the biceps tendon can occur when the arm is rapidly flexed and adducted during activities involving elbow extension.
Impairment of physiological mechanisms of regeneration due to medications (eg, statins) are also considered possible potential factors predisposing to tendon rupture.

Symptoms

Some patients experience sudden pain in the front of the shoulder during physical activity. The pain is acute and intense and may be accompanied by a clicking sound or a tearing sensation.
Other patients may experience intermittent pain during overhead movements or repetitive activities.
Still others experience intense soreness in the front of the shoulder, which may worsen at night.
In some patients, the tear may be virtually asymptomatic, and the patient may only notice a bulge or thickening in the area between the shoulder and elbow. As a rule, such a course is possible with chronic damage to the tendon and after a complete rupture the pain may disappear. With a distal rupture, there may be similar symptoms, but with localization closer to the elbow.

Diagnostics

In most cases, proximal and distal tears can be diagnosed based on medical history and examination. The mechanism of injury, pattern of pain and/or inflammation, and examination findings often lead to a diagnosis. But to verify the diagnosis and exclude possible other diseases, instrumental diagnostic methods can be used.
X-rays can detect bone abnormalities and provide only indirect signs of tendon rupture. But x-rays make it possible to clearly visualize fractures in the shoulder area.
Until recently, arthrography was widely used to diagnose injuries in the shoulder, but due to its high invasiveness, the presence of ionizing radiation and the rather low information content, this diagnostic method is currently practically not used.
Ultrasound examination of the shoulder structures is quite informative for diagnosing biceps ruptures. But this research method does not allow diagnosing small ruptures or intra-articular changes. However, taking into account the practical harmlessness, painlessness and fairly good information content, this research method is widely used in the diagnosis of biceps tendon ruptures.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most informative imaging method that allows you to diagnose even small morphological changes in the structures of the shoulder.