We think it’s a given that the biceps are the most well-known muscle group that majority of us would work on regularly! Well, at least most of us do. Before we dive into the specifics, let’s just take a step back to look into the science behind the workouts that we’re about to discuss in a few moments.
First off, let’s look at the anatomy of the biceps (a.k.a. Biceps Brachii). Notice how initially we’ve described the biceps as a muscle group. Well, it was no typo. This is because the biceps, from the word ‘Bi’ from the name itself, consists of 2 muscles. Namely the Long Head and Short Head of Biceps. The short head of the biceps is the inner bulge of muscle fibers, whereas the long head of biceps is the outer bulge of muscle fibers. Believe it or not, that the primary action of the biceps is for supination of the forearm and the secondary action is the flexion of the elbow.
If you’re wondering if this is really necessary or not, well, it is! Why? This is because each bicep workout will be specifically targeting each of these muscle fibers. With that being said, let’s dive into our workout list!
(1) Standing Dumbell Curls
How can we not start off with the fan favourite. The standing bicep curl is a great way to engage both heads of the biceps muscle! In order to target the short head of biceps then the best way is to position the dumbbell away from your body and when it comes to the long head of biceps, all we have to do is to position the dumbbell towards our body.
It’s best to maintain a fixed position when doing this workout and not sway around. If you find it difficult to maintain a fixed position without swaying, then it is most likely that the weights are too heavy for you.
(2) Hammer Curls
Now this does not specifically target the biceps muscle but the Brachialis muscle instead. This isn’t a part of the Biceps muscle group but it’s located below and slightly lateral to the biceps muscles. The Brachialis muscle is the muscle that creates the width and thickness when it comes to your biceps area. With this exercise, you will be able to hit both the biceps brachiii muscle groups and the brachialis muscle to create size and thickness of arms.
(3) Inclined Dumbell Curl
This workout may be challenging for some, if you’re doing it right.
Now what you have to do is to lie on a bench with a slight incline and let your arms hang below you. Next, all you have to do is to perform a regular bicep curl. Now this is where it now gets challenging. When bringing the dumbells down slowly to its original position, a proper stretch of the biceps must be felt. This is because this workout caters to the Eccenteric contractions. What this means is that the muscles are elongated in response to a greater opposing force thus producing more microtears on your biceps muscles causing an increase in size upon recovery!
(4) Barbell Curls
This workout is a bit of a tough one but it does work wonders! So as the name suggests, we’re going to have to use a bar with weights for this.
Here’s how to do the workout.
First off, stand tall. Then, squeeze the bar and curl it towards the chin. Find the contraction and once it is at its fullest, hold it there for 3 seconds. After that, control the bar all the way down. That’s it!
The position of our hands play an important role here. If your hands are closer towards the centre, then we will be working on our long head of biceps primarily along with our brachialis. If it’s further out, then it’s going to work the short head of biceps more.
(5) Preacher Curls
Lastly, we’re going to have to talk an important workout. This workout is somewhat similar to a barbell curl but instead of using a straight bar, we’re going to have to use an E-Z bar.
How to do a Preacher Curl? Well firstly, we would need a preacher bench and an E-Z bar. Grip the bar with your hands closer to the centre. Your palms should be tilted slightly inwards because of the shape of the bar. After that, position your upper arms and chest against the preacher bench while holding the bar at shoulder length. As you exhale, use your bicep muscles to curl the bar towards you until your biceps are fully contracted. Hold this position for a few seconds. Then, as you inhale, lower the bar slowly until your biceps are fully stretched.
This is a great workout for your biceps as it has a sole isolated focus on your biceps and prevents you from compensating with other muscle groups.
These are the 5 basic biceps brachii workouts that have proven to be effective in the vast population of workout enthusiasts.
We at Fitnacle would like to emphasize that not only does your workouts matter but your nutrition and the proper amount of rest are also very huge contributing factors when it comes to workouts like these.
With that being said, GO OUT THERE AND CREATE THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF!