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9 things not to do on bicep day
The recipe for big arms is to do bicep curls. It would seem that in such a simple basic exercise it is impossible to screw up, but no such luck!
If building muscle was that easy, everyone would be walking around with big cans. But a lot of people who train in the gym are technically doing some of the exercises wrong.
To be honest, bicep curls are not as easy to do as they seem. We counted 9 common mistakes that beginners make in pumping biceps. Understanding these mistakes will help you develop massive hands.
Don't Start Your Workout With "Bad" Exercises
Is it possible to say that you need to start training with certain exercises? Yes. I usually recommend doing multi-joint movements at the beginning of a workout. This, however, does not apply to biceps training, since even pull-ups on the horizontal bar involve the back muscles.
Your training program may include single-joint movements. But also in some movements you can use heavier weights that are performed from a standing position with a bilateral load on both heads of the biceps. Isolation exercises, especially from a sitting position, are already "the other side of the coin."
Compare, for example, the varying degree of load from lifting the barbell to the biceps from a standing position and concentrated bending of the arms. The first exercise is considered the main (basic), from which the hands are fully loaded; the second one is not considered. When you pull the bar while standing, you can work with more weight - partly due to the load compensation due to the "help" of the body. Although you should not overdo it here in order to avoid the destruction of the muscle structure.
Having chosen the exercise that suits you, decide on the load. Warm up and then pick up a weight that will reach muscle failure in 8-12 reps if you're aiming for increased hypertrophy. When performing a repetition, you may want to do a reduced range of motion.
Never Do the Same Reps
How to easily slow down the growth of arm muscles? This is to perform all the exercises one after another with minimal pauses.
Let's say you start your workout by lifting the barbell for biceps while standing. Without much thought, you then move on to supination dumbbell raises. And then you begin to pull the block. But here you load both hands: first with a barbell, then with dumbbells and another block. Do you think you vary the load? Nothing like this.
There is a common denominator in these three exercises, right? And although they are performed with different shells, the hands are in the same position. By and large, you perform 12 sets of the same movements.
Training at different angles, such as the bench press on a flat bench, with an incline down / up, will help you develop the muscles of the arms in a comprehensive way. You will have many options for training.
When the arms are in front of the body (isolated curls on the Scott bench), the long head of the biceps cannot be fully extended and the emphasis is on the short head. And, therefore, when the hands are behind the body (lifting dumbbells for biceps on an incline bench), the long head stretches well and can contract better, so the load will go on it.
Supination (palms from a neutral position rotate upwards as the arms are bent) and grip variation allow you to effectively diversify the training.
Don't use the same grip and grip width all the time
Grip/grip width also affects muscle growth. The long head of the biceps is located slightly away from the short head, so when the grip is within the width of the shoulders when lifting the barbell to the biceps, the load on the long head is accentuated. A grip slightly wider than shoulder width allows some load on the short head. By alternating your grip width from set/workout to set/workout, you'll get better performance on certain muscle groups.
Don't forget the brachialis, the muscle wedged between the biceps and triceps. An increase in its size has a positive effect on the overall development of the hands. The brachialis is loaded from the "hammers" exercise (either with the help of a lower pulley or with dumbbells), in which the palms are opposite each other in a neutral position.
"Hammers" also involve the brachioradialis, that is, the upper part of the forearm. The brachioradialis is also loaded with a reverse grip. With the help of three types of grip, a complete study of the muscles of the hands is ensured.
Do not raise projectiles high
A common mistake many biceps lifters make is to raise their arms too high when lifting weights in order to overcome the full range of motion (FROM). I have nothing against PAD, but in this situation, the front deltas are often included in the work. In fact, in the classic lifting of the projectile for biceps, the elbows should not “walk”, i.e. they must be stationary. Only the elbow joints are involved in the movement, which allows you to raise the projectile to the highest point located at shoulder level.
In order to lift more weight, athletes push their elbows forward, as a result of which the deltoids turn on. It turns out that this loads an extra muscle group and significantly reduces the load on the biceps at the top point of the amplitude.
For the best isolating effect, use classic exercises with a single-joint load on the biceps. Watch for any deviations in arm position as the elbows begin to protrude forward from heavy lifting.
Be selective about cheating in any form in order to stretch out the “pleasure” (difficult set) from time to time. However, you should not perform all repetitions with this kind of technique.
Do not shorten the range of motion due to too heavy weight
For the sake of gaining mass, it is important to increase the weight of weights over time. Many people are in a hurry to move to heavy weights, which is compensated by reducing the amplitude of movement.
The amplitude will not be complete if you have set yourself the goal of continuing to increase weight. Rushing to work with heavy weights can negatively affect the quality of flexion movements. For example, at the end of a set, you will only be able to do partial reps, where the biceps will not be fully stretched at the bottom, but will work from the middle of the RAP to the top. And, on the contrary, working with PAD will allow you to fully load and develop muscles.
It is wrong to take too heavy weight for biceps training. Often, the eccentric contraction is not brought to the end of the amplitude (when the arm is fully extended), while the arms are bent at an angle of about 90 degrees (or even less). If your biceps sticks out a lot even at the lowest point of the PAD (you can see it in the mirror), this means that the muscle has not been fully stretched.
If you end up doing all your bicep curls this way, just take a lighter weight and be careful to move your arms from almost full extension to full contraction on each rep. Reducing the amplitude in any exercise will slow down the overall growth of muscle mass.
Do not train biceps immediately after training your back
Some splits and training of large muscle groups (biceps / back) are used in one workout. It may well be that you have built your program so that you train a large muscle group after a small group (biceps after back). The biceps play an important role in the bench press and deadlift (in back training), so consider whether to exhaust them before starting heavy back exercises.
However, in the case of loading the biceps after training the back (which is a sinful bunch of guys), then by the time you just start pulling yourself up on the horizontal bar, the flexors of the arm muscles will already be overworked. Which muscle group do you think will “deflate” first in a heavy series of repetitions in the row with a barbell in an incline?
It is best to do biceps training 48 hours after training the back to avoid continuity (day-to-day) loads. Remember, muscle growth occurs during rest, for this reason, your split training should be structured in such a way that you do not train your back and biceps on consecutive days.
Do not load the forearms at the beginning of arm training
Do not try to train the forearms after the biceps, because the small forearm muscles are included in the rise to the biceps. If they are overworked, you won't even be able to hold a cup of tea, let alone sports equipment. Do reverse curls and wrist curls as the final part of your workout.
In short, never train your forearms before training any large muscle group (including your back) where a strong grip is required. The forearms belong to one muscle group, which should be worked on at the end of the workout.
Do not make up for the lack of intensity of loads with a long duration of training
Perhaps, many are familiar with the case when a person, in pursuit of large “banks”, pumps his biceps with all known types of exercises for two hours. Alas, no studies have proven the effectiveness of increasing the volume of training in ascending terms in terms of gaining muscle mass. That is, the longer (in one workout) you swing in the gym, the muscles will not become larger in proportions.
It is optimal to reduce biceps training to a half-hour duration, and for beginners, even less. But it's not the timing of the workout that works wonders, it's the exercise at the right weight/volume/reps, when training to failure, and at rest intervals.
If you are able to train your arms for more than half an hour, you probably do not load them too hard. You need to increase the intensity, not the volume, on every set. And this is the main point.
Don't focus on cheating
You could say endlessly and endlessly: "Do biceps curls in a clean manner." But what about when working with a very large weight of the bar? Let's discuss cheating and how to effectively apply it in training.
cheating
Thanks to the jerky movements, you will be able to overcome the dead point in the exercise, which for many is about half the RAP. In a standing position, it is easy to do this by swinging the body, when there is no strength left to lift the weight in a “clean” manner.
Remember that by recruiting a different muscle group, you are reducing the workload on the biceps, so try to minimize this reduction.
If you can't deal with the weight in a "clean" manner at the very beginning of the set, make a multi-joint exercise out of a single-joint exercise - this will help you immediately reduce the load on the biceps. In such a situation, it is not advisable to use a heavier weight if the biceps are not able to handle it even in one repetition. Therefore, your lower back and legs will come to the rescue. The more weight you take, the more other muscle groups will be worked out.
Although if you can do 6-7 reps. and then a few repetitions with cheating, in order to complete the approach, try to swing the body as little as possible. You will see that you managed to get past the “dead center” without harming your health, that is, cheating helped you make a PAD.
“Without damage to health” means in this case that you did not injure your back and did not receive other serious injuries from cheating. It is recommended to use a cheating technique with a low number of repetitions and under the control of a partner only for professional athletes.

The biceps is a biceps muscle located in the shoulders and hips. These muscles are characterized by small size, but they have an important role in providing motor activity.

The biceps is involved in many exercises, so all gym enthusiasts run the risk of serious damage to this part of the body, which is accompanied by severe pain.

If the biceps hurts after a workout, most likely during the exercise there was damage to this part of the body. Similar unpleasant situations can be associated with:

Ensuring excessive physical activity. This is fraught with the accumulation of lactic acid in excess quantities and the appearance of severe pain.
The lifestyle of a person involved in sports. An important role in the prevention of various kinds of sports injuries is played by the rejection of bad habits, the passage of massage courses and swimming. Only under the conditions of a responsible approach can the activation of metabolic processes in tissue structures and the enhancement of their ability to recover be ensured.

As sports practice shows, if the biceps of the arm hurt, then we can talk about such serious injuries as tears, which most often occur against the background of a single powerful physical load exerted on this area. Athletes professionally involved in tennis or throwing heavy objects are familiar with such injuries firsthand.

If the biceps hurts a lot, the cause of this unpleasant symptomatology may also be hidden in the development of tendonitis, an occupational disease of bodybuilders that manifests inflammation of the tendons that serve as a kind of connection between the upper part of the biceps and the shoulder.

This disease is most often associated with increased physical activity, microtraumas, which, in the absence of proper treatment, become the cause of inflammatory processes, as well as concomitant diseases (rheumatoid arthritis is considered the most common).

How to define a gap?

As already mentioned, most often the biceps muscle hurts due to ruptures that occurred against the background of excessive physical exertion. It is quite simple to determine the occurrence of a gap, because this pathology is manifested by the characteristic symptoms presented:

Sometimes an audible click or crunch that can be noticed at the moment of rupture.
Sudden appearance of sharp painful sensations in the shoulder. In the future, there is a gradual decrease in soreness and its complete disappearance after 3 weeks from the moment of injury.
Soreness and discomfort that are felt when trying to tighten the muscles.
The appearance of bruising on the shoulder from the front side. After 2-3 days, you can observe the gradual movement of the bruise, which expands and can reach the hand.
On palpation of the muscle, the appearance of characteristic soreness is also noted.
Weakness in the movements of the shoulder and elbow joints.
Difficulty turning the forearm.

Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to independently determine the injury, because this requires a qualified approach. Therefore, it is highly recommended to see a doctor if your biceps hurt. This should be done immediately to facilitate well-being and ensure proper recovery.

Of course, with any sports injury, a timely response is extremely important. But first you need to decide what type of damage we are talking about. So, the first action in case of ruptures should be the application of ice to the site of damage, followed by its fixation using a compressive bandage. It is necessary to ensure absolute rest of the injured limb and to exclude any of its movements.

After providing first aid, you should immediately contact a specialist. Unfortunately, many people ignore this requirement, which is a big mistake. Injuries such as ruptures need careful examination, because in some cases, treatment through surgery is required to preserve the functionality of the limb. Only a qualified specialist will be able to assess the degree of damage and determine the optimal treatment.

If the left biceps or right biceps hurts due to inflammation of the tendons, then appropriate drug therapy will be required to eliminate the symptoms. For this purpose, corticosteroids are injected into the damaged area, and additional methods of treatment are represented by electrophoresis.

Conclusion!

Any treatment is accompanied by a rehabilitation period of a certain duration. In order to avoid serious violations, it is extremely important to strictly follow all the prescriptions and recommendations of the attending physician.

Pain relief video

Articles on the topic " how to build biceps”, the Internet is just a dime a dozen. All of them are essentially correct and competently written from the point of view of the basics of bodybuilding. But no matter how much I read them, I couldn’t pump up my biceps. Intellectually, I understood that it was simple, but skillfully spoiled every workout of the biceps and skillfully slowed down its growth. I have already told how, contrary to genetics, I succeeded, but today's story I devote entirely to my mistakes. I hope you won’t repeat them and train your biceps correctly. So…

The theory of building a large biceps looks very primitive, and even boring: all exercises for biceps, with a barbell, with dumbbells, in simulators, are simple bends. Well, maybe with supination, to increase the peak load. It would seem that bend your arms, increase the weight of the burden and you will have big biceps. I've been doing this for many years, but the stubborn biceps did not grow. But after a while, I realized that it was not the biceps exercises themselves. No, the secret to building big biceps, as usual, was in the details.

Mistake in the set of muscle mass of the biceps No. 1 |along with the back

I trained for a long time using the most common and very practical three-time split:

It is still popular today and is logical in its own way. On one day, all the pressing muscle groups are trained, on the other, all the traction groups, a separate training day is allocated for the legs.

Perhaps someone could pump up biceps, training according to this scheme, but not me. And there were good reasons for this:

When I started training with exercises for such a large and strong muscle group as the back, I spent most of my energy on doing all kinds of pull-ups and deadlifts. And when the turn came to exercises for the biceps, I no longer had the strength for a full-fledged training of the biceps.

Most exercises for the back, in addition to the latissimus dorsi, actively include the muscles of the arms. And if I still found the strength to perform exercises for the biceps, after training the back, I overloaded my already tired hands with heavy barbell lifts. And since my forearms were also tired, I could only lift the barbell with the help of cheating. From an exercise for biceps, this exercise turned into something completely different, but absolutely useless for biceps.
The option to start with exercises for the biceps, and only then move on to training the back, was also a losing one. Having tired the biceps and forearms, it will no longer be possible to fully load the widest ones.

When I realized this, I began to look for other options for the distribution of muscle groups across training days. But the idea of pumping biceps after the chest muscles, although it was the best split option, was far from optimal. While striving and working especially hard on her top, I had to use a number of exercises that, in addition to the chest, also heavily loaded the biceps. I'm talking about the barbell press with a reverse grip and the reduction of the lower blocks in the crossover.

When training a small muscle group after a large one, as is customary in bodybuilding, we will still underload it. Or, on the contrary, as was my case, to overload the biceps, training it after the back.

The only way to train the whole body evenly, paying increased attention to all muscle groups, is specialization. That is, the development of a training program aimed at the enhanced development of one lagging muscle group. For example, hands.

I began to allocate one separate day, Saturday, for training biceps and triceps. The load on the rest of the muscles had to be reduced a little, but this is the case when you need to sacrifice something. Although from my own experience I will say that I did not notice a big drop in muscle volumes. This technique of concentrating on a lagging muscle group is called specialization, and I talked about it in more detail in my article: I highly recommend reading it.

And my training program for biceps for mass ceased to be traditional and took on this form:

This went on for six weeks, and during this period I managed to increase my arms, however, mainly due to triceps, by 1.5 cm. I still did not know how to effectively train biceps. But the principle of specialization I have since used repeatedly and always successfully.

Mistake in the set of muscle mass of the biceps №2 |Stereotypes in the choice of exercises

Probably no other muscle group suffers from conventional cliches as much as the biceps. And thanks for this, we must say in chorus not to anyone, but to Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. I myself once tried to copy his biceps training complex and, of course, nothing came of it.

Only very genetically gifted people can benefit from such programs. But one has only to "google" the phrase " How to pump up biceps?”, and 90% of the answers will contain this or a similar training complex:

– 4 x 10 reps
(mandatory 45°) – 4 sets of 10 reps
– 3 sets of 12 reps

Such an algorithm is a classic biceps training complex for mass, which is used by professional bodybuilders. And it's perfect for their hands. Probably, your biceps training scheme is very similar to it. But if you are reading my article now, it means that your biceps are in no hurry to respond to such a complex with rapid growth.

In order for the training complex to give the desired effect, it must be compiled taking into account your individual characteristics. It's like a suit bought in a store. If your figure is perfect, it will fit you perfectly. But if you are even slightly different from the generally accepted standards, the suit will have to be carried to the studio and adjusted to fit.

You probably know that the first thing you should always do is a basic, multi-joint exercise like lifting a barbell for biceps while standing. It's an axiom, it's a classic, it's right, everyone does it.

Do you think your biceps know this too? Our biceps do not read books and do not watch videos on the Internet, and the only thing they react to is stress. If the stimulus is very unusual and strong, our biceps will have to respond to it with an increase in strength and, in the optimal case, an increase in muscle mass.

But is it possible to say that an increase in the number of pancakes on the bar will be exactly that irritant? The first time is possible. And in the second? Can you increase the weight on the bar consistently? The answer seems obvious to me. When I realized this, I began to actively experiment at every workout, changing everything that was possible. And maybe a lot...

Managed stress is what it is, forcing the muscles to constantly respond to the load. You will begin to progress in gaining biceps muscle mass when you break free from generally accepted stereotypes and go beyond the generally accepted set of exercises.

Mistake in recruitment of muscle mass of the biceps №3 |Using excessive weights

In pursuit of muscle mass arms, we forget that the biceps is a rather small muscle. And she doesn’t need huge weights in exercises, but a targeted load. But understanding this simple truth was the most difficult for me.

Here in this photo, which is still walking the Internet, Arnold allegedly sets a record for lifting a barbell for biceps weighing 120 kg, performing it 20 times in a row. I say allegedly, since Schwarzenegger really used working weights of more than 110-120 kg in lifting the barbell for biceps, but it was more “public work” than a regular workout. And how much weight, in fact, he holds in the photo, we can only guess.

But still, this photograph, yellowed from time to time, eloquently says: “ Want pump up biceps“Get a heavier barbell!” Perhaps for people with Schwarzenegger genetics or modern bodybuilding stars, this works, but not for ordinary gym goers. For us, the first place in the struggle for the muscle mass of the arms is the ability to direct the load precisely to the biceps and nowhere else.

In fact, it is not the weight of the barbell or dumbbells that matters, but the time that the biceps will spend under load. The maximum number of muscle fibers is activated from the 40th second of the exercise. But the trouble is, doing 10 repetitions with a heavy barbell, we finish the approach much earlier. And as a result, the load on the biceps is not enough to cause an increase in it. muscle mass.

Try to train your biceps for a month doing regular exercises, but doing 20 repetitions in each set. Of course, the working weight will have to be significantly reduced, but here you will have to choose: either the number of pancakes on the bar or an increase in the volume of the biceps.

Mistake in recruitment of muscle mass of the biceps №4 |Supination neglect

The function of the biceps as a muscle is to bend the arm at the elbow joint and turn the hand outward. Each muscle group, be it the chest, back and legs, has its own point of peak contraction - the final moment of the trajectory of movement where the greatest number of muscle fibers are included in the work.

So, in the biceps, the peak contraction does not occur with the arm being raised, but when the hand is twisted outward (supination). And in this case, lifting the barbell for biceps while standing, sitting, on the Scott bench is a more losing option than lifting dumbbells with supination. And it's not even that this technique radically improves the shape of the biceps, adding height and peak to it. In the end, the shape of the biceps is a matter of genetics and if they are naturally flat, then they will never become tall.

The thing is different: in order to load the biceps by 100%, you need to twist the brush and freeze in this position for a couple of seconds. At this moment, the load on the muscle becomes maximum, peak.

But why, then, do all sets of exercises for biceps recommend starting training with heavy basic exercises, such as standing barbell lifts, and then, if strength remains, perform some kind of exercise with supination? In my experience, having exhausted your biceps, brachialis and forearms with heavy lifts, tired and exhausted your nervous system, it is unlikely that you will be able to get a return on supination. This is a very delicate work that requires the utmost mental and muscular concentration.

You can appreciate the beauty of this technique if you just change the usual order of doing exercises for biceps. And start the complex with the lifting of dumbbells with supination. Believe me, you will immediately feel the difference.

I change my set of exercises for biceps every workout. But still, I have a set of exercises that give me the most return. And although I constantly change the width of the grip, the angle of inclination, the number of repetitions, the order of execution, the list of these exercises remains unchanged. I described in detail the technique of the exercises I performed in the article "". Today I’ll only talk about the training algorithm itself and its nuances:

I start with a warm-up. The goal is to warm up the entire volume of the arm as much as possible and fill it with blood. I do a standing barbell curl superset + triceps pulldown. Three sets of 20 reps.
At each session, I choose a new main biceps exercise, which I perform in 7-8 sets.
I definitely do the supination exercise. If it comes second in the complex, and I'm already tired, I do it with a small weight, but I try to hold the inverted hand in the peak position until the biceps go numb. Usually it is 4-5 seconds.
I complete bicep workout one approach on any simulator. I'm trying to do 100 reps. They work exclusively in a shortened trajectory until I feel a strong burning sensation.
I stretch the right and left biceps, lingering in the stretched position for 20 seconds. All this is the final.

I suggest watching a video where Hidetada Yamagishi pumps biceps under the guidance of Charles Glass. When you watch the video, pay attention to the fact that they started training the biceps with dumbbell lifts from supination.

And at the end of my story, I want to repeat again: my program biceps workout It's not perfect and won't work for everyone. This is not the ultimate truth, but only my training program, which has been through years of suffering. My mistakes and decisions. But if my story about biceps training still turns out to be interesting and useful, I will be very happy. May the force be with you. And mass!

The biceps is considered a symbol of male strength and beauty and is often used to judge the overall development of muscles. That is why most beginners, when they come to the gym, spend their workout with exercises for the biceps. They pump it with dumbbells at different angles, flat and curved barbells, different types of blocks and simulators. They spend a lot of time and energy on this, but all this does not lead to visible results.

The reason for this is the wrong choice of methods for training the muscles of the hands.. Let's analyze the most common mistakes that prevent the achievement of real results and approaching the cherished dream.

“In order to become the proud owner of powerful biceps, you need to devote every workout to arm exercises”

Paradoxically, exercises aimed only at - a waste of time and effort. Beginner training, with an emphasis on performing exercises for biceps and triceps, will not lead to the desired result.

Even if you are trying your best and your heart is ready to jump out of your chest, you are sweating and breathing like a locomotive, you still will not be able to give your body enough stimulus to release what is required for growth.

The entire muscle mass as a whole should grow, and for this, first of all, you should load your legs and back. That is why coaches and experienced athletes unanimously say that if you decide to “pump up” the biceps, then you should do the base and squats.

The reason for this is the hormonal system of the human body. A large volume (of a hormone involved in the growth of muscle fibers) will be released only when most of the entire musculature is involved.

Although squats themselves cannot directly build arm muscle, they use more muscle mass than any other exercise and therefore release the maximum amount of testosterone.

2. Myth

“The use of blocks and simulators diversifies the study of different parts of the biceps and will help increase its muscle mass.”

Any exercises with flexion and extension of the arms on simulators and shells can in no way be associated with the maximum build-up and development of the muscle mass of the biceps. For maximum development effect, build on basic exercises with free weights. Leave the acrobatic movements and bizarre poses - such methods only distract you and stunt your growth.

No matter how hard you work on the block, it is impossible to determine exactly at what point the fatigue of the muscle fibers of the biceps occurs, since when exercising on the blocks, auxiliary muscles are actively included in the work.

Even if you do the exercise to obvious fatigue, then to a greater extent it is fatigue of the upper back, shoulders and forearms. The biceps remain undeveloped, although there is a feeling of their “pumping”. With the same volume of training with free weights, you will achieve much more results.

And in general, if you are a beginner, do not even think about!

3. Myth

“Using extreme weights allows you to build muscle mass faster and increase strength.”

If you choose a heavier projectile, it does not mean at all that you will immediately grow huge muscles. And newcomers to the gym look in the direction of huge dumbbells ...

Only the ideal technique allows you to concentrate efforts and fully load the desired muscle group.

If you set out to pump up big biceps, give up excessive buildup and. This will give you a good incentive for the full growth of muscle mass and save yourself the risk of injury.

More doesn't mean better. Strictly adhere to the rules of the exercise. If your technique is still far from ideal, discard 10% of the weight used and work out the execution technique with the optimal weight.

To hone your technique, practice in front of a mirror, or better with the help of a mentor. Who, if not a coach, can tell you about the nuances of the exercise. Proper technique will increase the effectiveness of your workouts and help you avoid injury in the gym.

4. Myth

“The ability to build biceps with push-ups from the floor.”

The push-up is a wonderful and useful exercise, however, when performing this exercise, the biceps play a minor role. Athletes with even a little understanding of anatomy know that doing push-ups from the floor is an exercise for developing triceps and pectoral muscles.

The illusion of pumping the biceps during push-ups is created by the fact that when performing this exercise, the biceps become filled with blood and visually become larger. In fact, the role of the biceps in this movement is only to briefly hold the body while lowering.

When doing push-ups, we lift our body up by extending our arms, due to the work of the triceps. The anatomical function of the triceps is an antagonist to the biceps - its opposite (the triceps extends the arm, and the biceps, on the contrary, flexes it).

And the negative phase of the exercise (lowering the body to the floor) is very short-lived and leads to a small static load on the biceps. Such a load is extremely insignificant and is not able to improve physical parameters - an increase in the strength indicators of the biceps and an increase in its muscle mass.

5. Myth

“Biceps and triceps exercises should be done at the end of the workout, as these are small muscle groups.”

Yes, most are built on the principle “from maximum to minimum”. In the first part of the training, exercises are planned that affect the maximum amount of muscle mass of the body (squats, deadlifts, bench presses), and in the second part, small muscle groups are worked out - biceps, abs and lower legs.

But, if you plan to improve the performance of a particular muscle group, exercises on them are performed at the very beginning of the lesson, when the body is full of strength and energy. If you do exercises on the arms or abdominals, tired of doing squats or deadlifts, then you will not be able to work them out efficiently and effectively.

In any case, remember that no training technique can work for a long period. Regardless of which program you follow, there comes a moment when the body, accustomed to monotonous loads, begins to perform exercises with minimal effort, straining an ever smaller amount of muscle tissue. You continue to study hard, but there is no progress and growth of indicators. If you do not urgently change the program and training methodology, then you can gradually come down to those physical indicators that you had before.

It's hard to screw up bicep curls, but many people manage to do it.

The recipe for pumped up arms is simple: bending, bending, bending. So primitive that it seems impossible to screw up. But many succeed.

If bodybuilding were really that simple, everyone would be walking around with huge cans (and I would probably be out of a job). In fact, a huge number of gym visitors make a lot of mistakes, and this helps me earn a living. I'd like to send a thank you card to each of them!

Seriously though, bicep curls aren't that easy. I have compiled nine common mistakes that everyone should be aware of. Work on them and you'll never stray off course into giant sleeve-ripping biceps.

1. Don't Start Your Workout With the Wrong Exercise

Is it possible to say that some exercises are more suitable for starting a workout? Definitely! As a general rule, I recommend starting with a multi-joint movement. However, this is hardly applicable to the biceps, because they even work in tandem with the back muscles. The choice of exercises, by and large, is limited to single-joint movements.

Among the single-joint exercises, you can find those in which you can lift significantly more working weight. This refers to bilateral standing movements that involve both heads of the biceps. , often performed while sitting, are at the opposite end of the range.

As an example, let's compare the working weight in lifting the barbell for biceps while standing and in concentrated bending sitting.

As an example, let's compare the working weight in standing and in. The first will be a great starting exercise for training biceps, the second is not suitable for these purposes. The standing barbell raise allows you to load your arms with maximum weight, because you can use a small momentum from the whole body to perform this movement. It’s just not worth abusing with an impulse, otherwise nothing will remain of the correct technique.

After choosing the right exercise, think about the load. If your goal is the maximum, after warming up, set the weight with which you get to failure in 8-12 repetitions. And since this is a starting exercise, you can even stop at the lower limit of this range.

2. Don't choose identical exercises

Do you want to buy a train ticket to the city of slow muscle growth? Choose exercises that are as similar as two drops of water.

Let's say you start your workout with a standing barbell lift. Then, without hesitation, move on to lifting the dumbbells with a supinated grip. So, why not add flexion to the cable machine? And you do. Barbell, dumbbells, cable. It's a good combination, isn't it? Not this way.

Do you see similarities between all three exercises? The equipment changes, but in all cases, your arms are in the same position relative to your torso. Ultimately, you end up with 12 sets of almost identical exercises.

Barbell, dumbbells, cable. It's a good combination, isn't it? Not this way

Using different angles of impact - this is the approach you use in chest training when working on horizontal and incline benches - will help to force the overall development of the musculature of the arms. And this opens up endless horizons of possibilities for you.

When the arms are in front of the plane of the body - during - the long head of the biceps cannot fully stretch, and the focus shifts to the short head. By analogy, when the arms are behind the plane of the body, as during, the long head is fully extended and can contract with great effort, making it the main target of the exercise.

A supinated grip (when the arms are turned outward from the neutral position) and different arm positions are other effective ways to add variety to your biceps workout.

3. Don't stop at one grip and one stance

The width and type of grip affect muscle activation. The long head of the biceps (which forms the so-called peak of the biceps) is outside the short head. Using a grip narrower than shoulder width in lifting the bar, you spur its development. Conversely, a very wide stance, significantly exceeding the width of the shoulders, places a short head in the center of the target. Varying your grip width between sets or workouts will give you a variety of training stimuli.

Let's not forget the brachialis, the muscle of the upper arm that lies under the biceps. Pumping its volume will also help increase the overall girth of the hands. To work out the shoulder muscle, you need to do in which the palms look at each other in a neutral position. They can be performed with dumbbells or on the lower block with a rope handle.

Bending with a hammer grip also loads the brachioradialis muscle, which is responsible for the volume of the upper part of the forearm from the side of the thumb. She actively works when using the upper grip in the exercise, which is also called. Training using all three grip options will provide the most complete development of the muscles of the hands.

4. Don't raise your arms too high

One of the common mistakes lifters make when doing biceps curls is trying to raise their arms as high as possible to get through the full range of motion. I am a big fan of full range training, but in our case, the movement is often performed using the front delts.

One of the most common mistakes lifters make when doing biceps curls is trying to raise their arms as high as possible to get through the full range of motion.

The fact is that we do basic biceps curls with the elbows pressed to the body, and the movement occurs only in the elbow joint. Biceps curls with proper technique allow you to lift the barbell to about shoulder height.

In an attempt to lift the projectile even higher, many athletes push their elbows forward. As soon as they do this, and the front deltas are immediately included in the work. This not only introduces another muscle group into the equation, but also creates a rest area for the biceps at the top of the movement, as the arms now rest on the extended elbows. Biceps tension is reduced to a great extent.

For better isolation, do not break the single-joint nature of the biceps exercises. Be aware of the tendency to push your elbows forward as you lift the projectile. From time to time, some form of cheating can be used to prolong the exhausting set, but don't do all your reps in this style.

5. Do not reduce the amplitude due to too heavy weight

To keep progressing, you need to gradually increase the weight, but so many people run ahead of the engine and compensate for this by shortening the range of motion.

If your main goal is to constantly lift the load, it is very possible that you are one of them. In the pursuit of weighting the projectile, you can easily sacrifice the trajectory of the movement, which means that in the end you will only do partial repetitions, not fully stretching the biceps in the lower phase, or not bringing the movement to the point of peak contraction. In contrast to this approach, work in the entire range of motion gives a more complete development of the muscles.

The most common mistake in biceps curls is too heavy a projectile. The eccentric phase often stops long before the arm is fully extended, when the elbows remain bent at 90 degrees or less. If your biceps are contracted at the bottom - check this by standing sideways to a mirror - you don't fully extend your arms.

If this is how you do most biceps curls, just take a lighter weight and remember that on each rep, the arms should go from almost full extension to full flexion. Shortening the range of motion in any exercise, not just biceps curls, limits muscle growth.

6. Don't train your biceps in front of your back muscles.

In some splits, the muscles that perform the pulling movements (biceps, back) are worked out on the same day. Most likely, you plan your workout in such a way that large muscle groups work in front of smaller ones (back in front of biceps). The biceps are comparatively small, but they are very important in pull-ups and pulling movements, so you might think to tire them out before heavy back exercises.

But if you do biceps exercises right before your back workout - which is something so many guys do - your arm flexors will be severely depleted before you even start your first pull-up. And in the hardest approaches to, which muscle group do you think will fail first?

It is better not to load the biceps for 48 hours before and after a back workout, that is, the day before or the next day

It is best not to load the biceps for 48 hours before and after a back workout, that is, the day before or the next day. Remember, muscles grow during rest, and the training split should be planned so that the back and biceps never work for two days in a row.

7. Don't start your arm workout with your forearms.

Never train the forearms to the biceps, because the humble muscles of the forearm are involved in many curls. Once these muscles are tired, it will be problematic for you to hold a cup of coffee in your hands, not to mention a heavy projectile. Save the reverse bends, and at the same time and or , for the final workout.

In general, do not load your forearms before training any large muscle group that requires a strong grip, including your back. The forearms should only be worked out at the end of a training session.

8. Don't make up for the lack of intensity by increasing the duration of your workout.

Who hasn't seen a guy who spends hours doing biceps exercises because he is determined to pump up powerful banks.

Unfortunately, not a single experiment has proven that exponentially increasing training volume leads to equally effective mass gain. Simply put, more work does not equate to greater results.

It's best to cut your biceps specific workout to 30 minutes - and even less if you're a beginner. But it's not about magical time reduction, but rather about the right exercise selection, sufficient volume of load, working weight and rep range, training techniques after muscle failure and rest intervals.

If you train your arms for more than 30 minutes (about 12-15 sets), most likely something is missing in your workout. Focus on increasing the intensity of each set and don't try to compensate by increasing the volume of the load. These two variables are not equal.

9. Don't Just Cheat Curls

I could write "use proper bicep curl technique" a thousand times and you'd still be putting too many plates on the bar. So let's talk about cheat curls and how to successfully integrate them into your workout.

Bending with cheating

A little momentum from the body can help you get past the dead spot that most of us find somewhere in the middle of our range of motion. If you are standing, you can push the bar a little with a subtle movement of the hips, which from repetition to repetition will become more and more obvious, because fatigue accumulates. But remember, by engaging other muscle groups, you reduce the load on the biceps, so this factor should be minimized.

If you take a working weight that you can’t technically complete even the first rep with, you immediately turn a single-joint exercise into a multi-joint one, and this instantly reduces the load on the biceps. In such a situation, it makes no sense to use a lot of weight, because the biceps are not able to cope with the load even in one repetition, which means that the difference is compensated by the lower back and legs. Increasing the working weight simply equals more activation of other muscle groups.

However, if you can complete 6-7 reps on your own and then do a couple of cheat reps to extend the set while minimizing body sway, you will see that it is safe to get past the point where the set could have ended.

I use the word "safe" with great reserve, since the risk of back injury, and serious injury, increases with the severity of cheating. Cheating lifts should only be performed by experienced athletes, and then only a few repetitions with a controlled degree of cheating.