The biceps is a muscle with two heads, as its name describes (bi = two; ceps = heads). Both are activated at the same time when we flex our elbows, for example when we drink water. However, there are certain exercises that emphasize more on one or the other, in addition to focusing more on different parts of each of these heads. These are the tricks that you can introduce in your biceps workouts to attack all its parts.
Arm position influences biceps activation
Arms at the side or arms in front of the body
When we perform a normal biceps curl, we have our arms at our sides while we bend our elbows. in this position we activate the short head more than the long headalthough both are activated in any exercise in which an elbow flexion is performed.
When we have the arm in front of the body as it happens with the spider curl that we can see in the following video, the same thing happens with the short head, being more protagonist than the long head.
It is because the short head works more from 90º of elbow flexion to the end of the movement. When we have our arms glued to the side, we find the point of maximum tension just at 90º of elbow flexion.
when we have the arms in front of the body maximum tension occurs near the end of the movementthat is, the end costs us more.
arms behind the body
In this position, the opposite of the previous two positions occurs. The long head of the biceps brachii is activated to a greater extent than the short head. This biceps musculature participates especially from 0º (extended elbows) to 90º of elbow flexion (right in the middle of the movement).
The position of the hands influences the activation of the biceps
Neutral or prone grip for more short head activation
The the way we grip the load could also play a role in activating a head slightly more or another of the biceps. A neutral grip (palms facing each other) with exercises like the biceps hammer curl we saw in the previous video can activate the short head more.
A reverse grip, technically called a prone grip, also helps to activate the short head a bit more. It occurs in exercises such as reverse grip lat pulldown biceps curls.
Supine grip for more long head activation
A supine grip (palms facing the ceiling) favors the activation of the long head. This type of grip is the one executed with the barbell biceps curl, for example.
Combine different arm and hand positions to target the entire biceps
When doing your biceps training it is It is recommended that you use the three arm positions discussed above: elbows close to the side; elbows in front of the body; and elbows behind the body.
Also we will modify the grip with which we hold the load, so that in some exercises the palms will face the ceiling (supine), in others the palms will face each other (neutral) and in other exercises the palms will face the ground (prone).
Combining all possible arm and hand position options we will cover a full biceps workout that attacks the two heads of the biceps and that has exercises where the beginning costs us more, others where the intermediate zone costs us more and in others the end will cost us more.
Maximum peak tension at the end of the exercise
When we have the arms in front of the body in exercises like the spider curl or the Scott bench curl, The final zone of the exercise is more difficult for us, that is, when the load is as high as possible. The beginning and middle part won’t be much of a challenge, but it will appear in the final range of the movement.
Maximum peak of tension in the middle of the exercise
A typical biceps curl has the moment where more work it costs us to lift the load right in the middle of the journey, when the arm forms 90º. It is where the point of failure of this exercise usually occurs, being able to perform the initial part and the final part with greater ease than that central part.
Maximum peak tension at the beginning of the exercise
when we have the arm behind the side we find the beginning of the exercise as the most expensive part of it. This is because the muscle is at its maximum stretch, and it is weakest in that position. Exercises like the seated incline bench curl is an example of this situation.
Practical application
In all exercises to stimulate the biceps, the same movement is performed: an elbow flexion. What will modify this stimulus will be the position of our arms and our handswhich in turn will make the muscle stretch more or less, and the initial, middle or final part will be more expensive.
The objective to be achieved is perform exercises in all possible positions instead of repeating exercises that suppose for our arms to repeat the same sensation. Doing a dumbbell biceps curl, another barbell curl, and then a cable biceps curl will change the load on the biceps very little.
This muscle does not know if you are using a barbell, a dumbbell or a water bottle as a load. What our biceps know is that it is more or less stretched and that it is in different positions when executing the exercises.
Training taking advantage of these tricks will be a more effective in increasing muscle mass, since we stimulate more muscle fibers, thus favoring protein synthesis and making us gain muscle faster.
In Vitónica | Five exercises to work your biceps and triceps without the need for equipment
Images | istock