The SMARTEST Way to Train Biceps (SCIENCE BASED)
Summary
TLDRIn this fitness-focused video, Jeff Cavalier from ATHLETE.com addresses common bicep training mistakes and offers expert advice for more effective workouts. He emphasizes the importance of proper weight lifting techniques, slow and controlled repetitions, and wrist positioning to maximize bicep engagement. Jeff also discusses the necessity of varying exercise types to target both the short and long heads of the bicep, debunking the myth of a 'magic' exercise and advocating for a balanced approach to bicep development.
Takeaways
- 💪 To assess bicep effectiveness, try to elicit cramping by bending the elbow and twisting the wrist in various positions.
- 🏋️♂️ Slow down bicep curls to 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down to recruit more bicep motor units and avoid relying on other muscles.
- 🤲 Keep wrists straight during curls to focus on bicep contraction, rather than bending them back which takes the forearm out of the exercise.
- 🤔 Vary bicep exercises to target both the short and long heads of the biciceps, as each has different responsibilities for arm shape and size.
- 🚫 Avoid falling in love with a single 'magic' bicep exercise; instead, mix up exercises to ensure comprehensive bicep development.
- 🤹♂️ Incorporate alternating dumbbell curls to address potential muscle imbalances and reduce core strain during bicep training.
- ⚡️ Utilize supination overload in curls to differentiate bicep training from other elbow flexors and enhance bicep stimulation.
- 🔄 Experiment with advanced techniques like sliced reps, slow reps, Purgatory reps, and mechanical drop sets to increase bicep training effectiveness.
- 📈 Prioritize exercise variation and biomechanics over sheer volume to stimulate muscle growth and avoid plateaus.
- 🔄 Focus on the quality of each repetition, paying attention to the tension delivered to the bicep muscle throughout the entire movement.
- 🌐 For a complete bicep training program, consider visiting aex.com for science-backed routines and supplementation advice.
Q & A
What is the initial test for bicep effectiveness mentioned in the script?
-The initial test involves bending the elbow and squeezing the bicep as hard as possible to feel discomfort. If not felt, the wrist is twisted and turned out to elicit cramping discomfort. Finally, lifting the elbow with a twisted wrist may help identify the discomfort.
Why is it important to slow down the repetitions during bicep exercises?
-Slowing down repetitions helps recruit more motor units, specifically bicep motor units, ensuring that other muscles like the brachialis radialis and brachialis are not doing the job. This leads to more effective and targeted bicep contractions.
What is the recommended tempo for bicep curls in the script?
-The script suggests a tempo of 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down for bicep curls to ensure a slow and controlled movement, enhancing muscle engagement.
Why should wrist position be considered during bicep curls?
-The wrist position can affect the involvement of the bicep muscles. Keeping the wrist straight helps focus on bicep contraction, while bending the wrist backwards can reduce the involvement of the forearm muscles in the exercise.
What is the significance of bicep muscle heads in exercise selection?
-The bicep has two heads, the short head and the long head, which are responsible for different aspects of arm appearance. Varying exercises can help target these heads differently, affecting the width and peak of the bicep.
How does the shoulder joint's involvement affect bicep exercises?
-The long head of the bicep crosses the shoulder joint, which means that exercises involving shoulder extension can provide a greater stretch and recruit more muscle fibers, leading to stronger contractions.
What is the mistake of focusing too much on one type of bicep curl?
-Focusing only on one type of curl, such as stretch-focused exercises, can neglect other important factors that contribute to bicep development, such as muscle overload and varied exercise selection.
Why should one avoid doing bicep curls with both arms simultaneously?
-Doing curls with both arms at the same time can mask muscle imbalances and place additional demand on the core for stabilization, potentially reducing the effectiveness of the bicep workout.
What is the importance of supination in bicep training?
-Supination differentiates the bicep from other elbow flexors and overloading it during curls can lead to better bicep stimulation and more effective training.
What are some advanced techniques mentioned in the script to enhance bicep training?
-Advanced techniques include sliced reps, slow repetitions with high focus on tension, Purgatory reps for maintaining the hardest part of the exercise, and mechanical drop sets to go beyond failure.
What is the final bonus tip for making bicep workouts more effective?
-The bonus tip is to implement varied rep techniques such as sliced reps, slow reps focusing on tension, Purgatory reps, and mechanical drop sets to drive more stimulus and overload to the biceps.
Outlines
💪 Assessing Bicep Training Effectiveness
The paragraph introduces a self-test for bicep training effectiveness, suggesting the viewer to squeeze their bicep and twist their wrist to elicit cramping discomfort, which indicates muscle engagement. It then introduces Jeff Cavalier, a fitness expert, who points out common mistakes in bicep training, emphasizing the importance of proper weight lifting technique and slow, controlled repetitions to effectively target bicep muscles rather than relying on momentum or other muscles. The summary also highlights the incorrect belief that more curls lead to bigger biceps, suggesting instead a focus on varied curl exercises to target different bicep regions.
📊 Understanding Bicep Anatomy and Exercise Variation
This paragraph delves into the anatomical differences between the short and long heads of the bicep, explaining how their unique attachments affect the choice of exercises for training. It discusses the impact of shoulder joint position on bicep stretch and muscle fiber recruitment, advocating for a mix of exercises that target both heads of the bicep. The summary also addresses the myth of a 'magic' bicep exercise, stressing the importance of varied training to ensure comprehensive bicep development without overemphasis on any single exercise.
🚫 Common Mistakes in Bicep Training Routines
The paragraph continues to outline common mistakes in bicep training, including the tendency to perform curls with both arms simultaneously, which can mask muscle imbalances and place unnecessary strain on the core. It also discusses the importance of not overlooking the opportunity to overload supination during curls to differentiate bicep training from other elbow flexor exercises. The summary wraps up with a bonus tip, encouraging the use of varied techniques such as sliced reps, slow repetitions, Purgatory reps, and mechanical drop sets to enhance bicep training effectiveness.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Bicep Training
💡Curl
💡Muscle Motor Units
💡Wrist Extension
💡Bicep Motor Units
💡Volume
💡Supination
💡Eccentric Contraction
💡Mechanical Drop Set
💡Purgatory Reps
💡Biomechanics
Highlights
A self-test for bicep training effectiveness by squeezing bicep and twisting wrist to elicit cramping discomfort.
The importance of slowing down repetitions in bicep exercises for better muscle recruitment.
Maintaining a straight wrist during curls to maximize bicep contraction.
Allowing wrist extension during curls for a stronger grip and more effective bicep training.
The myth of high volume being the key to bicep gains debunked in favor of exercise variation.
Understanding the anatomical differences between the short and long head of the bicep for targeted training.
The impact of shoulder joint position on bicep muscle activation and exercise selection.
The benefits of alternating dumbbell curls for addressing muscle imbalances and core strength.
Avoiding the common mistake of doing curls with both arms simultaneously to prevent compensating with a stronger arm.
The role of supination in differentiating bicep training from other elbow flexors.
Techniques to overload supination during bicep exercises for better muscle stimulation.
The concept of 'sliced reps' as a novel method for increasing bicep training intensity.
Incorporating slow-motion training to enhance muscle tension and focus in bicep exercises.
Utilizing 'Purgatory reps' to increase the workload on biceps during alternating dumbbell curls.
Mechanical drop sets as a method to push beyond failure for new muscle growth.
The importance of not falling in love with a single 'magic' bicep exercise and maintaining a varied routine.
A comprehensive approach to bicep training that includes varied exercises, focus on biomechanics, and advanced training techniques.
Transcripts
I'd like you to try something very
quickly for me that will tell me a lot
about how effective your bicep training
is right now and it starts by just
simply bending your elbow and squeezing
your bicep as hard as you possibly can
and what I'm looking for here is a
discomfort that would be what we want if
you don't get it then twist your wrist
over a little bit more and turn it out
and see if that elicits that cramping
discomfort if it still doesn't do it
then lift the elbow up just to about
here holding on to that Twisted wrist
and see if that elicits a discomfort now
whether or not you had the discomfort
down here here or even up here or not at
all tells me a lot about the way that
you should be performing your bicep
exercises what's up guys Jeff Cavalier
aex.com when it comes to building big
biceps if you're watching this video
you're likely making some mistakes but
that's okay because that's where I come
in to help you out and I'm going to
point out the six biggest ones that I
see almost everybody make every single
day and it starts with not lifting the
weight the right way if you're doing
this on a curl you're not doing it right
it's because most of us simply focus on
moving from point A to point Z not
realizing that the real benefit of the
exercise is learning how to hit every
single letter in between you need to
slow every repetition down and I don't
care if that means you need to sacrifice
some of the weight you're using on any
of the curl exercises you're doing 4
seconds up 4 seconds down is a good
place to start you're actually
recruiting more motor units to the
exercise at hand and more specifically
bicep motor units we're not just letting
the other muscles or the other elbow
flexors like the brachia radialis and
brachialis do the job you're learning
how to contract your way through the
exercise and by doing so you get more
effective repetitions every single one
you do if you're not doing any of this
slow motion training right now then I
highly encourage you to implement at
least one or two sets and I promise you
you'll feel it better and ultimately
you'll look better because of it which
brings me mistake number two and since
I've got you doing some demonstrations
for me I want you to do one more this
one's simple this time when you curl I
want you to keep your wrist straight
with your fingers straight up and down
and I want you to feel that contraction
I just talked about as you pull up now
contrast that with bending your wrist
backwards even as you fix it from the
top here you should automatically feel a
much stronger contraction but I want you
to do it as you curl up you start to
bend that wrist back and if you don't
get that cramping feeling before you
might actually start feeling it right
away why is this happening because the
extension of the wrist will help to take
some of the forearm out of the exercise
and though that may not be that big a
deal for people who want bigger forearms
I can guarantee you if you're trying to
get bigger biceps it's a problem you
focus too much on maintaining this
stable wrist here and that's causing you
to take away some of the focus on just
lifting the weight as a physical
therapist I'm telling you right now
there's nothing wrong with allowing
wrist extension as you lift the bar up
it's actually quite natural if I was
going to push against something I'm
going to do it with a slightly extended
wrist because that's the strongest
position of the wrist so allowing
yourself to get into a stronger wrist
position is not going to all of a sudden
of disintegrate the bones in your wrist
carry that bar in the middle portion of
your palm right here not in the distal
portion of your fingers and you'll not
only have a more effective curl on every
single repetition you do but you'll
actually have a more biomechanically
correct curl mistake number three is
actually a big one and it's not really
your fault because it's based on the
advice you've been given but it doesn't
make it any less of a mistake and you
need to fix it and then You' likely been
told that hey look it doesn't matter how
many curls you do just stick to a few
basic ones however make sure you're
doing enough of them because volume is
what really drives bicep gains no it's
not as a matter of fact I'd rather see
you do far less sets of bicep training
and focus more on the variation of the
curl that you're doing because all curls
are not the same see if I break out my
old trusty muscle markers I can show you
exactly what I'm talking about we know
that if you look at the bottom half here
of the bicep I could actually basically
find this little split right about here
and that I could trace right down of
course go all the way up to the top but
this right here would be the short head
of my bicep okay and what this is
responsible for you can see is the width
of the arm will looked at from the front
of course with the brachialis too but
it's that overhang that comes in this
direction that the short head of the
biceps is responsible for and then we
could take the red marker and basically
fill in the blanks with everything
around that's left and you'll see that
this which we call the long head is
responsible more for the height right
the peak of the biceps where whether I
look at it from here it's what you see
at the top whether I look at it from
here and again if I look at it from this
side here it provides quite a big peak
when look that from behind well it's not
necessarily what's going on in the front
side that should be of interest to you
it's what's going on inside the shoulder
joint that really makes the difference
between the exercise choices here
because the attachments matter the short
head of the bicep the one over here
attaches lower down to the scapula but
at a lower point the cor cor process
whereas the long head of the Bice step
attaches further actually crosses the
shoulder joint and attaches to the top
of that joint well what's the difference
the one that crosses the shoulder joint
actually has an impact on the exercises
you do because if you place that
shoulder into extension you'll get
greater stretch which can help to
recruit more muscle fibers to the
exercise so stronger contractions so
making sure that not all of your bicep
workouts are focused on either one type
or the other but including both and
again you could do fewer sets if you've
got more of that representation across
both heads of the biceps so what are we
looking at Arms out exercises ones with
your arms in front of you are going to
generally be more short head focused why
because with the arm out in front your
shoulders in some flexion you're taking
away some of that stretch benefit and
preactivation that would contribute more
to the Long Head being a little bit more
preferentially active remember this is
not about isolating one head versus the
other this is about preferentially
impacting one a little bit more than the
other whereas exercises that have your
arms back behind your body like an
incline curl are going to give you a
chance to get get a little bit more of
that stretch to focus a little bit more
on the long head another guideline for
you could be this and it's very simple
what you see is what you train so if you
look in the mirror and you're seeing the
inside portion or the short head of the
biceps by doing exercises like a no
money curl for instance you're going to
be training a little bit more of the
short head of the biceps whereas if you
have your arms turned in a little bit
more with an exercise like the waiter
curl or even with a drag curl you're
going to see that the long head is more
visible to you from the front and
therefore the exercise is a little bit
more effective at heading the long head
you need to vary your exercise selection
but you don't have to do it at the
expense of lots and lots of extra sets
hone in on that volume and broaden the
variety a little bit and I promise you
you're going to get better results now
can we talk about mistake number four
and that is falling in love with the
wrong magic exercise because there is
none as a matter of fact though I just
talked about the benefits of a incline
curl for adding stretch to an exercise
can we stop falling in love with stretch
only exercises because it's only one
small piece of the puzzle and ignoring
all the other factors that contribute to
a good exercise is really a big problem
hell I just told you how you need to mix
the exercises up to focus more on long
head and short head variability well
focusing on just a stretch exercise
would kind of eliminate a lot of the
short head Focus exercises not a good
thing if I gave you only one curl to do
for the rest of your life and that's the
only one you can do would you truly
choose an incline dumbbell curl and be
honest probably not because what you
should be choosing is still still a
heavy barbell curl with a good Ecentric
Focus what I mean is a good cheat curl
with a slow Ecentric on the way down why
because that will build muscle 10 times
out of 10 more than any stretch focused
exercise will because the stretch focus
is only one piece of the puzzle like I
just said when you take a heavy barbell
curl and you lower the weight down
you're getting an elongation of that
muscle you are stretching the muscle
you're just not in its terminally
stretched state in other words the last
20° behind the body you're not getting
that portion but you're still elongating
the muscle under tension but with a much
heavier load than you could in any
incline dumbbell curl I can pose the
same question to you about tricep
training and intuitively you're going to
know the answer whether you want to
admit it or you don't and that is if I
gave you one tricep exercise to do would
you choose a good heavy skull crusher or
would you choose a single dumbbell
overhead arm extension that fully
stretches the tricep I'm not saying that
there's not a benefit again there's a
big benefit to getting that long head of
the biceps under some focused attention
but it's not to do it at the expense of
everything else and it's the combination
of that accumulated tension that drives
greater hypertrophy if you actually
allow it to and again there's no studies
out there yet that show a good heavy
cheek curl versus an incline curl
because I know when they do they're
going to find what I'm saying to be true
guys don't fall in love with any magic
exercise just make sure you're doing
enough of them to round out your biso
training and that brings me to mistake
number five who
who oh there's seven there's seven not
six not six what do we title the video
six so six in a bonus six in a bonus and
that brings us to mistake number five of
six in a bonus and that is always doing
your curls both arms at a time because
when we do this we actually create a
little bit of a problem in terms of
overloading and addressing muscle
imbalances if you were to do a typical
barbell curl because the hands are
tethered together by holding the barbell
itself you don't really know whether one
arm is weaker than the other CU even if
it's just a little bit maybe 5 or 10% of
a discrepancy the one stronger arm is
going to be enough to carry you through
and keep that bar level so you don't
really see the difference but you still
want to address them but the other thing
is you're introducing a secondary demand
that could be undercutting your bicep
performance and that is a weak core when
you curl the bar at once let's say
you're curling 95 lb that's 95 lbs that
your body has to stabilize because it's
moving you in that Direction so the only
way to do that is by having a strong
core that can keep you upright if I
instead lift dumbbells I can take half
the weight 40 or 45 lbs in each hand and
now I only have to control 45 lbs moving
in that direction so the core demands
are a lot less the other interesting
thing that you might find is that by
splitting the weight up and doing
alternating dumbbell curls you might
actually be able to handle a sum total
with both dumbbells that's heavier than
the barbell weight you using because of
this weak core just don't let your Corby
what undermines your ability to B bigger
biceps but at the same time don't avoid
the barbell altogether because we know
its benefits mistake number six of six
and now a bonus is forgetting to take
the opportunity to overload superation
when you curl and this is most impactful
on your bicep banded and cable exercises
and the reason is very simple because
the supination is the main
differentiator between the biceps and
those two other flexors of the elbow the
brachialis and the Brach radialis if you
actually include superation but not just
do that overload it you're going to get
better results from your bicep training
so this is what I'm talking about when I
go and lift the dumbbell up a lot of us
will actually just prenate we get in
this position right here and we just
lift it up like this and we curl it in
this supinated position but we're
missing an opportunity to overload
superation and all I have to do to do
that is just slide my grip from the
middle of the dumbbell to the far end of
the dumbbell if I grab it right up
against the end here and hold it like
that the tilting of the dumbbell is
naturally occurring because the weight
wants to fall this way it's like a
seesaw if I have the weight down I have
to lift it up this way by actively
suating so if I go back now to doing my
traditional curls with this in this
position here as I lift I have to
overload superation if I can overload
superation and flexion at the same time
then I can get a better exercise and
again it's not limited to just the
double exercises I could do this by how
I wrap the cable around my hand and how
I also wrap the band around my hand if I
do it like this I'm able to get that
offset load which forces me to get more
active superation and again better bicep
stimulation and now for the bonus tip
for you guys who want to know okay what
can I do that's going to make my bicep
workouts much more effective well since
we know that yes the variation in curls
is important the biomechanics of the
curl are pretty much the same so where
we get a lot of the stimulus for growth
is how we do the exercises we do and the
first thing I recommend is something we
call sliced reps it's very different
than you've ever done if you haven't
tried them and what we do is we take a
weight we can do for about 15 reps on
the curl and instead of just dropping
them all the way down we just drop it
one nth of the way because what we're
trying to do is divide this rep into
nine different pieces now I bring them
back up to the top and this time I
divide it into eight pieces in the same
way and the next time I divide into
seven pieces all the way down until I
have just two pieces halfway down back
to the top and all the way down back to
the top and that's my set the next thing
we could do is increase that time by
again doing what I showed before and
that is just slowing down the
repetitions again I recommended you do
this on every single workout you do try
one set of deliberately trying to go
really slow with really high focus on
the tension you're delivering to the
muscle in every single inch of the
repetition not just every rep but every
inch of the repetition we also can do
something called Purgatory reps and here
we're just maintaining the hardest part
of the exercise while the other arm is
actually quote unquote working so what
we do is we start with both arms held in
the middle of the repetition ition we
drop one arm down curl it all the way up
and then stop and hang out in purgatory
in that hard portion of the rep while we
then initiate the movement on the other
side so while one arm is technically
doing the motion of the rep both arms
are certainly working here and it's
another way to drive more stimulus and
more overload to the biceps and of
course we can do one of my all-time
favorites which is a mechanical drop set
starting with some variation of a strict
curl here done up against the wall that
when I reach fatigue I'm not done I can
go Beyond failure Now by allowing some
body cheat so a little bit of body
English get that weight up to the top
and focus again on those Ecentric
contractions knowing that the Ecentric
is going to be stronger and more durable
than those concentric contractions which
allows me to go beyond what I'm
typically used to which again is a good
driver for New Growth so guys I hope I
helped you to fix a lot of the mistakes
that you're making right now it's okay
to make them it's just more important
that you fix them and now you have a fix
for them if you're looking for a
complete program guys we apply the
biomechanics to what we do you can find
them over at aex.com we put the science
and strength and also back in
supplementation they're available over
there as well make sure you subscribe
turn your notifications so you don't
miss a video when we put one out all
right guys see you soon
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)