The SMARTEST Way to Train Biceps (SCIENCE BASED)

Summary

In 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

00:00

💪 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.

05:00

📊 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.

10:00

🚫 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.

Keywords

💡Bicep Training

Bicep Training refers to a set of exercises designed to strengthen and develop the bicep muscles in the upper arm. The video's theme revolves around effective bicep training techniques, emphasizing the importance of proper form and variety in exercises to avoid common mistakes and maximize muscle growth. An example from the script is the discomfort test to gauge bicep effectiveness, which is a self-assessment method related to bicep training.

💡Curl

A curl is a type of weightlifting exercise that targets the bicep muscles by lifting a weight while bending the elbow. The script discusses various curl techniques, emphasizing the need to slow down repetitions for better muscle recruitment and the importance of wrist position during curls to ensure bicep engagement rather than relying on other muscles.

💡Muscle Motor Units

Muscle motor units are the basic functional units of muscle contraction, consisting of a motor neuron and the muscle fibers it innervates. The script mentions recruiting more motor units as a benefit of slowing down curl repetitions, which means engaging more muscle fibers in the bicep training for increased effectiveness.

💡Wrist Extension

Wrist extension is the movement of the wrist that straightens the arm, which can affect the focus of a bicep curl exercise. The script explains that allowing wrist extension during a curl can lead to a stronger position and more effective bicep contraction, contrary to the common advice of keeping the wrist straight.

💡Bicep Motor Units

Bicep motor units specifically refer to the motor units that are responsible for the contraction of the bicep muscles. The video emphasizes the importance of isolating and effectively working these motor units during bicep exercises to achieve better growth and avoid relying on other muscles like the brachialis and brachioradialis.

💡Volume

In the context of weight training, volume refers to the total amount of work done during a set or series of sets, often measured by the number of sets multiplied by the number of repetitions and weight used. The script suggests that focusing on exercise variation rather than high volume can lead to better bicep gains.

💡Supination

Supination is the rotation of the forearm so the palm faces forward, which is a key component of bicep curls. The script explains that overloading supination during curls can help differentiate the bicep work from other elbow flexors and lead to better bicep stimulation.

💡Eccentric Contraction

An eccentric contraction is a type of muscle contraction where the muscle lengthens while under tension, typically as the weight is lowered in a resistance exercise. The script recommends focusing on slow eccentric contractions during curls to build muscle more effectively.

💡Mechanical Drop Set

A mechanical drop set is a training technique where the weight is progressively reduced after reaching failure, allowing for additional repetitions beyond the point of muscle fatigue. The script describes this method as a way to push beyond normal limits and stimulate new muscle growth.

💡Purgatory Reps

Purgatory reps involve maintaining the most challenging part of an exercise while the other working arm continues to perform the movement. The script introduces this technique as a way to increase the workload on the bicep muscles, driving more stimulus and overload during training.

💡Biomechanics

Biomechanics is the study of the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organisms. In the context of the video, biomechanics refers to understanding the body's movement and structure during exercises to perform them more effectively and safely, which is crucial for proper bicep training.

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

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