Ono's guide to building muscle - Biceps

[ono]

Alright after trawling through the trainer board i've seen enough bodybuilding themed questions to create a thread containing the only exercises you'll ever need to maximize muscle growth.

First up is everybody's favourite - Biceps


I don't think i need to go into the appeal of having bulging biceps. The appeal is obvious. Instead i'm going to go into the main problems people come across when training their biceps. From my experience, when a guy's training his biceps, the first thing he goes for is the barbell curl or EZ bar curl. The problem with this exercise is, for a lot of people, the standard curl doesn't really directly effect the bicep. Anatomical make-up plays a big part in this, but for a lot of people the brachialis takes over (which runs underneath the outer part of the bicep). The brachialis is the muscle which is repsonsible for drawing the hand toward the shoulder. Obviously as the resistance is increased, the muscle fibers of the bicep come into play...which is where increased bicep size should stem from. Unfortunately, for most people the brachialis takes most of the stress which means that bicep function is actually limited.

The simple solution would be 'add more weight' which in turn should increase the biceps function in the exercise. Unfortunately lifting very heavy weights with a bar often results in extremely sore forearms. Again this is down to the efficiency of the brachialis. The fact that the brachialis takes the majority of the strain unfortunately results in limited bicep stimulation.

Solution: eliminate the brachialis as much as possible

The best way to prevent the brachialis from taking the strain would be to perform a curl while leaning backwards. Obviously due to gravity wanting to sit you down on your ass the only way this would be possible would be to use a bench.

The exercise

Lie back on a bench that's set at an angle of 45 degrees or lower. Dangle your arms(using dumbells, palm facing forwards) down behind your body and curl upwards. Maintain the forearm position throughout the flexion/extension. Keep the elbow still and behind the body and curl the weight all the way up, then slowly lower it to the starting position. Thsi position puts your arms in their weakest position.

Dumbbell Incline Curl

The above link shows you how to perform this exercise. I prefer to have my palms facing forwards. The link shows the exercise with palms facing inwards. Either way the bicep is the main contributor....rather than the brachialis.