Ah, biceps – one of the most desired muscle groups in existence. Next to an armor plate chest and washboard abs, building a set of cannonball biceps is a goal of many trainees. But despite the muscle\u2019s seemingly simple appearance, optimized training is a bit more complex than \u201cJust do a bunch of curls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Situated on the front side of the upper arm is the bicep, which produces elbow flexion (bending the arm). For example, if you grab a dumbbell and curl it, your bicep will do most of the work (1<\/a>). The bicep also assists with wrist supination (rotating your wrist out and having your palm facing the ceiling), which you can add near the top of a bicep curl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n As its name suggests, the bicep has two heads – the long outer<\/a> and short inner. Both heads originate from the scapula, cross the shoulder joint, and insert into the elbow and forearm. Because of their origin point, our shoulder position influences the bicep (2<\/a>). For instance, bringing your arm back lengthens the bicep, leading to a better stretch. The bicep muscle group is also home to the brachialis – an independent muscle that assists with elbow flexion (3<\/a>). The brachialis is relatively large but is situated underneath our biceps, which is why we can\u2019t typically see it. The muscle is primarily visible on the outer side of the arm (between the bicep and tricep) when the person is relatively lean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A pair of solid biceps is beneficial because the muscle group plays an essential role in elbow flexion. Most notably, this means we can curl more weight, allowing us to grow more and do more pull-ups. For instance, in one paper, researchers found that pre-exhausting the bicep resulted in significantly fewer repetitions in a pulldown exercise (4<\/a>). Pre-exhaustion is about tiring out a muscle group before immediately jumping into another exercise. So, it\u2019s logical to assume that the bicep plays a vital role in back training<\/a>. We often see workouts that cover both the back and biceps<\/a> because they work together in many pulling movements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond that, building our biceps is incredibly beneficial for visual reasons. Though marginally smaller than the tricep, the bicep contributes to the overall arm size and looks great when developed. Dumbbells are a fantastic choice of bicep training equipment because of their immense versatility. We can pick from numerous loads, do many unique exercises, vary the angle of attack, and manipulate the range of motion to some degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Log your workouts with the Hevy<\/a> app to track your progress. <\/p>\n\n\n