Bicep Excercises

[hellrazr]

Throughout the site I have seen a few references to hammer curls or ez bar curls being knocked as a bicep exercise... WHY?

I dont much like hammer curls, but the ez bar curls get me REALLY pumped and forearms are sore the next day so I know they are getting stronger.

Anyway some insight please on bicep exercises would be great.

[Packard]

Hand position on curls and triceps extensions controls the muscle involvement.

A straight bar will work the major bicep.

Hammer curls work the small knot of muscle on the outside of the bicep and it works the forearm on the top (thumb side).

Also consider reverse curls using the EZ curl bar as a way to build the forearm and outer bicep.

E-Z curls split the difference. But for many the EZ curl is far more comfortable (especially for the wrist) and I think it allows more weight to be used for that reason. I think it is an acceptable alternative to the straight bar.

[Mystik]

Chin ups are a great bicep exercise, and they work your core really well at the same time.

[Packard]

Chin ups are a great bicep exercise, and they work your core really well at the same time.

Yes, chin ups are good for biceps--much better than pull ups for that purpose. But a lot of people cannot work the chins with enough reps, so it really cannot replace curls.

NOTE (for the uninitiated): Pull ups have you grip the bar with the palms of your hands facing away from your body; chin ups have you grip the bar so that the palms of your hands facing your body. Chin ups place more emphasis on the biceps than do the pull ups.

[swanso5]

learn to do them then...people won't do chin ups before curls but they'll always do bench press before push ups...why??because it's easier...work hard and you'll get results

[Boss Man]

NOTE (for the uninitiated): Pull ups have you grip the bar with the palms of your hands facing away from your body;

Not sounding rude, but are you sure you're not thinking of the ones behind the neck, which are like reverse pull-downs.

However the thing you said about using a supinated or pronated grip to change emphasis is a key thing, as sometimes subtle changes create bigger differances than people might think.

[Packard]

NOTE (for the uninitiated): Pull ups have you grip the bar with the palms of your hands facing away from your body;

Not sounding rude, but are you sure you're not thinking of the ones behind the neck, which are like reverse pull-downs.

However the thing you said about using a supinated or pronated grip to change emphasis is a key thing, as sometimes subtle changes create bigger differences than people might think.

No, both these movements I was referring to have the bar to the front of your chest. The only difference is the positioning of the hands (over grip vs. under grip).

Hand position has a distinct impact on tricep extensions too, moving the emphasis from the front to rear tricep depending upon the grip.

[Boss Man]

Yes, true enough. As I said, small changes in position make significant differances

[hellrazr]

Umm everyones a little off subject I think, but thanks...

Now Im wondering about hand grip width on chin ups. Im using the close grip right now and in 2 weeks I went from 1 complete chin and being completely spent to 6 reps the first set 5 the second set and 3 and 3 the next 2 sets. What part of the bicep or any other muscles does the wide grip/ close grip variations hit???

[swanso5]

you asked about hammer and ez curls mate, not chin ups...

what opart? all of it...exercises don;t train "1 part" of muscles

[Packard]

you asked about hammer and ez curls mate, not chin ups...

what opart? all of it...exercises don;t train "1 part" of muscles

True in general, but not exactly true in particular.

Many people don't full extend their arms during curls. This will cause the bottom part (near the elbow) of the bicep to be truncated. You will end up with a high peak, but not sufficient length to the bicep.

You will see this high peak in gymnasts. They swing a bit to pull up into the rings. It makes for a high peak and minimal length.

You also see it in gymnast's triceps. They do a lot of lockouts and this give a very high peak to the triceps but not much length. (Holding a lockout on the parallel bars is an excellent "finishing" exercise for the triceps. It will give that high peak.

Allowing the barbell to bounce off the chest in bench presses will also leave you without the strength to do the beginning of the bench.

So in summary, if the exercise if correctly performed there is no way to build a part of the muscle. But if the exercise is not properly performed you might not be developing the full length of the muscle.

[swanso5]

gymnasts are 5ft nothing, of course they lack length...if they were tihinner theyu'd have length but they're very compact and the their muscle sort of outgrows their body in a way

i'm not sure if you can have no length on 1 side (bi's) and plenty of the other (tris'), you wouldn't be able to straighten your arm if you did

[mzaruba423]

i like 1 and 1/2 reps for biceps

[swanso5]

1 and a 1/2 reps only induce fatigue, not strength or muscle (most of the time)...you may as well just use double the wt and do regular bb curls...or even better strap on 20pds and do chin ups

[hellrazr]

Ok so since I'm still struggling with own body weight on chin ups, whats a good rep/set scheme where I should start adding weight?

I'm doing a max of 7 chins in a row but after that I can do 4 the next set and its down hill from there. lol.