Tag: Biceps Brachii

Triceps Extensions

Lie on a horizontal bench and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip and the arms vertical:

• Inhale and lower the barbell to the forehead or behind the head by bending the elbows.
• Return to the initial position.
• Exhale at the end of the effort.

Comment: Because of individual variations in shoulder width, valgus angle at the elbows, and wrist flexibility, the hands can be closer or farther apart on the bar and the elbow angle more or less open during the exercise.
Using an E-Z bar helps prevent excessive strain at the wrists.

There are several variations for triceps extensions:

  1. Overhead triceps extensions: Done with a dumbbell or barbell, this exercise involves extending your arm overhead to work the triceps from a different angle.
  2. Close-grip bench press: This exercise involves doing a traditional bench press with a narrower grip, which places more emphasis on the triceps.
  3. Lying triceps extensions: This exercise is done lying on a flat bench, using a barbell or dumbbell, and involves extending your arm straight up towards the ceiling.
  4. Diamond pushups: This exercise involves placing your hands close together, forming a diamond shape, and doing pushups to target the triceps.
  5. Kickbacks: This exercise is done using a dumbbell and involves extending your arm straight back behind you to target the triceps.

Reverse Push Downs

Stand facing the machine with the arms next the body and elbows bent and grasp the handle with an underhand grip:

• Inhale and extend the forearms by straightening the elbows, keeping them tucked into the body.
• Exhale at the end of the movement.

The underhand grip isolates the medial head of the triceps brachii and precludes working with heavy weights.

When extending the forearms, the anconeus and wrist extensors also contract.
The extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor digitorum, extensor digiti minimi, and extensors carpi radialis longus and brevis keep the wrist straight with isometric contraction during the exercise.

Wrist Curls

Sit with the forearms resting on the thighs or on a bench and grasp the bar with an underhand grip with wrists relaxed:

• Inhale and raise the hands by flexing at the wrists.

This exercise contracts the flexor carpi radialis, palmaris longus, flexor carpi ulnaris, and the flexors digitorum superficialis and profundus. The latter two muscles, although located deep in the wrist, make up most of the muscle mass of the wrist flexors.

Reverse Wrist Curls

Sit with the forearms resting on the thighs or on a bench and grasp the bar with an overhand grip and keep the wrists relaxed:

• Raise the hands by extending at the wrists.

This exercise contracts the extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis, extensor digitorum, extensor digiti minimi, as well as the extensor carpi ulnaris.

Comment: This exercise strengthens the wrists, which are often vulnerable because of weak wrist extensors.

Reverse curls

Stand with the legs slightly apart and arms extended and grasp the bar with an overhand grip (with the thumbs facing each other):

• Inhale and raise the forearms by bending the elbows.
• Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise works the extensor muscles of the wrist: extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis, extensor digitorum, extensor digiti minimi, and extensor carpi ulnaris.
It also acts on the brachioradialis, brachialis, and, to a lesser degree, the biceps brachii.

Comment: This is an excellent exercise for strengthening the wrist, which is often weak because of an imbalance caused by using the wrist flexors rather than the wrist extensors. For this reason, many boxers include it in their training. Many bench press champions use it to keep their wrists from trembling under extreme weights.

Preacher curls

Sit or stand with the arms resting on the support pad and grasp the bar with an underhand grip:

• Inhale and raise the forearms by bending the elbows.
• Exhale at the end of the effort.

This is one of the best exercises for isolating the biceps.

Warning: The angle of the support pad places significant tension on the forearms when the arm is completely extended. Therefore, warm up the muscles properly and begin with lighter weights.

Barbell curls

Stand with the back straight, grasping the barbell with an underhand grip and hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart:

• Inhale and raise the barbell by bending the elbows, taking care to stabilize the torso and spine by isometrically contracting the gluteal muscles, abdominal muscles, and spinal muscles.
• Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise mainly contracts the biceps brachii, brachialis, and, to a lesser degree, the brachioradialis, pronator teres, and the wrist flexor group.

Comment: When training the biceps brachii using a barbell, take into account variations in each person's physical structure.
In the anatomical position (arms hanging alongside the body, palms facing forward, and thumbs pointing laterally), the angle at the elbow between the upper arm and the forearm varies from person to person.
Someone whose forearm hangs distinctly away from the body in a valgus position must break excessively at the wrist when performing a curl with a straight bar, which is painful. Therefore, these people should work with an E-Z bar to spare their wrists.

Variations: Vary the width of the grip to work different parts of the muscle more intensely:

• Placing the hands farther apart isolates the short head of the biceps brachii.
• Placing the hands closer together isolates the long head of the biceps brachii.

Raising both elbows after they are flexed increases the contraction of the biceps brachii and contracts the anterior deltoid. To make the exercise more difficult, perform the movement with the back against a wall so that the shoulder blades don’t move. You can lift more weight and gain strength by leaning the torso back while lifting the bar; however, to prevent injury, this requires good technique and well-developed abdominal and lumbar muscles.

High Pulley Curls

Stand between the pulleys with the arms outstretched in a “cross” and grasp the handles of the high pulleys with an underhand grip:

– Inhale and bend the elbows to bring the hands toward the body.
– Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise, which is most often performed as a cool-down at the end of an arm session, focuses the work on the short head of the biceps brachii, which has been stretched and put under tension in the “cross” start-up position.

This exercise also contracts the monoarticular brachialis elbow flexor.

Perform this exercise with light weights so that you can concentrate and feel the contraction at the inside of the biceps brachii. Sets of high reps provide the best results.

Alternating High Pulley Curl – this exercise is performed using a cable machine with a high pulley attachment. The individual stands facing the machine and curls one arm at a time.

When the biceps brachii contracts, the force placed on its distal tendon causes the radius to pivot on its axis, bringing the hand into supination.
When the hand is pronated, the distal tendon of the biceps brachii muscle is partially wrapped around the radius.

Comment: In addition to its role as a forearm flexor, the biceps brachii is the most powerful supinator.

Low Pulley Curls

Stand facing the machine, grasping the handles with an underhand grip (thumbs facing away from each other):

• Inhale and bend the elbows to raise the forearms.
• Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise focuses the effort on the biceps brachii and works the muscle intensely.

Low pulley curls can be varied by using different equipment, such as a rope attachment or a straight bar attachment, and by using different grips (such as a neutral grip or hammer grip).


Additionally, you can perform the exercise with one arm at a time (unilateral) or both arms simultaneously (bilateral).
Other variations include using a slow, controlled tempo, or incorporating a pause at the top of the movement.

Comment: In addition to its role as a forearm flexor, the biceps brachii is the most powerful supinator.