who doesn't want developed biceps? The bicep has become one of the most popular movements in the gym.
However, many guys have myths about biceps, that is, they think they will get bigger with the upper weight, not realising that the whole body is on borrowed time. Also if you use a straight bar instead of a dumbbell and put weight on it, it can cause more damage to your wrists.
How exactly do we measure the actual trained capacity of our own biceps?
the combination of bar curls + preacher's bench must be the excellent way to train.
Firstly, straight bar curls are performed with the palms of the hands facing the ceiling. Throughout the exercise, the tension in the biceps remains constant as the wrists are in a rotated back position. While holding the curved barbell, the wrists can be rotated inwards, which reduces the tension directed at the lateral biceps. The stress on the wrists and elbows is also eliminated when the curved bar is held in the hands for movement.
what if bent bar curls were coupled with a preacher's bench?
Changing the angle of training will definitely result in the muscles doing work in a different way, leading to an increase in muscle mass. The priest's bench bend puts the arms in front of the body and allows for a greater degree of isolation to train the biceps. Isolation training certainly helps to focus and get better muscle contraction and can stimulate more muscle fibres.
preacher's bench barbell curls
doing dumbbell curls on the upper incline plate can offer a similar advantage as the angle of the arms is similar to the angle used in the priest bench curls. The upper incline plate needs to be at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees, thus allowing for a sufficiently large pulling force on the biceps, while avoiding putting more stress on the shoulders in the starting position.
These two movements will be more advantageous compared to the standing barbell curl, as the swing of the body can be avoided while performing this movement, thus increasing the pressure against the biceps.
upper incline dumbbell curls
in fact, you can also do alternating dumbbell upward incline curls instead of a two-armed movement like the priest bench barbell curl, where the one-armed movement allows both sides to be trained equally and both arms to gain the same.
Of course, you can also do alternating preacher's bench dumbbell curls. You can eliminate muscle imbalances between the arms and gain better symmetry, which is important for all fitness enthusiasts.
correct demonstration of the upward incline dumbbell bend
on the upward incline bench, dumbbell curls are more effective than the priest's bench because the apex of the biceps is on the upward incline bench and the extension at the lowest point of the movement is stronger and more effective in stimulating the apex, whereas this stimulation is significantly less when doing priest's bench curls.
Secondly, the long head of the biceps is much less stressed during the priest's bench bend, as the arm is in front of the torso. The medial side is trained more in the priest's bench curl, but this is not enough to suggest that it is superior to the upward sloping dumbbell curl.
barbell bends
obviously, all of these movements will help form a huge biceps group and allow people to see your workout even when you're wearing a short-sleeved shirt. The two most impactful movements are the curved barbell curl and the upward incline bench dumbbell curl, these are the movements you do when training your biceps to get the desired arms.
Combine these with the preacher bench or upper incline bench on the curved bar curl to really get a feel for the muscle's power and reboot your biceps training!