Biceps are like burgers. Everyone loves them. Tell your child to show his muscles and he will immediately stretch his biceps. Biceps is not only a synonym for posing but also for exercising and you have probably heard so much about biceps training that you want to skip this article. Do not. This article is for you, because chances are high that you make at least some of the mistakes listed.
# 1 Premature cheating
Biceps Bends are probably the easiest exercise to cheat on. Whenever you don't have a bench rest (like a preacher's bend or a machine bend) you just need a little swing to shift the tension from your arms to your front shoulder and make the movement easier. Cheating is a useful method to move each set beyond failure, but if you do it earlier you will probably never hit your biceps properly. In order to use weights higher than they really can, many bodybuilders start cheating from the first repetition and increase the momentum as the set draws to a close.
Solutions
- do correct repetitions until canceled. If necessary, stand with your back against the wall while bending the bar and / or press your elbows against your body.
- To get your legs and hips out of motion, do dumbbell bends while sitting.
- to extend the set and after the cancellation do two or three repetitions with a light swing of the hands.
# 2 Overtraining
The popularity of biceps doesn't make them any bigger than they look. Compared to the bars and quadriceps, your biceps are weak, so if you do the same number of sets for the biceps as for the back, you will not do anything good. More than any other muscle, biceps are victims of overtraining, which leads to cessation or even regression in growth.
Solutions
- Beginners should only do 6 biceps sets. After 4 months of training, you can gradually add sets.
- Advanced bodybuilders should work 9 to 12 sets.
- Only do the final set of exercises after canceling advanced techniques such as cheating, forced reps, negative reps and drop sets.
# 3 Missed the goal
More literature on arm training has been released than any other muscle game. It has recently been preached that it is necessary to do bends on the Scottish bench in order to hit the lower part of the biceps, and if you want to work on the top of the biceps, it is necessary to do concentrated bends. None of this is true, so it's no wonder most bodybuilders do bends but miss goals.
Solutions
- Focus on the two biceps heads, located on either side
- Perform biceps bends with a grip where the little finger is flat or even higher than the other fingers to better hit the inside of the biceps. You will engage the same part of the biceps if you use a wider grip on the barbell.
- Perform bends with your thumbs higher than your little finger or do hammer bends to hit the outside of your biceps more
- Don't expect a huge change in the appearance of the biceps if you don't have it genetically, because the shape is largely determined by genetics.
# 4 Monotonic training
Although the biceps are simple, the biceps still need to perform different types of flexion. Too many bodybuilders fall into the rut and do the same exercises all the time, with the same equipment.
Solutions
- Do one exercise with an EC bar or a regular bar, one with dumbbells and one on a machine or cable in each workout.
- Do one exercise standing, one sitting and one with your arms (s) fixed to your body or bench
- Do at least one unilateral exercise on each biceps workout.
- Occasionally do special exercises such as pull-ups, lifting on the shaft with your palms facing you to hit the muscle from different angles.
# 5 Weak contractions
Contraction is the most important part of the flexion, so it's unfortunate that so many people never really tighten their biceps. Mostly, this happens because of the excess weight they use and because they perform repetitions too quickly, as well as because of the momentum.
Solutions
- Use a weight you can lift 10-12 times in correct, full reps.
- Work slowly. Raise the load for about 2 seconds, hold the contraction for one second and lower for 2 seconds.
- During the dumbbell bend, rotate the wrist so that the palms are facing you in the lower part of the movement and turn upwards as you lift them.
- Get the most out of each repetition by tightening your biceps with each contraction.
Lessons Learned
- Perform correct, full repetitions. Only cheat after a cancellation to extend the set.
- Use low to medium volume training
- Aim for the outside of the head to focus on the top of the biceps
- Do different types of bends in each workout
- Control the weight you work with and emphasize contraction.
