Lengthy head biceps workout routines practice the parts of your “bis” that give your higher arms their “peak.”
On this article, you’ll uncover precisely what the biceps lengthy head is, why coaching it is crucial, methods to goal your lengthy head with weight coaching, the very best lengthy head biceps workout routines to incorporate in your exercises, an instance exercise for the lengthy head of your biceps, and extra.
What Is the Lengthy Head of the Biceps?
The biceps brachii, or “biceps,” is the muscle group positioned on the entrance of the higher arm between the shoulder and elbow.
It has two heads:
- The lengthy head: The biceps lengthy head is positioned in the direction of the skin of the higher arm and provides the looks of a “peak” when flexed. It flexes the elbow (bends the elbow to deliver the hand to the shoulder), supinates the forearm (twists the forearm to face the palm upward), and assists shoulder flexion (elevating the arm from the aspect overhead).
- The brief head: The short head of the biceps is on the within of the higher arm and contributes extra to biceps width and “thickness” than the lengthy head. In contrast to the lengthy head, it doesn’t “cross” the shoulder joint, so it doesn’t help motion on the shoulder. As a substitute, its main capabilities are elbow flexion and wrist supination.
Right here’s how the biceps look in your physique:
Why Ought to You Practice the Lengthy Head of the Biceps?
Coaching the lengthy head of the biceps is essential for a couple of causes.
First, the biceps lengthy head contributes most to your biceps peak. That’s, a well-developed biceps lengthy head will help to make your biceps rise increased out of your arm when flexed.
Second, doing efficient biceps lengthy head workout routines strengthens your arms, which may enhance your efficiency on key workout routines, such because the pull-up, chin-up, and barbell, dumbbell, and cable row.
And third, a powerful lengthy head helps the shoulder joint, which will help stop injury.
Which Workouts Are for the Biceps Lengthy Head?
Whereas fully isolating the lengthy head of the biceps isn’t doable, sure workout routines goal the lengthy head greater than others.
The lengthy head “crosses” the shoulder joint, so workout routines beginning together with your arms behind your physique, just like the incline curl, cable curl, and drag curl, are typically the greatest lengthy head biceps workout routines.
Equally, research means that the lengthy head of the biceps is most energetic throughout workout routines the place you supinate your wrists (flip your palms upward), such because the dumbbell curl, barbell curl, and chin-up.
Many bodybuilders additionally consider utilizing a slim grip for biceps workout routines emphasizes the lengthy head. Whereas science is but to assist this idea, it’s a low-risk technique value making an attempt, supplied it doesn’t trigger elbow or wrist discomfort or stop you from utilizing a full range of motion.
The ultimate kind of train meriting point out is neutral-grip biceps workout routines. These workout routines don’t practice your lengthy heads particularly however emphasize the biceps brachialis, a small muscle that helps to “push” your biceps peak increased.
In different phrases, neutral-grip biceps workout routines aren’t lengthy head biceps workout routines per se, however they develop muscle mass that enhance the looks of your biceps’ lengthy heads, in order that they’re an excellent addition to any lengthy head biceps exercise.
The Finest Lengthy Head Biceps Workouts
These are the very best bicep lengthy head workout routines for including measurement to your bis.
1. Chin-up
Why: The chin-up trains your complete biceps to a excessive diploma. Furthermore, as a result of it’s a compound train, it lets you carry heavy weights safely and progress recurrently, making it an impressive train for the biceps lengthy head.
How one can Do the Chin-up:
- Seize a pull-up bar together with your fingers round shoulder-width aside and your palms going through you.
- Elevate your ft so that you simply’re hanging together with your arms straight.
- Pull your physique up till your chin is above the bar.
- As soon as your chin has handed the bar, decrease your self beneath management to the beginning place.
2. Impartial-Grip Pull-up
Why: Equally to the chin-up, the impartial grip pull-up is a proven biceps builder. As a result of it entails a impartial grip, it additionally emphasizes the brachialis, which will help to “carry” your biceps and create the next peak.
How one can Do the Impartial-Grip Pull-up:
- Seize a pull-up bar together with your fingers round shoulder-width aside and your palms going through one another.
- Elevate your ft so that you simply’re hanging together with your arms straight.
- Pull your physique up till your chin is above the bar.
- As soon as your chin has handed the bar, decrease your self beneath management to the beginning place.
3. Incline Dumbbell Curl
Why: The incline dumbbell curl trains your biceps once they’re behind your torso, which emphasizes the lengthy head. It additionally places excessive pressure on the biceps all through the complete vary of movement, which is essential for creating balanced measurement and energy.
How one can Do the Incline Dumbbell Curl:
- Whereas holding a dumbbell in every hand, sit again on an incline bench set to 45 levels and let your arms grasp straight down together with your palms going through one another.
- Bend your proper elbow to curl the load towards your proper shoulder, rotating your wrist so your palm faces your shoulder on the prime of the rep.
- Decrease the dumbbell to the beginning place, then repeat the sample together with your left hand to finish one full rep.
4. Alternating Dumbbell Curl
Why: Dumbbell curls are a staple in any biceps coaching routine for a easy cause: They’re one of many best possible workout routines for coaching the complete biceps by way of a full vary of movement. In addition they can help you totally supinate your wrists, which can maximize biceps lengthy head involvement.
How one can Do the Alternating Dumbbell Curl:
- Stand together with your ft shoulder-width aside, holding a dumbbell in every hand at your sides and your palms going through your thighs.
- Bend your proper elbow to curve your proper hand towards your proper shoulder, rotating your wrist so your palm faces your shoulder on the prime of the rep.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place, then repeat the sample together with your left hand to finish one full rep.
5. Hammer Curl
Why: The hammer curl emphasizes the brachialis, a small muscle that may assist to push up the biceps brachii, making your higher arms look greater and enhancing the looks of your biceps lengthy heads.
How one can Do the Hammer Curl:
- Stand together with your ft shoulder-width aside, holding a dumbbell in every hand at your sides and your palms going through your thighs.
- With out twisting your wrist, bend your proper elbow to curve your proper hand towards your proper shoulder.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place, then repeat the sample together with your left hand to finish one full rep.
6. Barbell Curl
Why: The barbell curl is the simplest barbell lengthy head bicep train as a result of it lets you use maximally heavy weights, which is helpful for gaining energy and muscle. It additionally lets you experiment with a barely narrower grip, which can improve biceps lengthy head involvement.
How one can Do the Barbell Curl:
- Whereas standing up straight, maintain a barbell together with your palms shoulder-width aside and going through away from you. Your arms needs to be straight, and the bar needs to be resting in opposition to your thighs.
- Carry the bar as much as shoulder peak by bending on the elbow.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.
7. Drag Curl
Why: By “dragging” the barbell up your torso, you progress your higher arms behind your physique, maximizing how a lot the biceps lengthy head contributes to the train. Equally to the barbell curl, taking a barely narrower grip than regular could improve how a lot your biceps’ lengthy heads contribute.
How one can Do the Drag Curl:
- Whereas standing up straight, maintain a barbell together with your palms shoulder-width aside and going through away from you. Your arms needs to be straight, and the bar needs to be resting in opposition to your thighs.
- Drag the bar up your physique by bending your elbows and permitting them to maneuver backward till it’s barely beneath nipple peak.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.
8. Bayesian Cable Curl
Why: The advantages of the Bayesian curl are that it trains your biceps lengthy head in a stretched place and retains fixed pressure in your biceps, each of which profit development.
How one can Do the Bayesian Cable Curl:
- Set the pulley on a cable machine to the bottom setting and fix a single deal with attachment.
- Seize the deal with together with your proper hand, flip away from the pulley, and take 1-to-2 steps ahead so the cable pulls your arm barely behind your physique and is taut.
- Stagger your stance, then bend your elbow to curve the deal with to your proper shoulder. As you curl the load, lean barely ahead.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place. When you’ve accomplished the specified variety of reps, repeat the method together with your left arm.
The Finest Exercise for the Lengthy Head Biceps
The next exercise for the lengthy head of the biceps incorporates all of the greatest lengthy head biceps workout routines and the right quantity of volume and intensity to spur development.
Do it as soon as weekly for 8-to-10 weeks, and you need to see a major enchancment in your biceps lengthy head measurement and energy:
- Chin-up: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
- Incline Dumbbell Curl: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
- Barbell Curl: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
- Hammer Curl: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Lengthy Head Biceps Exercise Ideas
1. Finish each set 1-to-3 reps shy of muscle failure.
As I clarify in my health books for men and women, to maximise your outcomes, you will need to take most units of lengthy head biceps workout routines to inside a rep or two of failure.
Ask your self on the finish of every set, “If I needed to, what number of extra reps might I’ve gotten with good kind?” If the reply is greater than two, improve the load or reps to make your subsequent set tougher.
2. When you hit the highest of your rep vary for a set, transfer up in weight.
In case your lengthy head biceps exercise requires 6-to-8 reps of the barbell curl and also you get 8 reps for a set, add 10 kilos to your subsequent set.
If you happen to handle 3 or fewer reps with the brand new weight, scale back the load by 5 kilos to make sure you keep within the 6-to-8 rep vary.
Observe this pattern of making an attempt so as to add reps or weight to each train in each exercise.
3. Management the eccentric.
Research reveals that controlling the eccentric (decreasing) portion of a biceps curl is a extremely efficient approach to enhance muscle development.
As a common rule, you need to take the identical time to carry the load as you do to decrease it to the beginning place—round one or two seconds for every is an effective goal.
4. “Squeeze” your biceps on each rep.
Analysis reveals that utilizing “internal cues” (psychological mantras that draw your consideration towards what you’re doing together with your physique) whereas performing lengthy head biceps workout routines could enhance biceps development.
For example, in a study carried out by scientists at Lehman School, contributors elevated biceps activation when the researchers reminded them to “squeeze the muscle” throughout units of biceps curls.
What’s extra, contributors who used this cue skilled twice as a lot biceps development over the 8-week research as contributors who used a cue like “get the load up.”
5. Take the best dietary supplements.
These dietary supplements will help you get extra out of bicep lengthy head workout routines:
- Protein powder: Protein powder provides your physique with the vitamins wanted to construct muscle tissue and get well from exercises. If you need a clear and scrumptious protein powder, attempt Whey+or Casein+.
- Creatine: Creatine boosts muscle and energy achieve, improves anaerobic endurance, and reduces muscle injury and soreness out of your exercises. For a pure supply of creatine that additionally contains two different elements to reinforce muscle development and enhance restoration, attempt Recharge.
- Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances power, temper, and focus, will increase energy and endurance, and reduces fatigue. For a top-tier pre-workout containing clinically efficient doses of 6 science-backed elements, attempt Pulse with caffeine or without.
(If you happen to’d like much more particular recommendation about which dietary supplements you need to take to succeed in your well being and health objectives, take the Legion Supplement Finder Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know precisely what dietary supplements are best for you. Click here to check it out.)
Widespread Lengthy Head Bicep Workouts Errors
1. Lifting an excessive amount of weight.
Trying to carry weights which can be too heavy could cause your kind to interrupt down, decreasing the effectiveness of the train and growing the danger of damage.
Keep away from this by selecting a weight that lets you full every rep with correct kind and concentrate on performing “clear” reps reasonably than how a lot weight you carry.
2. Permitting the load to fall again to the beginning place.
Not controlling the load in the course of the eccentric section enormously reduces the train’s effectiveness. As a substitute of letting the load “drop,” take the identical time to carry the load as you do to decrease it—a couple of second for every section works effectively.
3. Utilizing momentum.
Counting on momentum to “hump” the load up reduces the work your biceps do and, thus, how a lot muscle you achieve. To stop your self from utilizing momentum, preserve your torso and hips nonetheless throughout every rep.
Biceps Lengthy Head Workouts: FAQs
FAQ #1: Do biceps curls work the lengthy head?
Sure, common biceps curls work the lengthy head of the biceps as a result of they practice elbow flexion, which is among the biceps lengthy head’s main capabilities. You can also make the biceps curl an much more efficient lengthy head biceps train by performing it on an incline bench together with your arms behind your physique.
FAQ #2: What train works the lengthy head of the biceps?
All biceps workout routines practice the biceps lengthy head. Nevertheless, to emphasise the lengthy head, do workout routines that begin together with your arms behind your physique and preserve your palms going through up. It might additionally assist to take a narrower grip than regular whereas performing barbell biceps lengthy head workout routines.
Some examples of efficient workout routines for the biceps lengthy head are the incline dumbbell curl, drag curl, and Bayesian cable curl.
FAQ #3: Are you able to isolate the biceps lengthy head?
When you can’t fully isolate the lengthy head, workout routines that begin together with your arms behind your physique and preserve your palms going through up emphasize the biceps lengthy head greater than the brief head.
FAQ #4: How do you hit all three bicep heads?
The biceps solely have two heads (lengthy and brief), although the brachialis is one other upper-arm muscle that contributes to your biceps’ general measurement. To coach all these areas of the biceps, carry out a wide range of pulling and curling workout routines that contain totally different grip orientations and higher are positions.
FAQ #5: What’s the very best lengthy head bicep train?
There’s no such factor because the “greatest” lengthy head bicep train, although workout routines that place your arms behind your physique and preserve your palms going through up are usually greatest for creating your biceps lengthy heads.
+ Scientific References
- Landin, Dennis, et al. “Actions of the Biceps Brachii at the Shoulder: A Review.” Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, vol. 9, no. 8, 2017, pp. 667–670, https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr2901w.
- Brughelli, Matt, and John Cronin. “Altering the Length-Tension Relationship with Eccentric Exercise.” Sports Medicine, vol. 37, no. 9, 2007, pp. 807–826, link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-200737090-00004, https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200737090-00004.
- Jarrett, Claudius D., et al. “Anatomic and Biomechanical Analysis of the Short and Long Head Components of the Distal Biceps Tendon.” Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, vol. 21, no. 7, July 2012, pp. 942–948, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jse.2011.04.030. Accessed 20 Apr. 2021.
- Dickie, James A. , et al. Electromyographic Analysis of Muscle Activation during Pull-up Variations. Nov. 2016, www.researchgate.net/publication/311091421_Electromyographic_analysis_of_muscle_activation_during_pull-up_variations, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2016.11.004.
- Oliveira, Liliam F., et al. “Effect of the Shoulder Position on the Biceps Brachii Emg in Different Dumbbell Curls.” Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, vol. 8, no. 1, 1 Mar. 2009, pp. 24–29, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737788/.
- Farthing, Jonathan P., and Philip D. Chilibeck. “The Effects of Eccentric and Concentric Training at Different Velocities on Muscle Hypertrophy.” European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 89, no. 6, 1 Aug. 2003, pp. 578–586, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-003-0842-2.
- Schoenfeld, Brad Jon, et al. “Differential Effects of Attentional Focus Strategies during Long-Term Resistance Training.” European Journal of Sport Science, vol. 18, no. 5, 13 Mar. 2018, pp. 705–712, https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2018.1447020.
- Stokes, Tanner, et al. “Recent Perspectives Regarding the Role of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Exercise Training.” Nutrients, vol. 10, no. 2, 7 Feb. 2018, p. 180, www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/2/180/pdf, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10020180.
- Jd, Branch. “Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Body Composition and Performance: A Meta-Analysis.” International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 1 June 2003, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12945830/.
- Eckerson, Joan M., et al. “Effect of Creatine Phosphate Supplementation on Anaerobic Working Capacity and Body Weight after Two and Six Days of Loading in Men and Women.” The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 19, no. 4, 2005, p. 756, https://doi.org/10.1519/r-16924.1.
- Bassit, Reinaldo Abunasser, et al. “Effect of Short-Term Creatine Supplementation on Markers of Skeletal Muscle Damage after Strenuous Contractile Activity.” European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 108, no. 5, 3 Dec. 2009, pp. 945–955, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1305-1.
