20” Pythons

by Atomic Athletic on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 6:39pm

Roger asked me to write an article about arms. Specifically regarding the biceps. Coming from a bodybuilding background I have always liked having relatively large arms. They get attention and feed the ego nicely. However in the real world of strength and truly heavy lifting the biceps tend to fall short as a key muscle to focus on for development, or do they?

Since moving into explosive strength training and dabbling in Olympic lifting I have found that having strong biceps has been a double edge sword. The fact of the matter is that the biceps is actually a relatively small muscle pair making up only two fifths of the upper arm (with the triceps being the true powerhouse).

In many forms of strength training it is quite possible to overcompensate and lift improperly if you rely too much on the biceps. This can lead to catastrophic injuries. Everyone has heard the stories of, or seen in real life, the results of a torn biceps. The truth of the matter is that the biceps while strong, cannot bear the load that other larger muscle groups can. In a heavy lift gone wrong overloading the biceps is a quick road to injury.

That being said the biceps absolutely do play a critical role in heavy lifting. For example in a press of any type with the arms the biceps are there for much needed support. Strong biceps muscles, along with tendons and ligaments add structure to the arm as well as the joints. This structure serves in bracing the arm and joints and solidifying the arm securely while the triceps and shoulders do their thing. There is no reason for this support structure to be weak. Do your curls.

Here are some fun biceps exercises taken from the Larry Scott Collection

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BKLS07

Two Arm Barbell Curl

Incline Dumbbell Curl

Reverse Curl

Scott Preacher Bench Dumbell Curl

Flat Bench Dumbbell Curl

Bent Over Concentration Curl

Spider Bench Barbell Curl

Live Strong,

Andrew LaMarche