Lengthy head biceps workouts 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, goal your lengthy head with weight coaching, the very best lengthy head biceps workouts 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 situated on the entrance of the higher arm between the shoulder and elbow.
It has two heads:
- The lengthy head: The biceps lengthy head is situated in direction of the surface of the higher arm and provides the looks of a “peak” when flexed. It flexes the elbow (bends the elbow to convey 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 facet overhead).
- The quick 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 an alternative, its major features 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 just a few causes.
First, the biceps lengthy head contributes most to your biceps peak. That’s, a well-developed biceps lengthy head may help to make your biceps rise larger out of your arm when flexed.
Second, doing efficient biceps lengthy head workouts strengthens your arms, which might enhance your efficiency on key workouts, such because the pull-up, chin-up, and barbell, dumbbell, and cable row.
And third, a powerful lengthy head helps the shoulder joint, which may help stop injury.
Which Workouts Are for the Biceps Lengthy Head?
Whereas fully isolating the lengthy head of the biceps isn’t potential, sure workouts goal the lengthy head greater than others.
The lengthy head “crosses” the shoulder joint, so workouts beginning along with your arms behind your physique, just like the incline curl, cable curl, and drag curl, are typically the finest lengthy head biceps workouts.
Equally, research means that the lengthy head of the biceps is most lively throughout workouts 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 workouts emphasizes the lengthy head. Whereas science is but to assist this principle, it’s a low-risk technique price attempting, 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 workouts. These workouts don’t practice your lengthy heads particularly however emphasize the biceps brachialis, a small muscle that helps to “push” your biceps peak larger.
In different phrases, neutral-grip biceps workouts aren’t lengthy head biceps workouts per se, however they develop muscle mass that enhance the looks of your biceps’ lengthy heads, in order that they’re a great addition to any lengthy head biceps exercise.
The Finest Lengthy Head Biceps Workouts
These are the very best bicep lengthy head workouts for including measurement to your bis.
1. Chin-up
Why: The chin-up trains your whole biceps to a excessive diploma. Furthermore, as a result of it’s a compound train, it permits you to elevate heavy weights safely and progress frequently, making it an impressive train for the biceps lengthy head.
Find out how to Do the Chin-up:
- Seize a pull-up bar along with your palms round shoulder-width aside and your palms going through you.
- Elevate your toes so that you simply’re hanging along 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 includes a impartial grip, it additionally emphasizes the brachialis, which may help to “elevate” your biceps and create a better peak.
Find out how to Do the Impartial-Grip Pull-up:
- Seize a pull-up bar along with your palms round shoulder-width aside and your palms going through one another.
- Elevate your toes so that you simply’re hanging along 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 after they’re behind your torso, which emphasizes the lengthy head. It additionally places excessive stress on the biceps all through the whole vary of movement, which is essential for creating balanced measurement and power.
Find out how to 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 hold straight down along with your palms going through one another.
- Bend your proper elbow to curl the burden towards your proper shoulder, rotating your wrist so your palm faces your shoulder on the high of the rep.
- Decrease the dumbbell to the beginning place, then repeat the sample along 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 purpose: They’re one of many very best workouts for coaching the whole biceps by a full vary of movement. In addition they help you absolutely supinate your wrists, which can maximize biceps lengthy head involvement.
Find out how to Do the Alternating Dumbbell Curl:
- Stand along with your toes shoulder-width aside, holding a dumbbell in every hand at your sides and your palms going through your thighs.
- Bend your proper elbow to twist your proper hand towards your proper shoulder, rotating your wrist so your palm faces your shoulder on the high of the rep.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place, then repeat the sample along 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 larger and bettering the looks of your biceps lengthy heads.
Find out how to Do the Hammer Curl:
- Stand along with your toes 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 twist your proper hand towards your proper shoulder.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place, then repeat the sample along 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 permits you to use maximally heavy weights, which is helpful for gaining power and muscle. It additionally permits you to experiment with a barely narrower grip, which can improve biceps lengthy head involvement.
Find out how to Do the Barbell Curl:
- Whereas standing up straight, maintain a barbell along with your palms shoulder-width aside and going through away from you. Your arms must be straight, and the bar must be resting towards your thighs.
- Carry the bar as much as shoulder top 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 common might improve how a lot your biceps’ lengthy heads contribute.
Find out how to Do the Drag Curl:
- Whereas standing up straight, maintain a barbell along with your palms shoulder-width aside and going through away from you. Your arms must be straight, and the bar must be resting towards your thighs.
- Drag the bar up your physique by bending your elbows and permitting them to maneuver backward till it’s barely under nipple top.
- 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 stress in your biceps, each of which profit progress.
Find out how to Do the Bayesian Cable Curl:
- Set the pulley on a cable machine to the bottom setting and connect a single deal with attachment.
- Seize the deal with along 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 twist the deal with to your proper shoulder. As you curl the burden, lean barely ahead.
- Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place. When you’ve accomplished the specified variety of reps, repeat the method along with your left arm.
The Finest Exercise for the Lengthy Head Biceps
The next exercise for the lengthy head of the biceps comprises all of the finest lengthy head biceps workouts and the proper quantity of volume and intensity to spur progress.
Do it as soon as weekly for 8-to-10 weeks, and it is best to see a major enchancment in your biceps lengthy head measurement and power:
- 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 Suggestions
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, it’s essential to take most units of lengthy head biceps workouts 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 may I’ve gotten with good kind?” If the reply is greater than two, improve the burden or reps to make your subsequent set more difficult.
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.
In case you handle 3 or fewer reps with the brand new weight, cut back the burden by 5 kilos to make sure you keep within the 6-to-8 rep vary.
Observe this pattern of attempting so as to add reps or weight to each train in each exercise.
3. Management the eccentric.
Research exhibits that controlling the eccentric (decreasing) portion of a biceps curl is a extremely efficient strategy to enhance muscle progress.
As a normal rule, it is best to take the identical time to elevate the burden 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 exhibits that utilizing “internal cues” (psychological mantras that draw your consideration towards what you’re doing along with your physique) whereas performing lengthy head biceps workouts might enhance biceps progress.
For example, in a study performed by scientists at Lehman School, members elevated biceps activation when the researchers reminded them to “squeeze the muscle” throughout units of biceps curls.
What’s extra, members who used this cue skilled twice as a lot biceps progress over the 8-week examine as members who used a cue like “get the burden up.”
5. Take the fitting dietary supplements.
These dietary supplements may help you get extra out of bicep lengthy head workouts:
- Protein powder: Protein powder provides your physique with the vitamins wanted to construct muscle tissue and get better from exercises. In order for you a clear and scrumptious protein powder, attempt Whey+or Casein+.
- Creatine: Creatine boosts muscle and power acquire, improves anaerobic endurance, and reduces muscle harm and soreness out of your exercises. For a pure supply of creatine that additionally consists of two different substances to boost muscle progress and enhance restoration, attempt Recharge.
- Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances power, temper, and focus, will increase power and endurance, and reduces fatigue. For a top-tier pre-workout containing clinically efficient doses of 6 science-backed substances, attempt Pulse with caffeine or without.
(In case you’d like much more particular recommendation about which dietary supplements it is best to take to achieve 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 elevate weights which can be too heavy could cause your kind to interrupt down, decreasing the effectiveness of the train and growing the danger of harm.
Keep away from this by selecting a weight that permits you to full every rep with correct kind and concentrate on performing “clear” reps fairly than how a lot weight you elevate.
2. Permitting the burden to fall again to the beginning place.
Not controlling the burden through the eccentric part tremendously reduces the train’s effectiveness. As an alternative of letting the burden “drop,” take the identical time to elevate the burden as you do to decrease it—a couple of second for every part works effectively.
3. Utilizing momentum.
Counting on momentum to “hump” the burden up reduces the work your biceps do and, thus, how a lot muscle you acquire. To forestall your self from utilizing momentum, hold 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 major features. You may make the biceps curl an much more efficient lengthy head biceps train by performing it on an incline bench along with your arms behind your physique.
FAQ #2: What train works the lengthy head of the biceps?
All biceps workouts practice the biceps lengthy head. Nevertheless, to emphasise the lengthy head, do workouts that begin along with your arms behind your physique and hold your palms going through up. It could additionally assist to take a narrower grip than common whereas performing barbell biceps lengthy head workouts.
Some examples of efficient workouts 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, workouts that begin along with your arms behind your physique and hold your palms going through up emphasize the biceps lengthy head greater than the quick head.
FAQ #4: How do you hit all three bicep heads?
The biceps solely have two heads (lengthy and quick), although the brachialis is one other upper-arm muscle that contributes to your biceps’ total measurement. To coach all these areas of the biceps, carry out a wide range of pulling and curling workouts that contain completely 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 “finest” lengthy head bicep train, although workouts that place your arms behind your physique and hold your palms going through up are usually finest 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.