The Importance of Strong Biceps

While everyone wants big guns for the photos on the beach, the biceps also play a variety of important roles in upper body function.

They supinate the forearm, stabilize the shoulder and, most significantly, flex the elbow. From a more functional perspective, it plays a key role in any pulling movements. In day-to-day life this may be picking up an object or opening heavy doors. In the gym, this may be a pull up or a barbell row.

So, if you strengthen your biceps in isolation, you may also get stronger in these movements, making you more equipped to deal with daily life and movements in the gym. Sound good? Check out out blog What is a superset Workout? and start training.

The Ultimate Bicep Superset

1 - Banded EZ Curl

• Attach a resistance band to an EZ Bar and then underneath your feet.

• From there, with your arms in their fully extended, relaxed position, tense up your core 'as if you are about to be punched in the stomach', so as to keep your body strict when doing your curls (no cheat reps here).

• Then, bring the bar up to your chest, rotating around your elbow. Keep your shoulders back and down throughout, so as not to shrug it up.

Key Tip - 25:75 resistance band to free weight ratio

The Resistance Bands are fantastic for targeting areas of the lift where the lift is mechanically at its easiest (the top), due to the incremental loading pattern. However, at the bottom of the lift, when they are completely or somewhat, slack, they provide little to no resistance. This is why a mixture of band tension and free weights is advised.

If you go too heavy with your band, there will be too much tension to complete the lift as the band starts to stretch. So use a lighter band (size#1 or size#2 will do) to adhere to a 25:75 resistance band to free weight ratio.

2 - Seated Unilateral Incline Dumbbell Curl

• Set up a Folding Weight Bench to a high incline.

• Let the Dumbbells hang either side of the bench, with your arms fully relaxed.

• Then, one arm at a time, complete a full curl, rotating around your elbow, keeping your shoulder back and down, before slowly lowering it back down to a relaxed position.

Key Tip - Start with the weaker side first

One of the main aims of any unilateral training is to reduce side to side imbalances. So, a good tip is to always train your weaker side first and then match your effort with your stronger side. This is so you are not contributing to the imbalance you are trying to fix. To get the full range of weights, why not look at our dumbbell rack with weights?

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars & Weight Plates ; Equipment > Benches ; Equipment > Dumbbells ; Equipment > Resistance Bands ; Exercise Type > Strength ; Target Area > Arms