Drop the load & isolate them. This will allow you to gain some feel for the muscle and a little mind muscle connection will go a long way in the comming weeks.
Stay away from heavy loads to start, this will only make the problem worse. Since you don’t feel the muscle working now, adding weight will only make your body overcompensate some more and you may even feel it less. Save the weight for later. You need to establish some CONTROL first.
Use an exercise like a whimpy one-arm isolation curl and drop set it. Grab 3 or 4 light dumbbells. You want the weight so light that your deltoid doesn’t engage. Your back muscles should be relaxed and you can even limit the forarm activity by using a hook grip by turning your knuckles down.
Try this with a light dumbbell
1- Elevate the arm in a seated position like a preacher curl or sitting in a chair with your lifting arm’s elbow tucked inside your resting arm layed across your knees. (you will get a harder contraction by elvating the arm… test this by curling one arm standing straight up with your arms by your sides then as soon as you fully squeeze lift the arm so that arm is now in a flexing position like you were doing a biceps pose in the mirror)
2- Turn the wrist down and use a hook grip to deactivate the forearm a little, you will still get a pump in the forearm but it will require less gripping.
3- Do not swing the weight, strict form and slow reps.
4- Do not use any other muscles to assist the movement, you’re isolating for a purpose.
5- Squeeze very hard on all the contractions.
6- Never let the muscle rest, keep the tension on the bicep throughout the movement.
7- If you’re on a preacher bench or doing isolation curls seated with your elbow resting on your leg… then place your resting hand on the bicep and feel the muscle contracting.
8- Try to visualize the muscle contracting, picture the actual fibers shortening and legnthening. This is important for a mind muscle connection anf “feeling” the muscle work.
Using this technique can build some size, actually you can build decent size but this is mainly to find some control of the muscle and establishing the feel for it as well. will pay off in your heavy lifts later. Instead of heavy barbell curling with your back and shoulders and more assistance from your forearms, you’ll actually be using your biceps this time.
Try something like this.
3 light dumbbells
3-4 sets every other day for a few weeks
3 continuous dropsets, curl all three dumbbells in every set for somewhere between 6-12 reps with each dumbbell
Just do lots of reps with light dumbbells, let the muscle burn, if fact make it burn, you can go to failure on these little muscles don’t worry about it(its not a deadlift)
Whenever you have developed an obvious feel and even a mind-connection with this muscle, then scrap these little flyweights and curl some real weight. Grab some heavy barbells. Nothing you can do more than 8 reps on even with a swinging cheating motion. You will feel the difference in where the pull is comming from this time. When doing Biceps Barbell Curls, make sure your biceps are doing most of the work. Use this exercise as the meat & potatoes of your arm work. Heavy curls are better than the light ones for size and I would rely on the heavier load, but you need to learn how to use your muscles first. This is a method you can use for that purpose.
merlin