I seem to have a problem working I guess what you would call the upper part of your bicep. No matter what I do I seem to be only working the lower part of my bicep. I’ve tried preacher curls, and every other type of curl that I can think of and only seem to work the lower part. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Not trying to be a smartass, but if you’re new to lifting, forget about curls and concentrate on lifts that work larger body parts, squats, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and the size will come to your bicep.
There have been studies done comparing upper arm size of a group who did sets of squats for a month of training vs another group that did the same number of curls and the group that did squats had bigger arms at the end of the study.
Working large muscles makes all your muscles grow. Work the large body parts for a year and if the shape of your upper biceps still bothers you, post again and you’ll be able to get some help. Good Luck.
I actually am lifting for all parts of my body, just I feel sore after lifting for every body part I work other than my upper bicep, that’s why I’m asking.
Preacher curls put the elbows in front of the torso, and they emphasize the brachialis which is under the biceps and near the elbow joint. Hence the idea of a lower biceps. You need to bring your elbow behind your torso. Try 45 degree seated incline DB curls with palms facing each other at the bottom and facing upwards at the top. Do not move your upper arms. Don’t do any other curling movements, and you may see a difference.
[quote]john2009 wrote:
Not trying to be a smartass, but if you’re new to lifting, forget about curls and concentrate on lifts that work larger body parts, squats, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and the size will come to your bicep.
There have been studies done comparing upper arm size of a group who did sets of squats for a month of training vs another group that did the same number of curls and the group that did squats had bigger arms at the end of the study.
Working large muscles makes all your muscles grow. Work the large body parts for a year and if the shape of your upper biceps still bothers you, post again and you’ll be able to get some help. Good Luck.
[/quote]
Show me that study please.
As far as I’m concerned, squats don’t do jack shit for biceps growth.
[quote]Roy wrote:
john2009 wrote:
Not trying to be a smartass, but if you’re new to lifting, forget about curls and concentrate on lifts that work larger body parts, squats, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and the size will come to your bicep.
There have been studies done comparing upper arm size of a group who did sets of squats for a month of training vs another group that did the same number of curls and the group that did squats had bigger arms at the end of the study.
Working large muscles makes all your muscles grow. Work the large body parts for a year and if the shape of your upper biceps still bothers you, post again and you’ll be able to get some help. Good Luck.
Show me that study please.
As far as I’m concerned, squats don’t do jack shit for biceps growth.[/quote]
Squats release GH.
Curls stress Biceps.
Stress + GH = Bigger muscle.
[quote]breadnut wrote:
I seem to have a problem working I guess what you would call the upper part of your bicep. No matter what I do I seem to be only working the lower part of my bicep. I’ve tried preacher curls, and every other type of curl that I can think of and only seem to work the lower part. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]
How is it possible to actually stimulate ur “upper bicep”? Personally i think it sounds ridiculous so hopefully someone will correct me. While i know what you mean b/c after preacher curls i do feel it low but the only other soreness i feel is the entire bicep when i do any other curls. I’ve never worked my “upper bicep”.
[quote]S-Lifter wrote:
Preacher curls put the elbows in front of the torso, and they emphasize the brachialis which is under the biceps and near the elbow joint. Hence the idea of a lower biceps. You need to bring your elbow behind your torso. Try 45 degree seated incline DB curls with palms facing each other at the bottom and facing upwards at the top. Do not move your upper arms. Don’t do any other curling movements, and you may see a difference. [/quote]
This will help stretch the long head of the bicep and you may feel it more in the upper bicep. I would not focus on how much you feel what part of the arm, as long as the bicep is working (no cheating). Squats will help your upper body grow. I don’t care how, but it will.
A back injury kept me form squatting, so I did upper body only for a while. Very little progress. Back got better, started aquatting, whole body took off. All parameters were equal (rest, food, intensity, frequency etc.) Many people can tell you the same thing.
It sounds like you have the preacher bench too high, which takes the rest of the bicep out of the movement. The top of the bench should be 2-3 inches below the lower pec line. This will allow you to lean in and finish the movement under your chin. By finishing this way you bring the high bicep and the coracobrachialis into play and allow for the development of a rounded bicep.
Most people have the bench set under the pits and the movement finishes at the forehead. This only works the lower bicep and brachialis anticus. What results is a flat bicep.
The incline curl mentioned above will indeed work the outer head of the bicep as well as the bicep belly, and is a great exercise for hitting those two areas.
The one exercise I would recommend for isolating the upper bicep is the drag curl. Use a straight bar, hands just past shoulder width, shoulders back, chin down. Keeping your elbows back, drag the bar along your torso and chest as you curl, try to touch your chin with the bar and keep your elbows back and as high as possible to really stretch the upper bi. Optional is the 6 count hold and squeeze at the top. Return to start and repeat. I’d start with 3x8 with 20-30 second rests and go from there. You should start seeing results in the first month.
[quote]Roy wrote:
john2009 wrote:
Not trying to be a smartass, but if you’re new to lifting, forget about curls and concentrate on lifts that work larger body parts, squats, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and the size will come to your bicep.
There have been studies done comparing upper arm size of a group who did sets of squats for a month of training vs another group that did the same number of curls and the group that did squats had bigger arms at the end of the study.
Working large muscles makes all your muscles grow. Work the large body parts for a year and if the shape of your upper biceps still bothers you, post again and you’ll be able to get some help. Good Luck.
Show me that study please.
As far as I’m concerned, squats don’t do jack shit for biceps growth.[/quote]
Yeah. Here’s a great idea!!! How bout squats AND curls. WOOOHOOO!!! I should write a book.
I really also don’t mean to denigrate anyone’s good will in helping you here, but grab an olympic bar about shoulder width with enough weight to allow you 6-8 or even 10 reps and curl the damn thing hard all the way up and down for now. If that doesn’t give your biceps some balanced work until you’re a bit more advanced you need surgery.
[quote]john2009 wrote:
There have been studies done comparing upper arm size of a group who did sets of squats for a month of training vs another group that did the same number of curls and the group that did squats had bigger arms at the end of the study. [/quote]
Where’d you hear about this? I find it very counter-intuitive and hard to believe.
Breadnut, I suggest you read Thibaudeau’s “Shifting Tension” article, which talks about emphasizing specific parts of certain muscle groups.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1327855
Also, depending on exactly how long you’ve been training, you might want to read Thib’s Gun Show article, which covers exercises to focus on the inner vs. outer biceps (not so much upper/lower).
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1373279
[quote]Colucci wrote:
<<< Breadnut, I suggest you read Thibaudeau’s “Shifting Tension” article, which talks about emphasizing specific parts of certain muscle groups.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1327855
Also, depending on exactly how long you’ve been training, you might want to read Thib’s Gun Show article, which covers exercises to focus on the inner vs. outer biceps (not so much upper/lower).
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1373279
[/quote]
Please don’t take this the wrong way, either you or the OP, but nobody who asks this question is advanced enough to need to hear about how to isolate different parts of a muscle.
It was an honest question and the answer lies in his just learning to curl properly for now with some kindergarten old school curling movements.
If you’re talking about the brachialis then it can be isolated to some extent by preacher curls. But it still gets worked when doing regular curls, just try to progress in the weight being used.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Please don’t take this the wrong way, either you or the OP, but nobody who asks this question is advanced enough to need to hear about how to isolate different parts of a muscle.
[/quote]
I hear ya. But that’s kind of a Groucho Markist statement…if he has to ask, then he doesn’t need to know (inspired by Groucho “Any club that would have me as a member, I wouldn’t want to join.”) I understand what you mean, though.
I suppose a better response, which I don’t think he’s gotten yet is:
[quote]breadnut wrote:
I seem to have a problem working I guess what you would call the upper part of your bicep. No matter what I do I seem to be only working the lower part of my bicep. I’ve tried preacher curls, and every other type of curl that I can think of and only seem to work the lower part.[/quote]
Why do you think this in the first place? If it’s simply because your upper bi’s don’t get sore, that’s a faulty diagnosis. If it’s because your upper bi’s aren’t growing, that could be genetic.
Granted, this doesn’t necessarily discredit any of the information anyone’s posted above. It just approaches the question from a different angle.
I suggest focus on big compounds exercises,
…then if u want curl with the bar once ur done.
p.s I also suggest some rotator cuff exercises for the shoulders.
Hmm… I remember when (smoke fills the screen and we go into a flashback!) I was starting out - no matter what i did i couldn’t feel it in my LOWER biceps. So, my biceps would grow, and fill out my sleeves, but I didn’t get that swell of muscle at the bottom, the part that sticks out of your shirt.
My problem: my form sucked. I needed to go all the way down, in any movement, where the bicep is stretched completely, and the arm in almost perfectly straight.
Your’s is simply the opposite problem. Focus on the upper part of the movement. Barbell or dumbell, standing or seated - pause at the top, make sure your elbows don’t move. Try just the upper half of the movement for a set and see how that feels.
Other than that, lots of people here seem to have good advice. Focus on the big stuff. Unless you have some wierd arm imbalance, in which case, I strongly suggest posting a picture.
There is no actual upper biceps in the sense you mean. Your muscles run linear from one attachment to the other.
I don’t see how it is possible to have more tension on one end of the muscle belly than the other.
If you pull a shoelace tight, the amount of tension is equal throughout the length of the lace, not more in a particular area.
[quote]john2009 wrote:
There have been studies done comparing upper arm size of a group who did sets of squats for a month of training vs another group that did the same number of curls and the group that did squats had bigger arms at the end of the study.
[/quote]
I want a link to that study.
It would help if a picture was posted or if he specifies what he classifies as upper/lower bicep. Any type of curl should work the bicep in general and you should feel like you are working them.
If you feel like you aren’t working them out because you don’t see any improvement defintion wise, you probably have to work your triceps and shoulders as well to see a nice bicep from my experience. I would say to use dumbells and curl. They are among the best for sculpting since they include stabilizer muscles.
I know after every bicep workout I do, whether it is concentrated curls or arm curls, my whole bicep feels it.