Do you want big arms? Train them with the right exercises!

Edited by: Francesco Currò

See also: Do you want big arms? Train with an optimized card.

As you can see from the title in this chapter we will talk mainly about biceps and triceps. As with the previous chapter, the motivation that prompted me to write these lines is the desire to make some clarity about the choice of exercises, which too often is seen almost as something random. As I said earlier, the right exercises are not chosen by "hearsay" or by tradition. There is a science, Biomechanics, which can make us understand a lot about it, and above all about how many exercises that are most popular are useless. I will be repetitive, but I will never stop repeating to be wary of the classic articles entitled " The best exercises and the best rototines for biceps and triceps ". Even if the necessary exceptions exist, generally these articles turn out to be an exasperating crap cocktail. They promise us miracles and then they tell us that to increase arm measurements it is necessary to perform exercises such as cable curls, curl or arm blaster extensions (as it happens produced and distributed by the same owner of the newspaper in which these articles are published), the bicep push-ups on the Scott bench with the kamberd, the Zottman-style biceps, the arm-blaster with a neutral grip (see previous note), concentration bending, triceps on cables with reverse grip, etc. All exercises that if you do not have a particularly favorable genetics or do not take industrial quantities of steroids will never make you grow by a single millimeter.

Before continuing with the essential part of the article, etc. some premise:

The purpose of this article is to choose and clearly and without frills the best exercises; I will indicate only a few exercises (two or three) so as not to "distract you" and to make you concentrate only on the really productive ones;

I will try to apply science (in this case, biomechanics) to justify my choices, but I will not exceed that much (and sometimes I will eliminate it completely) so as not to bore you too much;

to try to make the speech more linear I will treat the flexor and extensor muscles of the arm separately. Enjoy the reading.

Anterior muscles of the arm:

A serious and scientific approach to biceps training necessarily leads to one of the most truthful maxims of Body-Building, which is the following: " If you want to increase the size of your biceps, then train your backbones hard ."

Indeed the stresses to which the biceps are subjected by the heavy loads used in the training of the ridges are fundamental for the growth of the biceps themselves, however, some exercise of "isolation", properly chosen, can result as the classic icing on the cake.

From what has been said, it follows that all the "classic" exercises for the biceps are to be understood as exercises of "isolation", while some exercises for the backbones (pull-ups with reverse handle, rower with barbell, traction on the lat-machine with trazibar) can be quietly understood as "fundamental" exercises for the biceps.

Since a hard-gainer must limit the exercises as much as possible, he must necessarily choose the best ones. As mentioned above, the choice of the best exercises should be made by not trying, as often read in some magazines or as some narrators of fairy tales usually tell, the most unusual or exotic but using the scientific method . The application of this universal method suggests that, to achieve what we have set ourselves, the first step is to open a good book of physiology and carry out a serious analysis of the joints involved.

Responsible for flexing the forearm on the arm, as well as a large part of the size of the arm itself, are the "anterior arm muscles" (that is, not only the biceps); to better clarify the ideas, let's analyze them quickly:

- Biceps:

The biceps originates from the scapula with two ends: long and short. The long head is born from the supraglenoid tuberosity of the scapula, passes over the head of the humerus within the scapulohumeral articulation and rests in the intertubercular groove of the humerus joining, then, to the short head. The short head is born from the apex of the coracoid process of the scapula and moves downwards running on average along the long head with which it is then joined. The biceps pierce towards the distal part of the arm in a large tendon which is inserted into the tuberosity of the radium where it spirals.

Being a biarticular muscle, the function of the biceps is particularly complex. On the shoulder joint, the long head of the biceps (together with the supraspinatus and deltoid) abducts the arm, while the short head adducts it. The contemporary contraction of the two heads raises it in synergy with the deltoid. On the elbow joint, the bicep flexes the forearm on the arm and supine. Ultimately, the position of the arm relative to the shoulder joint determines which will be the head of the biceps that will support the greatest workload.

- Brachial:

It is the strongest flexor muscle of the forearm. Placed under the biceps, it originates from the anterolateral and anteromedial faces of the diaphysis of the humerus, just below the deltoid insertion. It goes down and fits into the tuberosity of the ulna. Flex the forearm on the arm and rotate it sideways and medially.

- Brachioradial:

It originates from the lateral margin of the humerus and is inserted on the radium styloid process. It also rotates the radius and is able, with flexed elbow, to perform both pronation and supination movements.

- Coraco-Brachiale:

It originates from the coracoid process of the scapula and is brought down to fit on the anteromedial face of the humerus. It acts only on the shoulder joint, giving the arm and rotating it medially.

From the above, it can be deduced that some of the most common exercises are certainly not "the best" for biceps stimulation. To clarify the concept more here are some examples:

- The push-ups with the Kambered barbell mainly train the brachioradial and not the biceps which in order to contract maximally needs a complete supination.

- The push-ups with the barbell (basic exercise of most of the training tables) often, for articular reasons, affect the brachial maximally and train the biceps very little.

- The Scott bench pressings train the brachialis and the brachioradialis, but very little the biceps (other than the lower part of the biceps ...) that, apart from the limited arc of useful movement, starting from a pre-contracted position is impossible to contract in an optimal manner.

- One last note does not concern an exercise, but the commonplace that in order to increase the biceps' peak it is necessary to perform hundreds of "concentrated curls". Science unequivocally states that having a peak in the biceps depends on your DNA and not on the exercises you perform.

It should be noted that the biceps to contract fully (flexed arm, supinated wrist, slightly raised elbow) needs a complete extension (extended and pronated arm) and an exercise (probably the only one) that satisfies these conditions, really stimulating the biceps, is that of dumbbell push-ups sitting on a bench inclined at about 50 - 60 °. If you have to choose an isolation exercise for your biceps, choose the best, that is this.

To the delight of perfectionists and those who want "something more" etc. a trick (as far as I know never published by anyone else) aimed at amplifying the effectiveness of this and other exercises for the biceps performed with dumbbells: as you well know, the biceps is the main supinator of the forearm and therefore why not to train, together with flexion, this basic function to optimize progress? The secret to doing this optimally is to load the dumbbells asymmetrically, making sure that there are a few kilograms (start with 2 kg) more on the side that will correspond to the side of the little finger in the handle. In this way, every time you flex your hand, you will take this action against an actual load (with symmetrically loaded dumbbells this does not happen!) And the exercise will be more effective.

The tactics of asymmetric handlebars can also be used successfully in hammer bending for brachial training. In this exercise, holding the dumbbells in the same way as I indicated earlier (that is, with the little finger on the side of the heavier side of the handlebar), the maximum contraction principle is maximized, thus allowing the brachial muscles to be maximally stimulated. In this exercise, I recommend a greater asymmetry than those where the aim is to emphasize supination.

CONCLUSIONS: If you don't want to waste time in vain and want to significantly increase the size of your biceps, try concentrating on heavy traction on the reverse grip bar, completing this movement with a few series of dumbbell push-ups sitting on a sloping bench Currò style "which I indicated before: that of asymmetrical dumbbells) - obviously, for variety's sake (but not only), sometimes you can reverse the order, perform them in superset, etc. I have recommended these exercises to many friends and students, up and down the peninsula and the feedback has been really excellent. In my opinion (and with me the Biomechanics ) there are no better combinations, try and see.