Bicep Curls Upgraded: Use This One Simple Tweak To Blast Your Bis
We talk a LOT about topics such as functional fitness, hybrid training, full body strength splits, CrossFit, and HYROX. But let’s talk plainly: sometimes all we want from our time in the gym is a good old-fashioned bicep pump and some sleeve-defying arm growth. Admit it.
Well, rather than reinventing the wheel or giving you a specialist arm training protocol (although you can find many of those linked below), we’ve got one small tip that could have a big impact on your bicep training. All you have to do is lean forward.
The Forward-Leaning Bicep Curl
A quick anatomy lesson: the biceps are made up of two 'heads' (thus, bi) that run from different parts of the scapula, near your shoulders, all the way down to the inside of the elbow.
When we perform movements like the preacher curl, where our upper arms are supported and at a raised angle, the biceps are almost fully stretched whilst under load. This means they work through a much fuller range of motion under greater tension than traditional standing curls. Research from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning has shown that working a muscle through a fuller range of motion can lead to greater gains in strength. However, if you don’t have a preacher curl bench, this quick tweak in form could go a long way to simulate these effects, placing greater tension on the biceps and eliciting more growth.
All you need to do is hinge forward at the hips slightly, allowing the barbell to hang freely in front of your body. This puts a full stretch on your biceps without the support of your body for the barbell to rest on. From here, simply curl the barbell up to below your chin, squeezing the biceps hard in the top position, before slowly lowering the bar back down to a full stretch. Avoid any excessive movement from the torso or hips throughout the exercise.
Forward-Leaning Bicep Curl Mechanical Dropset Workout
The biggest downside of movements like the preacher curl or forward-leaning bicep curl is that they may not allow you to use as much load as more compound, mechanically advantaged movements such as traditional standing bicep curls. This could result in under-stimulating the biceps, and ultimately, a balance has to be struck between putting your muscles in a novel, ‘optimal’ position and actually shifting some heavy weight. If it were as simple as making movements as difficult as possible without any consideration for weight loading, we’d all be performing pistol squats atop Bosu balls.
To mitigate the (admittedly small) risk of under-stimulating the biceps using the forward-leaning curl, try this ‘mechanical dropset,’ where you move from a more difficult movement immediately into a less taxing one to keep stimulating the muscle and eke out some more gains, even after failure.
Start by performing as many reps as possible of the forward-leaning curl. As soon as you can’t fully curl the weight to beneath your chin or control the barbell back down, stand up straight and perform as many reps as you can of regular bicep curls, even using a little bit of ‘body language’ to help you get the bar up on those final few reps.
Although some studies have concluded that this type of ‘beyond failure’ training probably isn’t completely necessary for muscle growth and could even lead to overtraining if utilised too much, it is a surefire way of ensuring that you’re properly stimulating the muscle and getting into that all-important growth sweet spot, especially if you’re tight on time.
Thirsty For a Pump? Here's More Biceps and Arms Workouts
This Resistance Band Bicep and Triceps Finisher Dishes up a Perfect Arm Pump
Supersize Your Biceps and Triceps with Just an Empty Barbell
Build Bigger Biceps and Kickstart Your Recovery with Cool-Down Curls
Use the Bicep ‘Gun Walk’ Finisher To Pump Your Arms Whilst Strengthening Your Core
You Might Also Like
