What is the main function of the biceps brachii?

What is the main function of the biceps? If we train our biceps well, what other benefits will it bring to our body? This is a question often asked by some friends who love bodybuilding. Biceps play a very important role in our work and life, because a strong biceps will make some strength movements easier, and training the biceps well can make it more coordinated with other muscles.

The biceps brachii is one of the three major skeletal muscle groups and is a member of the limb muscles. The long head originates from the supraglenoid tuberosity of the scapula, and the short head originates from the coracoid process of the scapula. The long and short heads merge into a muscle belly in the middle of the humerus, descend to the lower end of the humerus, and the integrated tendon ends at the radial tuberosity and the fascia aponeurosis of the forearm.

When fixated proximally, the biceps brachii flexes and externally rotates the forearm at the elbow joint, and flexes the upper arm at the shoulder joint. When fixated distally, the biceps brachii brings the upper arm closer to the forearm. Electromyographic observations showed that the biceps brachii only had obvious electromyographic activity when the forearm was externally rotated with the palm facing forward and the elbow flexed. However, when the forearm is rotated inward, even when the palm is turned sideways to the body or the elbow is bent behind the body, there is little or no potential activity in the biceps brachii. This is also one of the main reasons why biceps exercises basically make the palms hold the equipment forward, located in the superficial layer of the anterior muscles of the upper arm. Function: Flexes the shoulder, elbow and supinates the forearm. When the biceps brachii contracts, the elbow joint flexes; when the biceps brachii relaxes, the elbow joint extends or the forearm hangs down.

Biceps training

High training volume

When it comes to biceps training, few people do enough sets. People who are afraid of hard training often say that the biceps are a small part and that no more than 9 sets can be performed at a time. In fact, even if you do 20 sets you can't "shock" it, you're just "tickle" it. An efficient shock training requires at least 20 sets, and all 20 sets must be formal sets, and each set must be done to exhaustion.

The superset training method is particularly effective for increasing the size of the biceps, as it stimulates more muscle fibers and creates better blood flow. I use superset training principles in every training session. The following points should be noted when using the supergroup training method.

1. Don't do supersets for every exercise, just the last two exercises of each set.

2. Don't use superset training rules for barbell curls. Because this compound exercise requires strong energy and adequate recovery.

3. Don't do supersets with your biceps with any other body parts besides your triceps. The biceps and triceps have opposite functions, so alternating training them will ensure adequate recovery time. The last exercise of biceps training can be combined with the first exercise of triceps training to do a superset, which is a good transition to triceps training.

4. When using the superset rule to train the biceps and triceps together, you should try to choose exercises with the same force level, such as dumbbell incline curls and single-arm dumbbell flexion and extension, or a combination of seated dumbbell alternating curls and standing behind-the-neck flexion and extension.

5. The only biceps exercises that can be used for superset training are dumbbell curls, incline dumbbell curls, seated barbell curls, and cable curls. In comparison, standing barbell curls are too heavy, dumbbell concentration curls are too light, and machine curls are too isolating.

What makes dumbbell curls an ideal exercise for toning the biceps is that they are usually performed in alternating sets, allowing each arm more time to recover and allowing you to use the heaviest possible weight.

The exception is the dumbbell concentration curl, which is too isolating and too heavy to be used, making it difficult to be an effective exercise for increasing muscle mass. I usually use it to warm up, and I like to slowly curl it up with my palms facing up and perform a peak contraction each time, which can produce a strong blood flow. Like other exercises for biceps training, use pyramid-style weight gain to do 5 sets of 68 times each. This is an effective training movement, but I still don't count it as a formal training.

Bodybuilding coaches recommend that friends who love bodybuilding and fitness can train the triceps together when exercising the biceps, but not together with muscles in other parts of the body. For example, when training the biceps and pectoralis major together, it will consume a lot of our energy, but the training effect of the biceps is often not obvious. Targeted training will be more effective.