Pull-ups can strengthen the biceps

Pull-ups are a very familiar movement for our male friends. When we do pull-ups, we need strong support from our arms. So, can we exercise our biceps when doing pull-ups? In fact, when doing pull-ups, we can not only exercise our biceps, but also our latissimus dorsi. Now I will tell you about the specific movement requirements of pull-ups.

1. Action Technical Analysis

1. Action essentials: Hold the bar with both hands and keep your arms straight and hanging. Pull up until your chin is over the bar, then extend your arms to return to hanging position.

2. Anatomical analysis: According to the changes in the movement of the links, pull-ups can be divided into two stages: flexed-arm pull-ups and lowering. The direction of movement of the links in the falling phase is consistent with the direction of gravity, and the muscles do not actively contract to complete the movement, so they are not analyzed. Here we focus on the pull-up stage.

In the pull-up, the direction of each link is opposite to the direction of gravity, requiring the dynamic torque to be greater than the resistance torque. Therefore, the prime mover completes the concentric work, the wrist flexor and finger flexor muscles always remain tense and contracted, using distal support to complete the concentric work, and grasping the horizontal bar to bear the body weight. Elbow flexion is mainly done by the brachialis, biceps brachii, pronator teres, etc., which complete the centripetal work of distal support. The shoulder joint is extended and adducted (related to the rise of the trunk and lower limbs), mainly the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, etc., to complete the concentric work of distal support. The downward rotation of the scapula is accompanied by compression movement. The downward rotation movement mainly involves the pectoralis minor and rhomboid muscles, and the retraction movement mainly involves the trapezius and rhomboid muscles, both of which complete the concentric work of proximal support. The extensor and flexor muscles of the spine, the extensor and flexor muscles of the lower limbs, etc., complete the reinforcement work.

As we all know, there are many exercise methods to develop upper limb strength, the commonly used ones are: push-ups, parallel bar flexion and extension, heavy lifting, single bar curl-arm hang, incline pull-ups, pole climbing or rope climbing, etc. Can the above-mentioned exercise methods effectively improve the strength of muscles such as the biceps, brachialis, pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi? If we analyze the working conditions of the muscles, we will find that push-ups, parallel bar flexion and extension, and heavy push-up exercises mainly train the strength of the serratus anterior, pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps. However, the exercise of muscle groups such as the biceps, brachialis and latissimus dorsi is not enough. Therefore, if push-ups, dips, and heavy weights are used as exercises to teach pull-ups, the results will not be very good.

The above is a detailed introduction to the key points of pull-ups and some movement analysis. Many bodybuilding athletes believe that pull-ups are a good movement to train the biceps, because pull-ups are a compound movement that is mainly completed by the cooperation of the shoulder joint and the elbow joint. If we can do pull-ups frequently, we can make our biceps stronger.