Train the biceps for size, shape and strength
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009Better Looking Arms:
Train the biceps for size, shape and strength
Is there anyone who doesn’t appreciate great-looking arms? Hard sculpted biceps on men, and gracefully lean upper arms on women? And wouldn’t you love them on your body?
The biceps, those two-headed (“bi”) muscles at the front of the upper arm that flex the forearm, are one of the smallest, yet most eye-catching muscles on the body. They are easy to train using most any pulling or curling exercise and it doesn’t take a lot of grueling work to see real progress.
Women can and should do these exercises without worry, since females typically don’t see a size increase in muscles from strength training. Since women have up to 30 times less of the type of hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy, they can lift for strength and shape, and not worry about bulk.
You’ve probably sat at a bicep curl machine at the gym and wondered what the big deal is. Yes, the machine is designed to isolate the muscle but, unfortunately, most people tend to let the machine do most of the work. As you brace your upper arms on the pad, and grasp the handles, you’re performing some fancy elbow-flexing to move the handles and the weight. But how much are you really benefiting from it?