The Gun Show

The almighty biceps and triceps!!! Guys would love to see Mt. Everest on the top of there arms and ladies never want to feel the back their arms do a harlem shake when they go to put on a shirt. Today I am going to discuss how to maximize output in the biceps and triceps by understanding the overall make up of this muscle group.

It is good to know that the Biceps have two heads a short head and a long head. This is important because different positioning and exercises will maximize output in the short head vs. the long head and vice versa. The short head of your bicep is located on the inside of your arm and the short head is located on the outside. If you just do bicep curls all day no doubt your arms will get bigger and you will even get stronger but will you be getting max output highly unlikely. In order to get a great burn going in the biceps I am going to suggest three simple things you can do to take your bicep curl to the next level.

Traditional Curl: This is what you see in your average gym 99.99% of the time it is a single joint movement beginning with the back of your hand on your thighs and you curl up until your bicep is flexed then you release back to the resting position and repeat. We can enhance this by focusing solely on the three different contractions involved in a bicep curl. First is the concentric contraction, you want to maximize this contraction by exploding from the resting position straight to the top of the curl. Once in this position you will experience an isometric contraction where the bicep is flexed I advise you maintain that contraction for three seconds doing this will help you generate approximately 20% greater strength. Once you release this position you will want to count three more seconds down before you are back to the resting position this will generate approximately 50% more strength. These small changes allow you maximize the output in both the long and short head of your bicep helping you to generate more strength and turn those garden snakes into pythons. I suggest doing this exercise 3x10 and going up from there.

Tricep Dips:  Doing a tricep dip for instance is something you can do from the comfort of your home but it can be as effective as anything you ever do for your triceps if you do them right. Take a chair and put it against the wall so it won't move. Once you have got it comfortable turn around and put your hand on the chair palms down so that your fingers are gripping the edge of the chair. Your legs should be straight so that the only things supporting your body are your hand on the chair and the heels of your feet on the floor. From here you want to extend up so that your elbows are locked out once you are in this position I want you to hold it for three seconds as well. Release that position and begin dipping back down I want you to count to three before your elbows are bent and resting at a 90 degree angle. Rinse and repeat. I suggest doing this exercise 3x10 and going up from there.

Again, tweaking these simple exercises by understanding the different contractions will maximize output and work all the heads on your biceps and triceps. Overtime you will feel yourself get stronger and notice the results.

Be healthy, infinitely curious, and eternally grateful.

Micah Hayes