Here is a good exercise for building the biceps. There are three reasons why it is particularly good.
- As Airickson says, it is harder to cheat than with a more conventional biceps curl because the elbow stays still.
- The various angles of the bench affect where the maximum strength of the muscle is, which helps build both strength and size.
- Working the arms one at a time leads to better balance in arm strength – and size. And we can really concentrate on that particular bicep as it gets sqeeeeezed.
As Airickson says, place your whole arm down the back of an inclined bench, right up to the armpit. It is also important to roll the shoulder back so it is nice and stable. Take a split stance with the legs so the spine is long. The body should feel strong and open. Then get on with the exercise. Always start with the weak arm first and do exactly the same number of reps at exactly the same speed with the strong arm as were completed with the weaker arm.
The arm should go all the way to straight at the lowest point. Of course, the size of the head of the dumbbell will affect how low the arm will go. To avoid injury, it is extremely important to keep that shoulder back and down. If it rolls forwards then the 2 heads of the biceps can get rather squeezed, which not only weakens the bicep, but can lead to straining the elbow joint at the lowest point.
As always with arm training, a lighter, beautifully moved weight will give a much better long term result than a heavier weight flung about with elbows flapping , shoulders waggling about and the head moving like a hungry chicken. Concentration on using just the bicep to move the weight is key.
If the gym has one, then the exercise can be done on a preacher curl bench, as seen below. It is certainly less awkward to use than the back of a bench. Just keep those shoulders back and down to avoid injury.
