Men who do fitness and bodybuilding pay a lot of attention to working out their hands. As a rule, the emphasis is on biceps and triceps, and the forearm is neglected, since it gets some load when performing almost any exercise on the hands. The large brachial muscles are good, but for the arms to be fully developed and look really strong, you need to work your forearm separately. The brachioradius muscle is the largest muscle of the forearm. His training today will be discussed.
general information
The second name of the brachioradialis muscle is brachioradialis. From the point of view of anatomy, its function is flexion of the arm in the elbow joint. The muscle is located on the outside of the forearm and attaches to the outer edge of the humerus.
The developed brachioradialis gives the hands an athletic, masculine appearance, but this is not the most important thing. With regular muscle studies, your biceps will increase, which is certainly a useful bonus. So it’s definitely worth training this small muscle.
The brachioradius muscle: how to pump
To train the muscles of the forearm, and brachioradialis in particular, dumbbells, a bar, a horizontal bar or special simulators are used. Sports equipment such as hand expanders and wrist rollers are sometimes used. There are also indirect methods for working out the brachioradialis muscle. These include: sports with weighted bracelets, work with a punching bag in weighted gloves and jumping with a weighted rope. Therefore, anyone who wants to work on brachioradialis will easily do this even at home.
Shoulder muscle: how to pump dumbbells
In this case, hammer bending of the arms is perfect. They are performed quite simply. Starting position - standing or sitting on a bench with dumbbells in hand. The back is straight, straight arms look palms to the body. A hand with a dumbbell resembles a hammer, that's where the name of the exercise came from. Together with the exhalation, bending of the arms to the shoulders is done (simultaneously or alternately). Swing is not worth it. The weight of the dumbbells must be selected so that the tenth bending is difficult.
Another exercise that allows you to train brachioradialis with dumbbells is Zottman flexion. The starting position is the same as in the previous exercise. Here you also need to bend your arms. The only difference is that during bending the arms turn with palms to the body, and during lowering - palms towards the floor. Therefore, in the first phase of the movement, biceps work, and in the second, the brachioradialis muscle. The movement must be done slowly, without jerking, especially the second phase.
Exercising brachioradialis using a barbell
The bar also provides an opportunity to work out the brachioradialis muscle. For these purposes, bending the arms with an upper grip is suitable.
Starting position - standing, feet shoulder width apart. The projectile is taken with an upper grip of medium width. On inspiration, you need to raise the bar to the chest with the help of bending the arms. On the exhale, we lower the bar uncontrollably, trying to feel the work of the muscles. In fact, this is the same movement that was in the second phase of the Zottman bends.
Brachioradius pull-ups
This is perhaps the easiest way to work out this muscle, since there is a crossbar in almost every yard. Do not neglect the exercises on the horizontal bar, because this simple projectile for working with your own weight allows you to pump almost the entire body. By the way, the wider the horizontal bar, the stronger the forearm is involved, since it, among other things, is also responsible for the grip strength.
To work out brachioradialis on the horizontal bar will allow even a simple vis. Grasp the horizontal bar with the upper grip at shoulder width and try to sag the maximum amount of time. And you will feel what the work of the forearm is.
Of course, a more effective way to train on the horizontal bar, which, in addition to the forearm, also connects the biceps and back, is pull-ups. If you want to develop a brachioradialis muscle - choose pull-ups with a direct narrow grip.
Place in the training program
In order for the muscles to harmoniously develop and relax, you need to engage in a clear program. As you know, biceps and triceps, and indeed all antagonist muscles, are worked out on different days. The brachioradialis muscle works with biceps, therefore, they need to be trained in one day. Then the next day the muscles will recover and will be ready for work again.
It is impractical to swing biceps on one day, and brachioradialis on another. This will lead to chronic forearm fatigue. Indeed, on the first day it will receive an indirect load, and on the second - a direct load. Since the muscles of the forearm get tired faster than the muscles of the shoulder, they should be left at the end of the workout.
What to do if it hurts?
Sometimes it happens that the brachioradialis muscle sore. How to treat her? This is a common question among beginners. As already mentioned, the pain of this muscle in most cases is caused by an illiterate training plan. A large amount of lactic acid accumulates in the muscle, and it “aches” at the first load. The problem is solved simply - the muscles need to be given several days of rest. During this time, the athlete will have time to just review his training schedule.
For a greater effect, you can anoint the muscle with some kind of ointment for bruises. If it does not help, you should consult a doctor, perhaps there is a muscle strain.