Lifting biceps with a barbell while standing is perhaps the most popular isolated exercise for working out the muscles of the hands. Despite the fact that from the outside this movement seems simple and easy, it has its own characteristics that are worth considering when performing. We will talk about them in our article today.
Anatomy exercise
Before getting acquainted with the biceps technique with a barbell, you need to start to find out exactly how this exercise works the biceps muscle of the shoulder.
The biceps muscle of the shoulder (aka biceps) consists of two bundles: external and internal. When performing a biceps exercise with a barbell, the elbows are located, as a rule, at the level of the body, and therefore this movement is aimed at working out exactly the inner head. If you take your elbows back, then the main load will receive an external beam.
Standing Biceps Lift: Performing Technique
The exercise discussed in the article is performed as follows:
- Take the bar with a grip from the bottom, stand straight. Keep your elbows close to your body. This is your starting position.
- As you exhale, use your biceps to lift the barbell up to shoulder height. The elbows should be in a fixed position. At the top point, pause for 1-2 seconds, maximally feeling the tension in the biceps.
- While breathing in, slowly lower the projectile to its original position.
- Repeat the movement as many times as you need.
Reverse Grip Barbell Lifting
Lifting the bar for biceps with a back grip differs from the classic version in that during its execution, brachialis is worked out more. This muscle is located under the biceps, and its main function is to bend the arm at the elbow. Well-designed brachialis pushes out the biceps, which contributes to a visual increase in arm volume.
In addition to brachialis, the brachioradialis muscle, which is one of the largest muscles of the forearm, is included in the work. Thanks to the lifting of the bar for biceps with a back grip, you can significantly increase the volume of your forearms.
At the beginning of the movement, the biceps tightens slightly. He receives the main load when the bar of the bar overcomes half the way. Weight should be taken less than with classic bending of the arms.
Standing Biceps Lift: Standing Technique
There is a kind of exercise when, instead of the usual barbell, a curved bar is used. This variation is considered safer for joints and more effective for muscle growth. The technique of this movement is not very different from the classic barbell lifts:
- Take the bar with the EZ neck with a back grip, stand straight. Elbows should be close to the body, palms should be directed forward. This is your starting position.
- The shoulders should remain motionless during execution. As you inhale, lift the barbell up with your biceps. Do not forget that only your forearms should move.
- When the bar is at shoulder level, hold it for a second.
- As you exhale, slowly lower the bar down.
- Do the recommended number of repetitions.
Variations: you can take the neck with a narrower grip or perform a movement using a low pulley to which you attach the EZ neck. In the second case, the load on the biceps of the shoulder will be more significant.
Main mistakes
4 main mistakes when climbing a biceps with a standing barbell, which slow down your progress and increase the risk of injury:
- Cheating. If you have been going to the gym for a long time, you have probably noticed at least once people who use cheating when doing barbell raises. To lift the heavy weight for them, they begin to throw back the shell and wriggle in every way, thereby violating the technique. This method helps them to pass the dead point for lifting the biceps, which is almost all located approximately in the middle of the upward movement. With such a "dirty" technique, other muscle groups "eat" the entire load from the biceps, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of the exercise. If you want to get the maximum benefit from the implementation, you need to stop any extraneous movements. The right technique will not only improve your results, but also protect you from lower back injury that cheating can provoke. If you took a shell with which you can’t do at least 1-2 clean repetitions, then you need to reduce the working weight. A couple of cheating repetitions is permissible only if before that you have already done 6-8 quality bar raises. But even in such a situation, try to minimize your body swings so that they only help you get through muscle failure and do not load your lower back.
- Incomplete extension of the arms. Another form of cheating. Some visitors to the gyms hang a bunch of pancakes on the bar and, instead of fully unbending their arms and lowering them down, partially unbend them and lean forward themselves. Do not forget that training with a full range of motion is much more effective for increasing strength and muscle volume!
- Barbell lift too high. You may have heard that standing up to your biceps with a barbell is worth doing as high as possible. But is such a technique effective? Yes and no. You can lift the projectile high only if your elbows are in a fixed position on the sides. In an attempt to raise the barbell higher, many athletes consciously or unconsciously push their elbows forward, because of which the front deltas are included in the work.
- You do not do a bicep lift with a barbell while standing at the beginning of a workout. At the beginning of the training session, when you are still full of strength and energy, it is worth performing heavy exercises, after which the muscles can be “finished off” with lighter ones. Put the barbell on your biceps while standing at the start of your workout. Choose a working weight with which you can do 6 to 8 repetitions per set. This will be much more effective than if you do 10 reps with less weight.
Video lessons
To consolidate the studied material, we recommend that you watch the video, which shows in detail the technique for performing the exercises discussed in the article.
Barbell bending is shown in this video.
Lifting a bent barbell to your biceps.
Reverse grip barbell lift.
An article about the best standing biceps exercise with a barbell was presented to your attention, as well as about variations of this movement. We hope you find this information useful!