“Biceps Curls” AREN’T Effective! DO THIS INSTEAD & Boost Bicep Growth By 200% (Proven in EMG Study)

Guys, what I'm going to explain in this video is, without exaggeration, the single most important key to biceps isolation and biceps specific growth. And it's a principle that I've never seen anybody else correctly implement, so it will give you an enormous advantage over everyone else at the gym. And to start with, it's first essential to understand what's wrong with the standard supinating biceps curls that everybody thinks is the best way to build them, but that a close examination of biomechanics and research studies that measure actual biceps activation will prove is not the most effective way to work them, even if you're using perfect form, and that there's a set of techniques I'm going to show you that can increase the relative amount of biceps specific activation, and therefore growth, by up to 200%. Issue number one, when you perform bicep curls, you flex your elbow, and rightly so, because both heads of the biceps brachii cross the front of the elbow, so when they contract, they bend it. But the problem here is that the biceps aren't the only muscles doing that. In fact, they're not even doing most of it. The most powerful elbow flexor is actually the brachialis, a muscle that sits underneath the biceps and also crosses the front of the elbow. And EMG studies have shown that it's almost 40% more activated during straight elbow flexion than the biceps are, even when performed in a supinated position. Then there's the brachioradialis, another large muscle that is also a powerful elbow flexor. So when you flex your elbow, sure, you're engaging the biceps, but the majority of the load is taken off the biceps by these other two muscles. So the way that most people who understand this issue think they can get around it and shift more load onto the biceps is to add a movement that it does but the other two muscles don't, and that's supination. The biceps insert on the radius and the fascia on the inside edge of the forearm, so when they contract, they rotate the forearm externally in what is called supination. And you can feel how strongly the biceps contract with supination yourself. Just bend your elbow to 90 degrees, grab your bicep with the opposite arm, and then rotate your forearm back and forth, and you will feel the biceps contracting underneath your hand. So many weightlifters know their anatomy and try to isolate the biceps and put more load on it by supinating their forearm as they bend their elbow. But here is the reason why that does not work, and the central tenet behind this video and my isosupination techniques. Using a dumbbell as our example, if you analyze the physics of this supinating bicep curl, you'll notice that there's actually no resistance against the supination, because each side of the dumbbell perfectly balances the other out. Think of a seesaw with a fulcrum in the middle. Let's say you have a 200-pound guy sitting on one end. How hard would it be to lift that end and rotate it around the fulcrum? Pretty hard, you'd have to exert a lot of force. But if there's also a 200-pound guy sitting on the other end, no force at all. You could put a penny on one guy's hand and it would send the seesaw rotating. And that's what's happening with the dumbbell. You got the pinky and thumb side of the teeter-totter, your hand is the fulcrum, and the force needed to rotate the pinky side up in supination is 100% provided by the opposite side rotating down. There is no resistance against supination other than air friction, like the resistance your chest would feel by doing air pushups. The real resistance is still only on elbow flexion, so the brachialis and brachioradialis are still taking most of the load. So how do you actually create resistance against supination and thereby truly isolate and load the biceps? Well, as an example, two separate research teams, one at the University of Colorado and the other in Ontario, Canada, both did it by developing custom-made machines specifically for that purpose, which had you insert your forearm into a contraption with your elbow bent to 90 degrees, and that machine would create resistance against supination for you. And both research teams proved via EMG recordings that their supination exercises created twice as much bicep-specific activation when compared to standard biceps curls, but luckily, you don't have to build your own device to get those benefits, because I've developed six different techniques in order to provide direct resistance against supination using a variety of equipment, including free weights and cables, so that you can get these benefits and truly load and isolate your biceps no matter what equipment you have. Technique number one is the easiest but least effective of the six. All you need to do is grab a dumbbell and then shift your hand to one end of the handle so that your thumb is pressed up against one side. That will increase the relative amount of weight pulling down on the pinky side of your hand and therefore against supination. It won't be a huge difference, like I said, this is the least effective of the six, but it's better than nothing and will shift more load onto the biceps than standard curls with your hand in the middle of the dumbbell. And note that with all six of these techniques, it's important to supinate your forearm as far as you can, because studies have shown that the short head of the biceps is most active during supination up until your palms face up, and then the long head is most active during supination past that point. So it's necessary to rotate past a supinated position to fully hit both heads of the biceps, and you will be able to feel that difference. The pros of this first technique are that it's very quick and easy to do, doesn't require any additional equipment or setup, and is easy to achieve full supination range of motion, while the con is that it doesn't generate much resistance to supination. Technique number two is much more effective, and is to both shift your hand to the thumb side of the dumbbell and to loop a resistance band around the pinky side of the dumbbell, which will create significant resistance against supination. And with all six of these techniques, you can either perform elbow flexion with the supination, or keep your elbow bent isometrically at about 90 degrees and only perform forearm supination to really isolate the biceps. Pros, this technique generates a ton of resistance against supination. Cons, you need a resistance band to do it, and it's a little more difficult to use full supination range of motion, because if you rotate too far past the supinated position, the band can start to slide down the handle. Technique number three, on the other hand, only requires a dumbbell. But this time, instead of shifting your hand to one side of the handle, you don't grip the handle at all. Instead, you grab one end of the dumbbell with the handle coming out of the pinky side of your hand, and then you swing the other end out and up by supinating your forearm. Now, the downside of this technique is that you have to be able to fit your hand around one end of the dumbbell, which, depending on the design of the dumbbell, typically means you won't be able to use very heavy weight. So I recommend sticking to the isometric supination, like you see here, to hone in on the biceps. Not only because then you'll keep the other elbow flexors from stealing some of what little weight there is, but also because studies have shown that the biceps generate the most amount of torque when the elbow is bent to 90 degrees. So you'll get the most bang for your buck with lighter weight at 90 degrees. Pros for this one? All you need is a dumbbell. It's extremely bicep-specific, so it can work very well as a biceps finisher when all your elbow flexors are already fatigued, and it's easy to get full supination range of motion. Cons? Unless you have Kawhi Leonard's hands, you won't be able to use very heavy weight. However, one way you can overcome the lightweight downside is to use blood flow restriction bands on your upper arms while performing the isosupination, which allow you to stimulate muscular hypertrophy and strength gains even when using very light weight. Much more on BFR training coming in one of my next videos. Technique number 4 is my personal favorite and is extremely effective. But to do it, you need an adjustable dumbbell. Because it's done by overloading one side. In this case, I have just 10 pounds on the thumb side, but 25 pounds on the pinky side, and the asymmetric load generates significant resistance against supination. Think of having a 100-pound guy on one side of the seesaw, and a 250-pound guy on the other, and then having to rotate the 250-pound guy's side up. And again, you can either do elbow flexion with supination, or just supination while maintaining isometric flexion. Pros? This one is extremely effective, all you need is a dumbbell, and it's easy to achieve full supination range of motion. Cons? It has to be an adjustable dumbbell. The set that I use is from Bowflex, and I will include a link in the video description to them if you want to check them out yourself. Technique number 5 uses a cable machine and a rope attachment. You'll start each rep with your hands in a hammer position and forearms neutral, and then you'll supinate your forearms while you flex your elbows. This works because on both sides, the rope is only coming out of the pinky side of your hands, which provides direct resistance against supination. Pros? This one is highly effective and easy to load a lot of weight on, and very efficient since you can work both sides at the same time. Cons? You need a cable machine to do it, and it's a little more difficult to achieve full supination range of motion because of how the ropes pull your forearms. Finally, technique number 6 is a unilateral cable version, and instead of a two-sided rope, you'll use either a single rope or a wedge attachment, which is what I'm using here. And again, start with the hammer grip, but then supinate your forearm as you flex your elbow. And again, because the cable is only pulling from the pinky side of your hand, it provides direct resistance against supination. Now the next level or pro version of this technique is the Kamalu Curl, which I went over in depth in a previous video that I will link below. Pros? Again, it's highly effective since you can use heavy weight, you can rotate your body to adjust the resistance angle through the lift, and you have more freedom of motion to get full supination than with the bilateral rope version. And as I've mentioned, full supination is essential to get full engagement of the long head of the biceps. Cons? Again, you need a cable machine, and either a single rope or wedge attachment, which aren't as common to find. Now, if you want to know how to best integrate these isosupination techniques into a comprehensive science-based bicep workout routine, what you need is my Hypertrophy Series Biceps and Triceps program, which leverages cutting-edge exercise science principles to optimize everything from the amount of weight, sets, reps, and supersets to use, to region-specific hypertrophy techniques, warmups and finishers, and much much more, and I'll include the link for that as well as a 20% off discount code for the program in the video description below. And for more FREE science-based fitness content, be sure to subscribe to Fitness Tip Friday, my extremely popular and completely free weekly newsletter that is always short, science-based, and significant, giving you an immediately actionable fitness tip, along with inspirational quotes and discounts and deals offered exclusively to subscribers. And you can join the newsletter via another link I will leave in the video description below. Guys, if you liked this video, please show your support by hitting that like button, letting me know your thoughts in the comment section below, and sharing it with a friend. And you can also follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Michael underscore Kamalu for more top-tier health and fitness content. And be sure you're subscribed to this channel and have those new video notifications turned on because I have an incredible lineup of videos coming over the next few months that you are not going to want to miss, including an in-depth analysis of the science behind BFR training that I mentioned previously in this video. Mahalo, my friends, and best of bicep training to you, until next time!