Long head bicep exercises
When training your biceps, it’s important to focus on the long head as well as the short head of the muscle. This is because the long head of the bicep makes up most of the upper bicep, which is the part you can see from the front of your arm (the peak). When you train your arms, engaging the long head is important to avoid overworking the short head and damaging the tendons and ligaments in your elbows and wrists. Here are several long head bicep exercises you can use in your next workout session.
What is the long head bicep?
The long-head biceps is a two-headed muscle that helps you lift your arm. The long head runs outside your upper arm and attaches to your shoulder blade. Furthermore, the long head is responsible for the peak of the biceps muscle. As a result, you can create a more defined look when you do exercises that target the long head.
Exercise One – Wide Grip Barbell Curl
This exercise is great for targeting the long head of the biceps. To do it:
Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and gripping a barbell with a wide, underhand grip.
From there, curl the bar towards your chest, maintaining a controlled tempo and avoiding swinging.
Once the bar reaches your chest, pause for a count of two before slowly lowering it back to the starting position. Hence, you should feel a good stretch in your biceps at the bottom of the curl.
Exercise Two – Hammer Dumbbell Curl
Start by sitting on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your thighs. Rest the ends of the dumbbells on your thighs and let them hang down. This will be your starting position. From here, slowly curl the dumbbells up to shoulder level while contracting your biceps. Make sure to keep your elbows stationary and only move your forearms. Exhale as you perform this portion of the movement and pause at the top for a second.
Exercise Three – Concentration Curl
The concentration curl is an exercise that allows you to focus on the long head of the biceps. You can do this exercise with a dumbbell or an E-Z bar. To do the exercise:
Sit against a bench and plant your feet firmly on the ground.
Curl the weight towards your shoulder, keeping your elbow and upper arms stationary.
Slowly lower the weight back down and repeat for 8-12 reps.
Exercise Four – Alternate Dumbbell Curl
This is a great exercise for targeting the long head of the biceps. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand. Next, curl one dumbbell up to the front of your shoulder while keeping your elbow and upper arms stationary. Moreover, slowly lower the weight to the starting position and repeat with the other arm.
Bonus Tip – Use heavy weights
If you want to build bigger, stronger biceps, then you need to start using heavy weights. In addition, this means lifting weights 80% or more of your one-rep max. Training with heavy weights will help you build muscle faster and increase the size of your biceps.
