[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:
[quote]Bradley Joe Kelly wrote:
[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:
[quote]Bradley Joe Kelly wrote:
Mind muscle connection is important for any exercise. I’ve spent a lot of time helping people bring up lagging body parts and 90 % of the time the key is getting it into a maximally shortened position as a warmup or first exercise. A maximally shortened position is what makes leg extensions cramp your quads so well because the quad performs both knee extension and hip flexion.
What is a maximally shortened position for thebicep? Try this simple test and you should see fir yourself.
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Put your right hand behind your head like your trying to scratch it.
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Now contract your bicep back there , behind your head. You should feel a much tighter feeling and great activation of the bicep. Give it a few trys, it has worked 100% of the time with dozens of bicep lagging people.
Do a warmup or few working sets of these (with a cable )first every arm workout and your mind muscle connection should improve dramatically.
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My biceps lag horribly , they are by far my worst muscle group. They are strong, but they’re small. When I tried this, my bicep cramped. Is this normal? It happened on both sides.
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Very normal, that’s exactly what you wanted. Warm up your biceps by getting that squeeze every workout for a while and you should develop a great connection with the bicep itself.
And they are small but strong because of a lack of tension being placed during on them for a acceptable time under tension.
If you develop a solid mind muscle connection , place tension directly on them with tips I gave and train in a optimal time under tension (say 30 to 60 seconds) there is absolutely no reason they will not grow, it’ll be their only option.
Using that methodology for triceps and biceps is what took my arms from 14 to 19 inches.
I could go over exercise choice for them if you wanted. [/quote]
Hate to hijack someones thread with my problems, but if I’m understanding right, before I work my biceps I should go the behind the head contraction. About how many times would you think is sufficient?
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Yep, movements that place the muscle in its maximally shortened position are ideal for creating a mind muscle connection and perfect to be used as warm-up or the first exercise. Just hit it a few squeezes to get in touch with the bicep directly then start training, you can also squeeze it a few times between sets, that also benefits the pump.
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While I am here again with free time I will go over exercise choice for biceps…
You should include one exercise that stresses the shortened position such as overhead cable curls or even bent over concentration curls work well.
One exercise that stresses the lengthened position such as incline curls .
And one exercise that stresses the mid position such as standard BB curls.
Brad Schoenfield’s research has also indicated that exercises that stress the shortened position are best for creating a pump and exercises that stress the lengthened position are best for muscular damage. While we are strongest in the mid range. Hitting all 3 ranges of motion over a workout or work week will ensure you work the bicep to its full potential.
P.S I attached a picture of undefeated bodybuilding legend John Gimek training his biceps in a shortened position with a cable. You can do them that way as well instead of having to do them behind your head( which is better if you have no resistance) just allow your elbow to rise slightly as you squeeze.
Edit: To be clear if you are using no weight do them behind your head , its better. If you are using a cable do them wither behind your head or like Grimek displays, either way works.
Hope that helps guys.