Are Biceps Exercises a Waste of Time?

It's nearly impossible to walk into a gym and not see someone sitting in front of a mirror doing biceps curls. The biceps are an easy muscle to target and even easier to put on display without being obvious. While bicep exercises will help strengthen your biceps, they will do little to contribute to your overall physique or fitness. There are several other exercises besides biceps curls that will work your biceps while also engaging other muscle groups that will help you effectively and efficiently train much more of your body.

  1. The Biceps

    • The biceps brachii is a double-headed muscle located on the front of the upper arm. This muscle is the prime mover of elbow flexion and forearm suppination, which occurs when you rotate your forearm from palm down to palm up. The importance of strong biceps go beyond looking Herculean in a t-shirt -- they allow you to pick up and carry things like kids, groceries and big rocks.

    The More Muscle, The Better

    • In the grand scheme of your entire body, the biceps are relatively small muscles. During a workout, the more muscle mass you work, the better your results will be. The National Strength and Conditioning Association reports that large muscle group exercises can significantly increase acute serum testosterone concentrations in men. Testosterone influences protein synthesis in muscles and also effects the development of muscle strength and size. Large muscle group exercises also have a positive impact on growth hormone levels and the adrenal hormones, which are key co-players in muscular strength and growth.

    Additional Exercises

    • Add several large muscle group exercises to your biceps routine to get the best bang for your buck. Squats, deadlifts, thrusters and power cleans are all very effective for targeting nearly every muscle in your body. Underhand rows and chin-ups will engage your biceps while also working multiple large muscles in your back. Do not completely cut out biceps exercises because only the muscle tissue activated by resistance training is subject to adaptation, such as gains in strength and size.

    Considerations

    • Avoid performing only isolation exercises as this can lead to muscle imbalances and potentially an injury. When you do perform isolation exercises, perform them after power and multi-joint exercises to prevent a single muscle from fatiguing.
      Perform strength-training exercises on three nonconsecutive days per week to allow for muscle recovery.