Exercise for Proximal Biceps

Your biceps -- actually they're called the biceps brachii -- are made up of two heads, inner and outer. The term proximal refers to the closest part of the muscle to the head. In the case of the biceps, the proximal region of the muscle is the origin point, which is at the shoulder. The farthest point from the head is called the distal region, which in this case is the forearm. Most biceps exercises work from your biceps from the insertion up to the proximal origin. However, you can do exercises to work the muscle group from the proximal origin to the insertion.

  1. Basic Biceps Anatomy

    • The inner biceps head is shorter than the outer head. However, both heads extend from the shoulder down to the forearm, crossing the elbow joint, on which they mainly act on. The short head originates at the coracoid process of the scapulae, or shoulder blade. The long head originates at the supraglenoid tubercle of the scapulae. Both heads insert at the radial tuberosity of the radius, or outer forearm.

    Basic Biceps Biomechanics

    • When you perform traditional biceps exercises, such as dumbbell curls, your biceps pull from the insertion -- the distal point -- toward the origin -- the proximal point. This is because your forearms are moving freely while your shoulders are in a relatively fixed position. To switch this action so the biceps are pulling from the proximal point to distal point, thus from the shoulder to the forearm, you need to do an exercise in which the forearms are relatively stationary.

    Chinups

    • The exercise that allows you to work from the proximal biceps to the distal biceps is the chinup. This exercise is similar to the pullup, except you are using an underhanded grip as opposed to an overhanded grip. This handgrip allows you to better work your biceps, because overhanded grips cause the biceps tendon to wrap around the forearm bone and thus not be able to contract when the elbow is bending, therefore shifting the work to the underlying brachialis muscle.

    Chinup Execution

    • Before doing chinups, or any resistance exercise, warm up your body for five to 10 minutes. Once you do this you can then perform chinups, as your muscle will be primed for your workout session. First, grip the chinup bar with a shoulder-width underhanded grip, hang from the bar with your arms and back straight and bend your knees to 90 degrees. Then, pull your body upward until your upper chest is close to the bar. Hold the contraction for one to two seconds and then return to the starting position. Do three to five sets of this exercise during either your biceps or back workouts. Perform 10 to 15 reps per set. Once you do all of the exercises in your workout routine, do a 10-minute cool-down to lower your body temperature to a more normal level.