The biceps muscle is the primary absorber of recoil impact. Some put the most work into their biceps as the dominant muscle for their overall physique, while others claim it is unnecessary. In any case, all the muscle groups on the arm make up strong arms, and the biceps is no exception. I’ll leave the time and intensity you focus on this muscle up to you.
So, let’s get started…
Beginner (biceps curls on the TRX)
Stand with your feet together, grab the TRX with both hands, palms facing inward and lean your body back, this is the starting position. Start by pulling both hands, rotating them so that your palms are next to your head in the up position (they turn 90 degrees). Hold in the up position for 1 – 2 seconds and then slowly drop back to the starting position. Once you reach the starting position, immediately pull back up without any break.
This exercise strengthens the biceps, forearms, wrists and erector spinal muscles. The smaller the angle between the body and the ground, the harder this exercise is to complete.
Intermediate (pull-ups on the horizontal bar)
Grip the horizontal bar with an underhand grip at shoulder width – starting position. Slowly pull towards the bar to such a height until your entire head is above the bar. Hold this position for 1 – 2 seconds and then slowly drop back down into the starting position with your arms straight. Hold in the starting position for 1 – 2 seconds and then begin to pull yourself up above the bar. The basis of this exercise is to do it with your muscles and not use your momentum! This means the up-and-down motions should be slow and take around 2 seconds. Take a break of 1-2 seconds in the top and bottom positions, and it is very important that your head remains above the bar.
Intermediate (pull-ups on the horizontal bar)
rape a towel over the bar, gripping it somewhere around eye level and then grip the bar with your other hand using an underhand grip as the starting position. Begin pulling up with one arm towards the bar, trying to get your head as high as possible over the bar. Then slowly drop back down to the starting position, starting to pull up again once you reach the bottom.
The longer you do this exercise, the less you will use the towel, and you’ll pull more with the arm you are exercising. That is the purpose of this exercise. If you find it too difficult, go back and do the intermediate level exercise or try this exercise in reverse, where you start from above the bar (using a chair or some other support to help you up) and then drop down as slowly as possible so that your arm gets used to the weight of your body.
That’s the way I exercise my biceps 🙂
I used a variety of variations in these exercises as well. Here I prefer a pyramid approach, doing 100 full two-arm pull-ups (not too slow but not using any momentum) in the smallest number of sets. I do 100 pull-ups in 7 sets, which I don’t think is so bad for someone who is approaching 50 ,-)
Every time I work out my biceps, I do another 2 or 3 beginner level sets on the TRX at the end. I never do the intermediate and advanced level exercises together, always separately.