How Does the Way You Hold Dumbbells Affect How Biceps Grow?

Strong, shapely biceps don’t have to be a far-off fantasy. Achieving great arms comes down to having a regular workout and knowing how exercise affects your muscles. How you hold your dumbbells, for instance, affects which part of your biceps you are targeting. By using a variety of exercises with different grips during your workout you’ll hit the muscles from all sides and get the strong, shapely arms you’ve been waiting for.

Traditional Curl

• The traditional biceps curl involves holding dumbbells with two different grips. At the starting position, your palms face in towards your body but as you lift the weight you rotate your palms so that you are actually holding the dumbbell with an underhand grip and your palms are facing upwards. You rotate your wrists again as you lower the weight to return them to their original position. This hand grip places the most emphasis on your biceps brachii, your main biceps muscles. Your brachialis or lower biceps and brachioradialis or forearm muscles act as synergist -- or assisting -- muscles during traditional curls so they are also strengthened, but to a lesser degree.

Hammer Curl

• The hammer curls is a popular alternative to the traditional biceps curl but it actually works your arm muscles quite differently. In this exercise you begin with your palms facing your sides and continue with this grip as you raise and lower the weight. Although this does hit your biceps brachii, the hammer curl places more emphasis on your brachioradialis and uses your biceps brachii and brachialis as synergist.

Isolated Curls

• Isolated curls are curls that isolate your arms so that they don’t get assistance from other muscles. The theory is that isolating the muscles will make them work harder. Two examples of isolated curls are concentration curls and preacher curls. In the concentration curl, you hold the dumbbell so that your palm faces up throughout the exercise. What makes this exercise unique, however is that you are seated and you rest the back of your upper arm against your inner thigh. The preacher curl positioning is similar but rather than rest your upper arm on your thigh, you rest it against a preacher bench. Both these positions put more focus on your brachialis. They also keep the short or medial head of the biceps brachii from fully contracting so the more emphasis is placed on the lateral or long head of the biceps brachii.

Tips

• Always begin your workout by warming up your muscles. Perform one set of each exercise with lighter weight to prepare your muscles, ligaments and joints for the heavier weight. Choose a variety of biceps exercises for your workouts to strengthen all your muscles. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends performing two to four sets of each exercise that you choose with each set consisting of eight to 12 repetitions. Finish your workout by fully stretching all the muscles you have trained. Leave at least 48 hours between workouts of the same muscle group to allow your muscles to recover and grow.