The Best Long Head of Bicep Exercise in GYM

When it comes to building strong arms, the bicep is often overlooked. Gaining bicep size requires patience, knowledge, and intelligence.

Most fitness buffs don’t realize the bicep has two heads: the short head and the long head. Developing the long-head biceps gives you the perfect size bicep. Diving deeper into the long head exercises can improve your arm appearance and boost your upper body power.

Now is the time to develop some massive bicep peaks!

Table of Contents

Anatomy of the Bicep

Biceps brachii is a single muscle composed of two heads, or attachment points. The long head (outer biceps) is referred to as the “biceps brachii” while the short head (inner biceps) is called the “bicep biceps muscle”. The short head comes from the “Coracoid process” of your scapula, while the long head comes from your scapula’s “glenoid tubercle.”

It’s important to note that both heads converge to form one bicep tendon just before it passes through the elbow joint where it inserts into your forearm’s radius bone.

The long head sits over the short head. Because of this, the long head has become linked to biceps peak while the short head adds width or thickness to your bicep.

The biceps’ job is to flex or bend the elbow. There are two other smaller muscles that are involved in elbow flexion: the brachionadialis (brachialis) and the pectoralis (pectoralis). The biceps play a small role in the flexion of the shoulder. It is important to note that the long head plays a much bigger role in the shoulder flexion that the short head plays.

Because the biceps flex the elbow when you bend it, both heads are working together to flex your biceps. Therefore, you can’t isolate the short or the long head. Each curl variation activates both heads because they both have one insertion point.

You can, however, emphasize one head over the other. This is mainly because the long head contributes to shoulder flexion.

4 WAYS TO EMPHASIZE THE LONG HEAD OF THE BICEPS

Not only do you want to focus on exercises that target the long head, but here are four tips that you can apply to any exercise to get the most out of long-head involvement:

When curling, keep your hands as close as possible to each other.
Keep your elbows in at your sides.
Use a neutral grip.
Pull your elbows back beyond the line of your torso.

5 MOST EFFECTIVE LONG HEAD BICEP EXERCISES FOR HUGE PEAKS

We’ve rounded up 8 of the best exercises we’ve found to work for both the outer biceps and the massive peaks (long head) of the biceps. You don’t have to pick them all, but adding 2-3 to your arm routine and changing them up every couple of months should yield significant results.

INCLINE DUMBBELL CURLS

This is one of the best targeted long head exercises for your bicep. In this position, your elbows are at your side’s behind you and your long head is stretched out. You’re also rotating your forearm from neutral down to supinated. You’ll have a high-stretch contraction and you’ll be able to move your long head a lot more freely. This is why this is position number one for us.

Incline dumbbell curls instruction:

Adjust the backrest of the bench to 45-60 degrees.
Sit down on the bench and grab a dumbbell with each hand in a neutral grip. Hang your hands straight down.
When you take a breath, flex at your elbow bringing your dumbbells as high as you can with your elbow position and keep your wrists straight.
As you curl, turn your arm to your side and palm up. Your arms should be almost parallel to the floor.
At the top of your curl, if you feel like you can’t curl any higher, you can completely supinate your arm (turn your arm so your palm faces outward) and lift your elbow up a bit.This will give you some extra bicep contractions.
When you take a deep breath, take another deep breath and slowly bring your dumbbells down to where you started.

Other good variations of the incline dumbbell curl:

Incline Curl
Do not rotate your forearm, just keep an underhand grip all the time
Hammer incline Curls
Start with a neutral grip at the bottom (not neutral)
Rotate to full supination on the way up to the top
Rotate back to neutral on the way down
Incline curls with a cable machine
Set up a bench in advance of the cable machine. This will change the exercise as tension comes from behind you and the cables offer a flat resistance curve.

DUMBBELL HAMMER CURLS

The Hammer Curl is one of the most popular biceps and forearm exercises in bodybuilding. Everyone knows and loves the hammer curl, but do you know that the long head is the primary target of the hammer curl? Remember back when we talked about neutral grip curls, which allow you to target the long head, that is exactly what the hammer curl is all about.

Here we are demonstrating the hammer curl from a seated stance. We chose to do this from a seated stance because it reduces the risk of cheating. This is the most strict position to do the hammer curl.

You can also do the hammer curl standing as well. Alternating hammer curls instead of curling both at the same time.

Hammer curl instruction:

On a bench, sit up straight with your back against the backrest.
The dumbbells should be held in your hands with your arms stretched out and your hands at your sides. Keep your elbows as close to your sides as possible, but don’t let them get caught on the bar or your body as you curl.
Lift the weight up with your palms facing in and curl with a neutral grip. Hold your elbow fixed as you curl, your elbows should not be lifted.
When you get to the point where you’re feeling the most intense contraction, gradually lower your weight back down until you have your arms fully extended.

Other variations of hammer curls for long head bicep:

You can also use a cable machine to do hammer curls. This works the muscle the same way, but there won’t be any difference in strength. To make sure your arms are fully extended against any resistance, you should stand on a small platform.
For hammer curls, you can use a hammer grip to curl the weight in the direction of your midline. For inward hammer grip curls, use a Pinwheel Curl (see below).

CLOSE-GRIP BARBELL OR EZ BAR CURLS

Barbell curls are great all-around bicep exercises, but if you use a close grip, you can highlight your bicep’s long head. That’s because there’s some shoulder internal rotation going on (remember the training variables we talked about for your long head)?

Another awesome thing about the barbell curl is that it’s probably the hardest curl you can do. Because the biceps have 60% fast-twitch vs. 40% slow-twitch muscle fibers, they respond best to relatively low-rep loads. However, you’ll still need higher reps for optimal development. The bottom line is that if you want large biceps, heavy sets are necessary.

Close-Grip Barbell Curls instruction

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your back straight.
Grip the barbell tightly (it can be hip-width or closer, you can vary the width on each set).
Roll the bar up and keep your elbow in place. At the point of maximum contractions, lift your elbows a bit higher for a bit more bicep contractions (keep in mind that your bicep acts on your shoulder flexion because it crosses the shoulder joint) and squeeze at the top.
Bring the barbell slowly down to where you started.

Other variations of close grip curls for long head:

Do a close grip dumbbell curl with your wrists supinated.
Do a close grip cable curl with a straight bar.
Do an EZ Bar close grip curl (If your wrists or elbows hurt when you use a barbell in a supinated position, an EZ bar will help as it will place your wrists in a neutral grip, which feels more natural when your wrists are supinated).

CLOSE GRIP PREACHER CURLS

If you have a preacher bench in your gym, try a close grip preacher curl with an EZ bar.

The preacher curl has very good bicep muscle activation and allows for maximum stretch contraction, as long as you don’t let your arms down with every rep.

You can’t cheat on the preacher curl, and that’s also why it’s so effective. Using a preacher bench means your elbows are locked, and you can’t use your shoulders or back to whip up the weight. It’s all very strict.

All in all, it’s a great all around bicep workout. You can also make the preacher curl long head centered by using a narrow.

Preacher curl instruction:

On the preacher bench, place your upper arms flat on the pad, your forearms off the pad, but your elbow locked into the pad.
Grip the EZ bar tightly and curl the weight until your arms are almost perpendicular to the ground.
Squeeze your biceps to push the weight up, then slowly return the weight down until you feel your arms fully extended and your bicep stretch, then repeat.

Other variations of the preacher curl for the long head:

Hammer curl dumbbell preacher curls
Single arm barbell preacher curls (this one is HARD)

DRAG CURLS

The great thing about a drag curl is that it eliminates the front delts, so you can isolate your biceps the best you can.

The long head of your bicep is highlighted the most because of how your elbows are positioned. When you curl, your elbows are pulled back behind you. This stretches out your long head to an extremely high degree. This position also allows for some serious contractions. So if you want to build your bicep pecs, this is one of the best exercises to do.

You can use barbells, dumbbells or even an EZ bar for this exercise.

Drag Curl Instruction:

Lift the dumbbells in an underhand grip and hold them at shoulder height so that the dumbbells line up with your shoulders.
Move the dumbbells up in a straight line while flexing at the elbow and slowly driving your elbow back. The higher the weight, the more your elbow will return. Keep your shoulders relaxed and packed throughout.
Once you’ve reached the point of maximum contraction, take a deep breath and release your bicep muscles, then slowly pull them back in the same direction until you have your arms fully extended.

CONCLUSION

The main point of the text is that developing the long head of the bicep is crucial for achieving the perfect size and appearance of the bicep. The text provides information on the anatomy of the bicep, the role of the long head in shoulder flexion, and offers tips and exercises to emphasize the long head for optimal results.

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FAQs

Q1: What is the difference between the long head and short head of the bicep?

A: The long head is located above the short head. The scapula’s clavicular process is the source of the long head. The short head is located below the clavicular process. The short head contributes more to your biceps peak.

Q2: Can you isolate the long head or short head of the bicep?

A: No, you can’t completely isolate either head. You can focus on one head more than the other by doing shoulder flexion exercises.

Q3: What are the four ways to emphasize the long head of the bicep?

Use a shoulder-width grip or wider
Incline your upper body slightly forward
Focus on contracting the long head during the movement
Use exercises that involve shoulder flexion, such as incline dumbbell curls or hammer curls

Q4: How often should I train my biceps to emphasize the long head?

A: Train your biceps once or twice a week with exercises that target your long head. Make sure you have enough time for rest and recovery.

Q5: Is it possible to gain bicep size without targeting the long head?

A: While bicep size can be increased without targeting the long head specifically, it can be more challenging. The long head has a major impact on the overall size and shape of biceps.

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