Did you know that male kangaroos flex their biceps to attract female kangaroos? Even if you just want bigger biceps so that you can look and feel stronger, flexing in the mirror won’t get you there.
That’s why this article will talk about what biceps are, the best push ups for biceps, and even alternative exercises for your biceps.
Why is working out your biceps so important? It is because it is this muscle that allows you to push, lift and pull items.
If you don’t work out your biceps, this can have a lot of repercussions as you start to age. Some of them can include not having the ability to work your elbows, wrists, lats, forearms, and shoulders.
What Are Biceps?
The biceps act as a large muscle that sits on the front of your upper arm. It sits between your elbow and shoulder.
The primary function of the bicep is to both rotate your forearm and the ability to flex your elbow.
The muscle heads arise from the blade of the shoulder and join in the middle arm area to create the forearm.
The function of biceps is a bit less pronounced than other muscle groups. While it’s a prominent muscle in the upper arm, it stabilizes and supports nearby muscles when you lower or lift your forearm.
The Conditions Of Biceps Muscle
Muscle strain: Overstretching fibers and tendons in the biceps
Biceps Tendinitis: When you repeatedly use your biceps to the point of pain. Shoulder and biceps pain could result.
Biceps Tendon Rupture: When the tendons tear from the bone. You can experience swelling or pain.
Best Push Ups For Biceps
Working out your biceps is not as simple as doing a simple push up. But simple variations on the push up can act as just the thing to truly give you a good biceps workout.
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Close Stance Push Up
To get the very best workout for your biceps, bringing in your arms closer when doing push ups can get you better results.
Make sure that you start off with a stiff torso. Get into the standard push up position while you’re doing that.
Get your neck into the neutral position. Leave a couple of inches between your hands.
Just keep in mind that the closer your hands are to each other, the harder this exercise will be to do.
Lower yourself to the ground. Flare out your elbows at a 45-degree angle. Go back to the start position. Repeat.
Do as many repetitions as you possibly can.
If possible, do reps until you can no longer hold the proper form. If you get to three sets, stop at that point.
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Inside Push Up With Reversed Hands
When you reverse the position of your hands while you’re in push up position, you’ll see yourself in more of an arm-curling position.
This might seem odd at first. But once you start doing a lot of these repetitions, you’ll find that the position of this type of push up feels more natural over time.
Many people new to exercise might find this exercise hard to do. These people can start doing this type of push up on their knees.
They can transition to the harder variation as they get more comfortable with this exercise.
Put yourself in the standard push up position. Turn your fingers so that they face the wall behind you.
Align your fingers with your back. When lowering yourself down to the floor, tuck your elbows into your sides as much as possible.
Once you get down to the floor, go back to the starting position. Do up to three sets.
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One-Armed Pushup
You might have seen a few fitness aficionados throw themselves into several sets of one-armed pushups in your day.
While maintaining proper form for this exercise isn’t exactly easy, it will become so once you put in some practice.
- Start in the push up position.
- Create stability by widening your feet.
- Place one hand behind your back.
- Lower yourself until your chest hits the floor.
- Do up to three sets.
Here’s how to do a one-armed push up progression:
Things To Consider And Alternatives
What do all of these biceps exercises have in common? All of these exercises sit in the advanced category of exercise. In other words, working out your biceps is not for the fitness novice.
So what exactly does a person new to fitness and strength training do to work out their biceps?
The only thing you really can do is practice, practice, and more practice.
But while you crank out the imperfect one-armed push ups every morning, you could also do one other thing, which you can read about below.
Alternatives Pushups For Biceps
Whether you find that the biceps push ups are too difficult or you just want a bit of variety in your workout, you can actually perform alternative biceps exercises.
Do some of them on non-push up days or in addition to the close stance and one-armed push ups.
- Barbell biceps curl: When lifting barbells, make sure you have good form
- Dumbbell biceps curl: Don’t lift more than 10 pounds. When you perform your curls, make sure your body is as still as possible.
- Overhead curl: If you can get access to a cable machine, perform this exercise overhead.
- Chinups: This exercise mainly work out your back. But when you switch your grip on the bar, you can really give your biceps a good workout. If you can’t get to an assisted pullup machine at your local gym, try getting a pullup bar or band for your home.