The Body Sculpting Bible for Women (94 page)

The biceps muscles are located on the front of the upper arms. This two-headed muscle helps to lift the forearms upward. Biceps are probably one of the more simple muscles to train. However, just like chest muscles, if you go to any gym in the country you will see 90 percent of the people training them using incorrect form. Look at our model to the left and notice how beautifully her biceps, triceps and shoulders tie into one another. This not only comes from working hard, but also from working smarter!

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Dumbbell Curl

(Using two dumbbells simultaneously)

The dumbbell curl is a more traditional exercise, focusing on the two heads of the biceps muscles. We believe that using two dumbbells simultaneously, while standing, is the best way to perform this exercise. There are many who believe that training one arm at a time is better; however, by training both arms at the same time you have a few advantages.

1. First, working the arms simultaneously keeps the biceps working without rest through the exercise. You’ll have time to rest when the set is over.

2. Second, you train the arms with equal strength output. When you train one at a time you can very likely put much more effort into one arm than the other.

3. Third, you stay balanced. When you train one arm at a time, you will have a tendency to lean to the side of the arm you are lifting with. No Good!

PROPER ALIGNMENT

We suggest that you do this exercise standing up and supporting yourself against a wall for good body mechanics and strict form.

Choose two light dumbbells so that you can practice perfect form.

With the dumbbells in hand, begin the alignment of your body by placing your feet about shoulder width apart and pointing straight ahead of you.

Slightly bend at the knees.

Allow the dumbbells to hang down at your sides with your palms and dumbbells facing forward, as shown in the picture.

Make sure that your elbows stay pointed to the ground at all times during the biceps curl exercise. Do not allow them to move from that position.

Keep your upper body straight by sticking out your chest and keeping your shoulder blades squared off.

Keep your head level, and your eyes pointing straight ahead of you.

TECHNIQUE AND FORM

Once you are in proper postural alignment against the wall, focus all of your attention on the biceps muscles and the exercise you are about to do.

With the dumbbells at your sides, begin curling them up, making sure to keep your elbows pointed toward the ground.

Once you’ve reached the top position of the exercise, contract the biceps muscles as hard as you possibly can and hold that contraction for a count of two seconds.

From the top position, slowly and smoothly begin to lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

As you reach the bottom of the exercise, immediately begin curling the weights up toward your shoulders again. Make sure that there is a smooth transition when switching directions from both the top position and also from the bottom position. Both scenarios must be done with no rest in between either of the direction changes, unless you are so fatigued by the end of the set that you need a few seconds of rest in order to get a couple more repetitions.