Bicep push-ups are a huge misconception

The big mistake of many is the opinion that push-ups can make large volumes of the arms, including the biceps. Indeed, in addition to the pectoral muscles, push-ups work the triceps, an antagonist of the biceps. It is the triceps brachii muscle that forms the volume of the arms. But is it possible to pump up your biceps with push-ups? You need to understand the anatomy and function of the muscle.

Functions of the biceps and its participation in push-ups

The main task of the biceps is to bend the arms at the shoulder and elbow, that is, to perform the “lifting” function. For example, lifting weights – in everyday life, or lifting barbells and dumbbells – in training. What happens during push-ups: the hands perform EXTENSION at the elbow, that is, pushing off the floor, and this is already a function of the triceps. Therefore, the work of the biceps in this case is excluded.

What exercises can you pump up your biceps?

As stated, the function of the biceps is therefore, for high-quality training, it is necessary to include in the program: lifting barbells, and dumbbells (together and alternately), that is, all variants of bending the elbow with weights, in which the biceps works in isolation.

Also the function of the biceps is shoulder flexion and already here biceps can act as a synergist muscle, that is, an assistant to another muscle. For example, overhead pull-downs aimed at training the back muscles are also performed by contracting the biceps. Bent-over barbell and dumbbell rows additionally engage the biceps.

In addition to exercise machines, it is possible to work with your weight, namely: pull-ups on the bar with any grip, in which the main flexor muscle is involved.

So, biceps exercises:

Everything else – bench presses, sitting, standing, and push-ups from the floor or on the uneven bars, are exercises for the triceps extensor muscle.

Anatomy of push-ups

When doing push-ups from the floor, mainly work:

Depending on the position of the hands and position above the floor, you can influence the fibers in different ways. For example:

• the wider your palms, the more you will develop the outer part of your chest;
• the narrower the better for the middle of the chest;
• And the higher the torso is above the floor, the better the upper pecs work;
• accordingly, the lower the position (when the legs are on a hill), the better for the lower part.

Recommendations

As a result, we can say that Push-ups won’t help build bicepsMoreover, the exercise is, in principle, ineffective for increasing volume. If you are not new to physical education, then you can probably perform a large number of push-ups, more than 15. And if you want to gain muscle mass, then push-ups will be useless, you need a weight that can perform no more than 12 repetitions. You won’t be able to push up your muscles to the point of failure with bodyweight push-ups. Therefore, special equipment is needed.

• Don’t exercise often although the arm muscles recover quickly (1-2 days), you need to train them no more than 2 times a week.
• You can do a split workout: back-biceps, in which you will do 4 back exercises and 2 isolating biceps exercises. Moreover, in all exercises the two-headed muscle works. This type of training will be enough once a week. On another day, you can combine chest and triceps. Or immediately train the antagonists – triceps and biceps together.
• Change your training patterns then you will not stop making progress.

Conclusion

There are a lot of myths about training and exercises, and they are spread mainly by amateurs and beginners. It’s better to consult with an experienced trainer or professional athlete, then you will receive competent information about what and how to train. This way you will avoid wasting time and will reach your goal faster.

To learn how to properly do biceps curls on a Scott bench, read this article →