When it comes to physical attractiveness, certain muscle groups are considered more attractive than others. Evolutionary Psychology ResearchFor example, over 500 heterosexual women rated men’s most attractive muscles, ranking abs, glutes, biceps, shoulders, obliques, triceps, calves, forearms, quads, and pectoral muscles as the 13 most visually attractive muscles, but only biceps, glutes, abs, and obliques made the top four.
“There’s a lot of cultural and psychological importance to having strong, defined arms, and the biceps contribute greatly to that,” says Michael Frederickson, PhD, director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Stanford University.
Not only are biceps attractive to look at, they can also improve your health and athletic performance. Here we explain what biceps are and how to get them.
What are biceps?
The biceps, commonly referred to as just the biceps, “is a large, thick muscle that sits on the ventral, or front, side of your upper arm,” says Danielle Ponzio, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. She explains that the muscle is made up of two heads — one called the long head and one called the short head — that originate at the shoulder blade and attach to the forearm.
The purpose of your biceps is to flex your upper arm and help supinate your forearm. “Flexion is moving your forearm in toward your body, and supination is rotating your forearm,” explains Brad Schoenfeld, M.D., professor of exercise science at Lehman College, City University of New York.
One advantage the biceps have over other muscles is that they “respond relatively quickly to targeted strength training,” Frederickson says. “With consistent, focused training, you’ll see significant growth and development in the biceps.”
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Why are strong biceps good for your overall health?
This is important because biceps are beneficial to your overall health. “Many people claim that biceps are non-functional or just for show, but that’s simply not true,” says Andy Galpin, an exercise physiologist and co-director of the Sports Performance Center at California State University, Fullerton. Galpin says that biceps are important for shoulder and elbow health, and “contribute to a multitude of other tasks, like pulling, grasping, and carrying, that are essential to basic human survival, child rearing, sports, and more.”
“The biceps are involved in almost every movement of the upper extremities, making them important for almost every daily activity,” Ponzio adds.
Having strong biceps can improve your posture, stabilize your shoulder joints, reduce your risk of injury, improve athletic performance, and even help you achieve your weight management goals because muscle tissue burns more than twice as many calories as fat tissue, even when your body is at rest. Research suggests Increasing muscle mass may reduce the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.
Biceps “can help boost your self-confidence and be a source of pride and personal accomplishment,” Frederickson adds.
Building muscle is not that easy.But getting the protein right is important.
How can I make my biceps bigger?
There are many exercises you can do to grow these muscles, but “the primary exercise that targets the biceps is the arm curl,” says Schoenfeld. This exercise can be done with a barbell, dumbbells, or Resistance Bands Or use a cable weight machine. “The basic movement is to hold the weights at your sides, then raise your forearms and curl the weights while keeping your upper arms tight at your sides,” he explains. Then lower the weights back to the starting position and repeat. “The most important tip is to raise and lower the weights with control,” he advises. “Also, don’t swing your body during the exercise – your forearms should be the only part of your body that should move.”
When using curl variations, Frederickson suggests starting with low weights and increasing repetitions, gradually increasing the weight over time. “Proper nutrition, especially protein intake, and adequate rest and recovery also aid in this muscle-building process and help prevent injury,” he adds.
In addition to curls, Galpin says that other lower-body exercises like lat pulldowns, diamond pushups, dips, close-grip bench press, chin-ups, bent-over rows, and even deadlifts can also activate your biceps. “Variety your movements; don’t just stick to one exercise,” he advises. “Also, make sure you do an equal amount of work for your triceps as well as your biceps, otherwise you could injure your shoulders or elbows due to overdevelopment or asymmetry.”
Ponzio agrees: “Create a balanced training plan that balances the muscle groups in your upper body,” she advises. “Also, warming up with adequate stretching before exercise can help prevent tears and injuries to your biceps.”
