Shifting Your Shoulder Makes Your Biceps Work Harder
The Effects of Varying Glenohumeral Joint Angle on Acute Volume Load, Muscle Activation, Swelling, and Echo-Intensity on the Biceps Brachii in Resistance-Trained Individuals
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Varying joint angles increased muscle activation by up to 23.3% without increasing volume load.
Common training wisdom says you need to lift more weight or do more reps to stimulate growth. This shows you can boost neuromuscular demand purely through movement variation.
Practical Takeaways
During bicep curls, alternate shoulder positions: 3 sets with shoulder extended (-30°), 3 neutral, 3 flexed (90°) to boost muscle activation by up to 23%.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Varying joint angles increased muscle activation by up to 23.3% without increasing volume load.
Common training wisdom says you need to lift more weight or do more reps to stimulate growth. This shows you can boost neuromuscular demand purely through movement variation.
Practical Takeaways
During bicep curls, alternate shoulder positions: 3 sets with shoulder extended (-30°), 3 neutral, 3 flexed (90°) to boost muscle activation by up to 23%.
Publication
Journal
Sports (Basel, Switzerland)
Year
2019
Authors
Barakat C, Barroso R, Alvarez M, Rauch J, Miller N, Bou-Sliman A, De Souza EO
Related Content
Claims (10)
Changing the angle of your shoulder while doing bicep curls makes your biceps work harder during the workout, even if you're lifting the same total weight.
Even when you change your shoulder position during bicep curls, you still lift the same total amount of weight — your total workout effort doesn’t go up or down.
Switching up your shoulder position during bicep curls makes your muscles fire more, even if you're lifting the same total weight.
Whether you change your shoulder angle or not during bicep curls, your muscles recover at the same speed over the next three days.
After a tough bicep workout, your muscles swell and show stress signs, but they bounce back fully by the next day — so these signs don’t tell you much about long-term growth.