Which Arm Workout Makes Muscles Bigger?
Mixing Up Muscle Lengths: The Effects of Training at Different Muscle Lengths in the Elbow Flexors
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Mixed-length training didn’t lead to better overall muscle growth or strength than long-length-only training.
Many lifters believe 'variety is key' — doing different exercises and ranges of motion for the same muscle. This study shows that adding shortened curls didn’t help.
Practical Takeaways
Focus on curls that stretch your biceps fully — like seated cable curls with arms behind the body — to potentially maximize growth.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Mixed-length training didn’t lead to better overall muscle growth or strength than long-length-only training.
Many lifters believe 'variety is key' — doing different exercises and ranges of motion for the same muscle. This study shows that adding shortened curls didn’t help.
Practical Takeaways
Focus on curls that stretch your biceps fully — like seated cable curls with arms behind the body — to potentially maximize growth.
Publication
Authors
Seth Hinson, Jacob F. Remmert, Zac P. Robinson, Joshua C. Pelland, Shawn Dinh, Ethan Elkins, Caitlyn Meehan, David Diaz, Brian Benitez, Christian Macarilla, Michael Morgan, Michael C. Zourdos
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Claims (5)
If you're someone who works out casually, lifting weights with your muscles stretched might give you slightly bigger arms compared to mixing stretched and shortened positions — but the difference is small and we're not sure if it really matters in real life.
For people who work out regularly, doing bicep curls with the muscle stretched versus using a mix of stretch and squeeze doesn’t really make a difference in strength gains when lifting in the shortened position.
Doing arm exercises that shorten and lengthen the muscles might help build arm size a little, but the evidence isn't super strong—there's only about a 55% chance it's better than just lengthening exercises.
If you're someone who works out regularly, doing certain types of arm exercises—especially those that stretch the muscle while lifting—can noticeably boost your strength. Both fully stretched and mixed-range workouts seem to help about the same.
If regular gym-goers train their biceps by lifting in a way that stretches the muscle more, they’ll likely gain more muscle size over two months.