Love this! To me, bicep curls are almost like the child pose of my strength workout: the part I return to when it all gets a bit tough or overwhelming. I have noticed that some instructors say "squeeze your biceps" at the top of the movement and I'm mystified by this. Do they mean contracting/clenching the muscle? What purpose does that serve, can you shed some light? (Anecdotally, I've had a nervous tic of contracting and releasing different muscles all my life and it's never made me any fitter lol)
Great question! An intentional squeeze/contraction of a muscle at the top of the movement can be really helpful for folks to build a stronger mind-body connection and make sure they're using the intended muscle(s) for the exercise. Similar idea with squeezing your glutes when you stand tall from a squat or deadlift (though, side note, you don't want to squeeze so hard that you press your hips forward). It isn't something you *have* to do but it can be really helpful in making the exercise more targeted and effective. In fact, if you have no equipment at all but still want to do bicep curls, you can do the movement with no weight and just squeeze your bicep really hard at the top! Obviously not exactly the same as using resistance but it does get that muscle engaged.
In some of the arm workout videos I’ve done I start with my arms straight out in front of me and don’t lower all the way down to my thighs. It keeps the muscles engaged the whole time and definitely wears me out but am I missing something by not dropping all the way down?
Ah yeah! I tried to describe this above but probably didn't quite nail the specifics. Partial range of motion reps like what you're talking about can be helpful for hypertrophy — helping your muscle get bigger and stronger — because, as you say, they keep the muscles engaged the whole time (among other things!). They can also be useful if you're dealing with, say, an elbow injury that makes it uncomfortable to extend your arm fully. They're definitely not *wrong*. But! I do like training through the full range of motion as well — it's helpful for elbow mobility and is a bit more functional than the partial reps, since we do indeed lift things from a fully extended arm to a fully flexed elbow IRL sometimes! Variety is always a nice thing.
I think a workout of the week with gifs sounds great! If I would actually do said workout is a different story!
Love this! To me, bicep curls are almost like the child pose of my strength workout: the part I return to when it all gets a bit tough or overwhelming. I have noticed that some instructors say "squeeze your biceps" at the top of the movement and I'm mystified by this. Do they mean contracting/clenching the muscle? What purpose does that serve, can you shed some light? (Anecdotally, I've had a nervous tic of contracting and releasing different muscles all my life and it's never made me any fitter lol)
Great question! An intentional squeeze/contraction of a muscle at the top of the movement can be really helpful for folks to build a stronger mind-body connection and make sure they're using the intended muscle(s) for the exercise. Similar idea with squeezing your glutes when you stand tall from a squat or deadlift (though, side note, you don't want to squeeze so hard that you press your hips forward). It isn't something you *have* to do but it can be really helpful in making the exercise more targeted and effective. In fact, if you have no equipment at all but still want to do bicep curls, you can do the movement with no weight and just squeeze your bicep really hard at the top! Obviously not exactly the same as using resistance but it does get that muscle engaged.
In some of the arm workout videos I’ve done I start with my arms straight out in front of me and don’t lower all the way down to my thighs. It keeps the muscles engaged the whole time and definitely wears me out but am I missing something by not dropping all the way down?
Ah yeah! I tried to describe this above but probably didn't quite nail the specifics. Partial range of motion reps like what you're talking about can be helpful for hypertrophy — helping your muscle get bigger and stronger — because, as you say, they keep the muscles engaged the whole time (among other things!). They can also be useful if you're dealing with, say, an elbow injury that makes it uncomfortable to extend your arm fully. They're definitely not *wrong*. But! I do like training through the full range of motion as well — it's helpful for elbow mobility and is a bit more functional than the partial reps, since we do indeed lift things from a fully extended arm to a fully flexed elbow IRL sometimes! Variety is always a nice thing.
Love this!