Top Three Bicep Curl Mistakes

Introduction:

Who doesn't love a good ole fashion bicep curl?! Whether you're a physical therapist, personal trainer, or strength and conditioning coach, I bet you deal with bicep curls daily. If we compare a bicep curl to a more complex lift such as a deadlift or squat, I think we'd all agree that the bicep curl is easier to coach and perform. However, that's precisely where the problem exists! The low level of complexity leads to a lack of awareness and decreased coaching standards. It's often labeled as a more straightforward exercise, which results in three undetected mistakes. So, if you're coaching a bicep curl to aesthetically or athletically strengthen them, you need to avoid these three common mistakes!

In this article, I'll discuss the following topics:

• Mistake Definition
• Articles Intent
• Mistake #1: Wrist Extension
• Mistake #2: Shoulder Momentum
• Mistake #3: Poor Starting Position

If you're a visual learner, click the video below to watch the same principles.

Mistake Definition:

We can't talk about the top three mistakes until we first correctly define what a mistake is and what it consists of! So I've created a very simple principle to help determine a "good" vs. "bad" exercise. That principle is, "Your intent needs to align with your execution." We can understand this better by looking at a bicep curl exercise.

Example #1: 

Intent: Good technique, Increase isolated bicep strength

Execution: Swaying with trunk momentum

In this example, the execution does not align with the intent of the exercise. So, you can label this as a "bad" exercise.

Example #2:

Intent: Overload biceps

Execution: Swaying to assist concentric phase, controlled eccentric phase

In this example, the execution does align with the intent. Although many people would quickly blame swaying and using momentum as a compensation, it actually aligns with the intent of overloading the biceps.

Article Intent:

Now that we understand "good" vs. "bad," we can define the intent of this article as it relates to the top three mistakes we'll discuss. So, the primary intent is to increase isolated bicep strength through the proper, isolated elbow flexion and extension. 

Mistake #1: Wrist Extension

Excessive wrist extension is a subtle compensation but usually results in wrist or elbow pain. So, if you are working with a patient experiencing these symptoms, it might be worth checking out their bicep curls as a possible contributing factor.

Reason for Mistake:

1. Lack of Awareness: As your patient descends and moves through elbow extension (eccentric elbow flexion), they tend to continue the extension moment into the wrist without knowing it. If this is happening to your patient, seek to increase their awareness. You can do this by cueing or moving their wrist to a neutral position. Usually, after a couple of reps, the problem resolves.
2. Decrease Biceps Force: If the weight is too heavy, the patient can extend the wrist to increase the forearm's musculature while decreasing the amount of force through the bicep. You can fix this by reducing the amount of load they are lifting in addition to their overall awareness.

Mistake #2: Shoulder Momentum

Shoulder momentum tends to occur at the bottom portion (0° elbow flexion) or the initiation of elbow flexion. But, it can also be seen to help the patient through the sticking point around 90° of elbow flexion. The result of shoulder momentum (or flexion) is to assist the biceps through the lift.

Reason for Mistake:

1. Lack of Awareness: Your patient may not know that they're adding to this compensatory momentum. Increase their awareness by cueing them only to flex the elbow, not the shoulder.
2. Excessive Weight: If the patient is using a weight that's too heavy, shoulder momentum is an easy compensation. To fix this, decrease the weight while increasing their overall awareness of the common mistake.
3. Fatigue: When the patient is fatigued, assistance will try to help wherever they can find it. Usually, the shoulder is the first player in the game to fight fatigue. To avoid this, decrease their weight if needed while increasing their overall awareness.

Mistake #3: Poor Starting Position

How you position your patient to start the exercise will dictate most of their success. When they start in a poor position, it's difficult to catch up before the compensations kick in. Here are the two common poor starting positions.

1. Excessive Shoulder Extension: If you intend to perform the bicep curl from an eccentric position and place your patient purposefully in shoulder extension, that's fine. However, most of the time, and for this article's purpose, we're trying to maintain a more neutral arm. The problem with shoulder extension is that it tends to put unnecessary stress on the shoulder (humeral head). Patients will typically complain of anterior shoulder pain and pre-maturely fatigue. To fix this, increase your patient's awareness to start with their arm more by their side where their shoulder can be more relaxed. 

2. Excessive Shoulder External Rotation: A more undetected compensation is external shoulder rotation. When this happens, we "wind up" the shoulder, which usually leads to fatigue and/or shoulder pain during a biceps curl. Instead, cue your patient to try and keep the wrist, elbow, and shoulder in alignment throughout the duration of the bicep curl.

Key Points:

• Ensure your intent aligns with your execution.
• Increase patient awareness of correct vs. incorrect form based on their intent.
• Reduce weight if it's causing compensation and doesn't align with your intent.