Muscle Function
Biceps brachii (long head) Flexion and supination of elbow
Brachialis Flexion of elbow in all positions, but especially when the forearm is pronated
Brachioradialis Flexion of elbow when the forearm is neutral Triceps brachii and anconeus Extension of elbow
Pronator teres and pronator quadratus Pronation of forearm Extensor carpi radialis longus
Extensor carpi radialis brevis Extensor carpi ulnaris
Extension of wrist
Extensor digitorum
Extensor digiti minimi Extension of fingers and thumb Flexor carpi ulnaris
Palmaris longus Flexor carpi radialis
tendon insertion on the forearm. The same is true for the triceps, except that it originates from three tendons and has three different heads that join together for a common tendon insertion on the elbow. This anatomy is nice to know, but how does it affect your training? It should have an impact on the variety of exercises you do. Because of the different origins of the heads, you need to train these muscles using different exercises and angles to emphasize each head.
The tendon of the short head of the biceps muscle attaches on the coracoid process of the scapula and assists with both flexion of the humerus at the shoulder joint and flexion of the elbow. The long head of the biceps tendon travels through the bicipital groove of the humerus and attaches to the top of the scapula at the shoulder joint, but has no action at that joint. It just flexes the elbow and supinates the forearm. Therefore, to work both biceps heads you must not only do elbow flexion and forearm supination exercises (like a standard biceps curl), but also add some humerus flexion to the mix. Usually when we do biceps curls we get in a little bit of humerus flexion anyway. You can add a little extra arm flexion to work on the short head by moving your humerus up slightly as you flex your elbows. So instead of aiming for your chest, you are aiming for your eyes. Realize that any humerus flexion movement you do will involve the biceps short head as well.
All three triceps heads extend the elbow, but the long head that attaches to the bottom of the scapula also helps to extend the humerus. It receives more stress when you bring your arm slightly backward during an exercise, as when you do a one-arm cable pushdown (see page 147) with a reverse grip, in which you get some shoulder extension with the elbow extension. The lateral head of the triceps attaches on the back of the humerus and seems to work hard no matter what elbow extension exercise that you do.
The medial head is buried beneath the lateral head and is equally accentuated during many elbow extension exercises. Of these exercises, the overhead cable extension exercises (see page
TrAining AroUnd Tennis elbow
Ever had elbow pain that just wouldn’t quit and always got worse whenever you had to grip some- thing, type, or do any motion with your hand? If so, you may have had tennis elbow, even if you don’t play tennis. Tennis elbow doesn’t just occur in tennis players, but was so named because the injury happened to increase as tennis grew in popularity. The medical term is lateral epicon- dylitis, which refers to an inflammation of the tendons that originate on the lateral epicondyle of the humerus, just next to the elbow joint. It sounds strange that wrist or finger movements might give you pain around your elbow, but it makes anatomical sense. These tendons are the attach- ment for the wrist and finger extensor muscles. As a matter of fact, they are frequently called the common extensor tendon (CET) because numerous tendons all attach at the same site.
Lateral epicondylitis has been blamed on many factors, but overall it seems to be a result of overuse or what is called a repetitive strain injury. When you overuse the wrist extensor muscles, or if you use improper technique or poor mechanics, injury results. As with any injury, the offend- ing activity needs to be stopped until the tissue can heal. Avoiding gripping or pinching activities, especially with the wrist extended, and wearing a splint or a counterforce brace can calm down the inflammation. Typical conservative treatment involves modalities like ice and ultrasound to decrease inflammation. Stretching and strengthening the wrist and finger flexors and exten- sors when the acute phase is over and performing nerve and tendon glide exercises are part of a physical therapy protocol. Prevention can be as simple as maintaining good strength in the wrist and finger extensors, improving flexibility, using proper body and sports mechanics, and monitoring repetitive wrist motions and gripping activities. Any exercise that involves gripping a weight (that’s most of them), as well as specific gripping exercises like clean holds (see page 150 and the grip-improving exercises that I describe in the hand section of this chapter, can help you maintain good strength in these muscles.
147) tax all three heads the most. They involve full shoulder flexion and may stress the triceps more because you put the muscle on stretch and then force it to perform a contraction.
The bottom line is to vary your exercises from all angles so that you’re sure to get the arms you’ll be proud to show off in a tank top. The exercises in this chapter, with the many variations offered, will help you reach this goal.