Banish Weak Arms

With Guillotine High Cable Curls

by Stephen E. Alway, Ph.D., FACSM
 

Exercises like barbell and dumbbell curls should form the core of your upper arm mass building program. They are effective exercises because a lot of iron can be hoisted and this recruits a high percentage of the muscle fibers during each contraction. However, to activate both biceps heads and to hammer in hardness and stamina, especially in the upper portions of the upper arm, you need something that will directly attack this area. One of the best approaches for this: Guillotine High Cable Curls. This exercise strongly activates the upper parts of the long and short head of the biceps, and is a wonderful last exercise to annihilate your biceps at the end of your arm workout.

ANATOMY LESSON

The biceps brachii has two heads.1 The upper attachment of the long head of the biceps brachii muscle is just above the shoulder joint on the glenoid tubercle. The short head of the biceps is positioned along the inside (medial side) of the arm.2 It connects to the anterior (front) part of the scapula bone or “shoulder blade” just below the shoulder joint. The short head extends along the medial (inner) part of the humerus bone of the arm and it comes together with the muscle fibers of the long head of the biceps brachii muscle to anchor to the strong bicipital tendon.1 The bicipital tendon crosses the front part of the elbow joint and it attaches to the radius bone of the forearm near the elbow joint. Contraction of the biceps muscle can pivot the radius bone at the elbow joint and this supinates the hand1,2 (by turning the palm of the hand towards the ceiling). The short head of the biceps brachii is activated just as strongly whether the shoulder and arm are forward (arm flexion) or pulled backwards (arm extension) during elbow flexion so it is preferentially active in guillotine curls.

Although the brachialis muscle is largely hidden by the biceps brachii,1 it is a very important and very strong flexor of the elbow joint2 and generates as much as 70 percent of the total arm flexion force.3 The brachialis muscle attaches along the anterior side of the humerus bone of the arm and crosses the elbow joint anteriorly. Its distal attachment is on the anterior side of the non-pivoting ulna bone of the forearm near the elbow joint,4 which prevents the brachialis from having any role in supination of the hand.2

Most biceps exercises require the upper arms to remain roughly parallel to the torso and the resistance diminishes as the hands get close to the chest. In contrast, the guillotine curl requires the upper arms to be positioned perpendicular to the torso with the shoulders flexed (arm forward with respect to the torso), and the resistance grows stronger rather than diminishes, as the cable moves downwards towards the body.

THE EXERCISE: GUILLOTINE HIGH CABLE CURLS

1. Attach a short EZ bar on one end of a high pulley station. Place a flat bench so that one end is below the high pulley and the short bar. The EZ bar (as illustrated) is a bit more conformable for the wrists but a short straight bar will also work.

2. Lie down on a flat bench, and grab the bar with a traditional curl (underhand) grip. The cable should project straight up to the pulley. Your shoulder will be flexed and your arms will be perpendicular to the floor. This is your starting position.

3. Keep your upper arms in this position as you flex your elbow and curl the bar towards your chin.

4. Isometrically contract your biceps hard in the top position. Hold for two seconds in the contracted position as you squeeze the biceps to recruit the entire muscle fiber base.

5. Slowly bring back the arms to the starting position.
 

Illustrations: William P. Hamilton, CMI

References

1. Moore, K.L. and A.F. Dalley. Clinically Orientated Anatomy. 4th Edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, P.J. Kelly, Editor. Baltimore, Philadelphia. pp. 720-723, 1999.
2. Bankoff AD, Gushi MS, Boer NP: Electromyographic study of the flexor muscles of the elbow articulation in weightlifting trained subjects. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol 2007;47:49-54.
3. Akagi R, Iwanuma S, Hashizume S et al: In vivo measurements of moment arm lengths of three elbow flexors at rest and during isometric contractions. J Appl Biomech 2012;28:63-69.
4. Akagi R, Iwanuma S, Hashizume S et al: Association Between Contraction-Induced Increases in Elbow Flexor Muscle Thickness and Distal Biceps Brachii Tendon Moment Arm Depends on the Muscle Thickness Measurement Site. J Appl Biomech 2013 May 13. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23677813?dopt=Citation

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