How to work my Brachialis?

[WannaBPowerful]

Iv heard so many different opinions and shit about how to work the brachialis. Its that little golf ball muscle in between your biceps and triceps. Im pretty sure its part of your biceps tho. Some have told me that it is worked more than your hands are turned in, and others say it is when its turned out. Even some magazines disagree on this. I wanna get the answer once n for all. Can anyone explain hand position to work this muscle please? If you could list some exercises, that would be helpfull too. THANX

 

[Last_Exit]

reverse curl with Ez-bar...

 

[strong island]

Biceps brachii: originates from two places on the scapula and inserts into the radius.

Brachialis: originates from the humerus and inserts into the ulna.

Diagram:

www.bartleby.com/107/illus411.html

From T-mag:

www.testosterone.net/articles/191pop.html

"Arms: Target the Brachialis!

The brachialis is a large muscle beneath the biceps brachii originating on the anterior shaft (lower half) of the humerus and inserting onto the coronoid process of the ulna. It functions to stabilize and reinforce the anterior surface of the elbow joint as well as flex the elbow joint (Hole & Koos, 1991).

According to Charles Poliquin in his book The Poliquin Principles, the brachialis is often a weak link in arm development. He states that many bodybuilders have found that adding specific brachialis exercises to their workouts can increase their arm size by as much as one inch in a month! So how do we target this bad boy? Read on!


Enter the Reverse Curl

During an arm curl, the biceps brachii and the brachialis share almost equal work in elbow flexion, yet as soon as you reverse the grip, the brachialis carries most of the load and is thus isolated (although the brachioradialis will get stressed as well.) However, pronation reduces biomechanical efficiency, thus only allowing you to reverse curl anywhere from 66 to 82% of a regular arm curl (Kostek & Knortz, 1980).

In other words, with your palms facing down, your strength drops by up to a third compared to your palms facing up. Obviously, you'll have to use a lighter load (Siff & Verkhoshansky, 1999).

Speed also plays a role. One abstract revealed that velocity can influence elbow flexor recruitment (Kulig et al., 2001). The biceps brachii was found to be preferentially recruited during the fast protocol while the brachialis was found to be preferentially recruited during the slow protocol. Also, eccentric (negative) training influences the recruitment of fast twitch fibers — which have the greatest potential for hypertrophy (Antonio, 2000). This suggests that we should use a fairly slow tempo, particularly during the eccentric contraction.

When performing the reverse curl, it's important to grasp the weight tightly (use an EZ-Curl bar to reduce wrist strain) and keep the wrists straight and firm throughout. The added bonus to performing the reverse curl in this manner is that the wrists and fingers work isometrically to maintain a neutral wrist position and hold the weight, thus leading to strength development of all the wrist flexors (Kostek & Knortz, 1980).

I recommend using the preacher bench to maintain strict form and reduce cheating. Position your elbows shoulder-width apart about midway down on the pad. It's not necessary to jam your armpits against the preacher bench; this position promotes rounding and could cause you to strain your upper back. Make sure to sit as tall as possible with your chest held high and start with your arms fully extended.

Grab an EZ-curl bar, hands shoulder-width apart and pronated (palms down), and curl the weight upward. Stop shy of reaching vertical to keep constant tension on the muscle. As explained above, this is one exercise where you want to emphasize slow movement. Use a tempo of 5010* which reflects the eccentric-concentric ratio (5:1) used in the Kulig et al. study. This exercise should be performed every four to five days (Nosaka & Clarkson, 1996)."