How to remove shoulder involvement in bicep exercises?

[Creatine]

First of all I am not a curl bro and yes I do work my legs. Only reason I say this is because threads about biceps seem to get flamed sometimes.

My question is whenever I do bicep exercises: dumbbell curl, hammer curl, barbell curl, pretty much any type of curl, my front delts always fatigue before my biceps do and I feel like my biceps don't get adequate work from this.

I keep my shoulder blades retracted, elbows remain in the same position, and have experimented with heavy and light weights but nothing seems to help. The only exercises I can really feel my biceps working in are incline dumbbell curls and sometimes on concentration preacher curls.

Is this just a case of having weak shoulders or is it something else? I was thinking if I incorporate more rear delt work it will help stabilize my front delt because I haven't been doing much direct rear delt work lately.

Any opinions are welcome

 

[WeT.DoLPhiN]

Is the fatigue in the deltoid on both sides or your shoulders or just one?

 

[Creatine]

It happens in both of my shoulders but its much more noticable in my right shoulder (dominant side)

 

[Bigcountry08]

You should be doing rear delts every shoulder session in my opinion, there are actually a lot of diffrent rear delt moves you can do so you don't get bored.

Do you lift your upper arm as you curl up? I see a lot of guys do that. Your entire body should be completly stable, and your shoulders should be held back but don't squeeze them super tight or you can strain them that way. Basically you should just be trying to stand with good posture.

 

[Creatine]

You should be doing rear delts every shoulder session in my opinion, there are actually a lot of diffrent rear delt moves you can do so you don't get bored.

Do you lift your upper arm as you curl up? I see a lot of guys do that. Your entire body should be completly stable, and your shoulders should be held back but don't squeeze them super tight or you can strain them that way. Basically you should just be trying to stand with good posture.

I think the bold could be part of the problem. I may be putting more tension on my delts by trying to force them back instead of just keeping my shoulders straight. And I keep my elbows to my sides throughout the whole movement, as far as I know

 

[Rodja]

It's most likely that your humerus' are internally rotated and makes for restricted ROM during certain biceps exercises.

 

[gmanall]

I find less delt activity with drag curls, I may be pulling this out of my ass though so if anyone wants to chime in

 

[Creatine]

It's most likely that your humerus' are internally rotated and makes for restricted ROM during certain biceps exercises.

and I'm guessing there is nothing I can do to correct this?

I find less delt activity with drag curls, I may be pulling this out of my ass though so if anyone wants to chime in

I have tried these but still felt it in my delts a lot. I don't know the proper form though, I only went from seeing a quick video of it so I was probably performing the exercise wrong

 

[Rodja]

and I'm guessing there is nothing I can do to correct this?

The opposite actually. An internally rotated humerus is the result of an imbalance in training.

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/rrective-methods-for-common-postural-deviations-the-shoulder/

 

[Creatine]

The opposite actually. An internally rotated humerus is the result of an imbalance in training.

AWESOME link! I did the "flashlight test" and did alright. I could tell beams were starting to come together when I got as far back as I could, though. I'll try what they recommended I the article.

Thanks for all the responses guys

 

[riseabove5]

Try curling on a preacher curl attachment and it will isolate your biceps and after getting used to it your arms may adjust.

 

[SMKillerBody]

First of all I am not a curl bro and yes I do work my legs. Only reason I say this is because threads about biceps seem to get flamed sometimes.

My question is whenever I do bicep exercises: dumbbell curl, hammer curl, barbell curl, pretty much any type of curl, my front delts always fatigue before my biceps do and I feel like my biceps don't get adequate work from this.

I keep my shoulder blades retracted, elbows remain in the same position, and have experimented with heavy and light weights but nothing seems to help. The only exercises I can really feel my biceps working in are incline dumbbell curls and sometimes on concentration preacher curls.

Is this just a case of having weak shoulders or is it something else? I was thinking if I incorporate more rear delt work it will help stabilize my front delt because I haven't been doing much direct rear delt work lately.

Any opinions are welcome

Man, first off, you hit the nail on the head. I have started working on a lot more rear-delt exercises and it has helped tremendously. I think it allowed my shoulders to be stronger throughout. Also, exercises that you are doing like incline dumbbell and isolation are great ways to eliminate shoulders. It is very possible that your shoulders were injured and are suffering during bicep workouts and almost preventing the burn in your biceps due to this.

When I have an injured shoulder, it does not matter how great my form is, I can feel it. As long as you are keeping your shoulders back and not rolling them, then you are doing what you should be. The other thing that is possible is that you are not building your biceps equally, as in the long and short head. You need to make sure you are targeting both. bicepsworkouts.co/articles/bicep-heads/. That alone could be your problem.

Another thing that I notice can prevent someone from feeling the exercise in their bicep is curling the wrist. If you bend your wrist in when you are doing any curl exercise, you are effectively taking the stress away from the bicep and shifting it to the forearm. I hope something in here helps and I wish you the best of luck. Try this exercise and if it doesn’t burn, I will be shocked. bicepsworkouts.co/videos/half-mast.

Stephen

 

[AZMIDLYF]

Curl an Oly bar with a false grip and your back against something amd elbows glued at your sides. You can also look into spider curls.

 

[DJBeanPole]

+1 Spider Curls