biceps and shoulders question

[lala1]

I notice that at times when I am doing hammer curls that I feel it in the front of my shoulders...almost more than in my biceps. Is this normal? Am I using too much weight? Am I doing these totally wrong?

 

[Aquajock]

That's pretty normal. Keep in mind that no muscle works in total isolation no matter what position you are using; in a hammer curl or any biceps curl variation the biceps will the the prime movers but the anterior (front) part of the deltoid will always be assisting to some degree.

Try the variation in which your starting position with the biceps curl (i.e. arms are hanging straight down) is with the palms turned in facing the sides of your thighs, but as you execute the curl slowly turn the palms up so that at the top of the curl your palms are facing your chest, then as you lower the weights back to starting position return to a palms-in position. It's a neat combination of pure-and-simple traditional curls and hammer curls, and recruits the biceps and anterior delts in a different way.

A-Jock

 

[fit_fairy]

biceps tendon insertion site is in the front of the shoulder:


http://images.google.com/imgres?img...tis&um=1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2

If you are feeling it ALOT in the shoulder I would reduce the wt a little. And then gradually increase back up.

Catherine

http://www.rykat.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/arrowhead.png

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=14665913&uid=7769645&members=1


http://69.89.25.157/~extremf4/forums/images/smilies/chinup.gif

 

[kathryn]

You may be moving your elbows forward during the move (especially if you are using a heavier weight). This will involve the anterior delts more. If you keep your bicep curls very strict, and keep your elbows glued to your sides during the move, you should feel less in your shoulders. You may still feel in there some, but you shouldn't feel it more in your shoulders than in your biceps.

Neither way is 'wrong,' it's just that the stricter version isolates the biceps more (which actually isn't very functional, because usually when you do an arm-curl movement in real life, you don't keep your elbows in one place).