Armed and ready to get your guns out?
Biceps and triceps
Image courtesy of Deaconescu & Deaconescu, (2018)
The upper arms are a cause for aesthetic concern for many of us, so much so that there is now popular demand for either surgical implants to achieve one goal or liposuction to achieve another! Although we would all like some definition to our upper arms, perhaps a less drastic was of achieving this is through simple exercise alone. But why is it that developing muscle mass for the upper arms can be so difficult? Why is triceps such a stubborn muscle to push to the limits? What can diPulse do to help define our upper arms without the stress? Read on – we have the answer!
Are three heads better than two?
The answer is a resounding ‘NO’. The names themselves tell you a bit about the muscles of the upper arm - biceps meaning two heads and triceps meaning three heads. So how do they work and why are there so many muscle heads?!
Both heads of biceps have two functions – to flex (bend) the elbow and to help flex the shoulder forwards – this is because the tendons cover both elbow and shoulder joints. They also help to bring the palm to face upwards. (supination), which is why many biceps exercises concentrated on an upwards facing palm during elbow flexion – think traditional biceps curls.
Biceps takes the strain
In daily life, the biceps has to work a fair amount of the time – we lift items regularly during the day and always against the resistance of gravity. Even when we are placing something down on a table for instance, (extending the elbow), we are usually controlling this movement by biceps working eccentrically against gravity - paying out in a controlled lengthening, and not using much triceps activity! So if the biceps is doing most of the daily grunt work, what is our three-headed antagonist doing? Triceps is of course doing something - but generally not in terms of muscle building activities. That’s why as we age or reduce our activity levels, triceps becomes the much weaker cousin to the biceps faster.
Is triceps the forgotten cousin?
So what is the function of the triceps? Firstly it extends (straightens) the elbow but also stabilizes the shoulder as it too crosses both the elbow and shoulder joint. But it tends to be a difficult muscle to isolate or exercise because it doesn’t have to work against much resistance, even gravity – unless we design the movement specifically to do this. Push-ups are a good example of using arm extension against gravity and with body-weight acting as resistance – as you ‘push up’ triceps is working hard concentrically but also during the ‘lowering down’ phase, triceps is working eccentrically- therefore a double impact!
Triceps dips are another exercise using body weight as resistance for the triceps as the elbow extends and eccentrically as the elbow bends. But as you can see, in general activity, triceps doesn’t have much demand placed on it and so it can afford to be a bit lazy. That is of course unless it has a critical role for a particular sport.
Guns blazing?
So which sports tend to need good upper arm strength, particularly the triceps? The obvious answer is most ball sports – bouncing, throwing and hitting the ball with hands, racquets or bats require good triceps contractions. Swimming, boxing and many martial arts also place a heavy need on the triceps. So how can we best recruit our upper arms, with a good balance of biceps and triceps activity without the usual need for weight resistance? With diPulse of course!
The diPulse SMARTSTRAP Kit has been designed to conveniently target both biceps and triceps. Easy to apply to either muscle groups, the SMARTSTRAPS nano-carbon electrodes are powered by the tiny SMARTSTIM modules which send the all powerful current direct to the muscle motor points. If you work with the stimulation via Combined Muscle Training (CMT), you are able to recruit more muscle fibres than non-resisted exercise alone. If you consider how dormant our triceps can be, the stimulation can also help identify exactly how to contract these muscles more effectively – teaching us what a good triceps contraction really feels like! If you are the lucky owner of a SMARTSHIRT, then the process is exactly the same. Anatomically positioned carbon electrodes are rendered into the suit at the exact point for biceps and triceps stimulation.
With both garments, the program options are endless. The Hypertrophy program can help increase muscle girth if muscle growth is your goal. The Resistance program will help achieve those sporting goals which focus on prolonged muscle effort. But let’s not forget the post-workout cool-down and muscle revival programs, which help the circulation carry away all the metabolites from your training, making sure you’re ready for the next session of triceps dips!
Planning for your next tennis tournament? Anticipating your opponent in the boxing ring? Or simply wanting to perform better breaststroke in the pool? Whatever your goals, diPulse will always have you covered.
References:
Deaconescu, T and Deaconescu, A (2018) ‘Static analysis of a torsion motor generating flexion – extension motions of the elbow’ in MATEC Web conferences, 178:07005;1-6
