Lower Biceps

[Knoxfan]

Hello all. Im new to elite fitness, just came over from a different message board. Im just getting back into the gym after a 2 year layoff. I've been concentrating on my diet and getting back into the swing of things. I started out at 190lbs, now im down to 171 after 5 weeks of training.
I want to revamp my routine and i think i really need to start with arms....then legs 4 sure. The rest seems to grow pretty quickly. I wanted to ask about bicep training. I found my bis & tris are hard as hell to get them to grow. My lower biceps wont grow at all. I hate the feeling of having a t-shirt on and my arms just disappear! I was wondering what some of your arm workouts look like. Just curious. BTW.....my training split is a little messed up due to me having 2 jobs. It looks like this:

Mon- bi's / chest
Tues- back / tri's / calves
Wed - off
Thurs - bi's / shoulders / calves
Fri - tris / legs

 

[Cardinal Slin]

If you are just getting back in to things, you will no way get your lower bicep to grow or fill out before getting your upper bicep to grow and fill out.

If you are looking for bigger arms, do not neglect your triceps, they make up 2/3rds of the upper arm.

What is your diet like, how many sets/reps in total do you train your bi's?

 

[the_alcatraz]

lower biceps = third range of motion

you should concentrate on peacher curls, cable preacher curls, concentration curls on the preacher bench, you get the drift...

 

[Tatyana]

There is no upper and lower bicep.

There is a long head/outer (1) and a short head/inner (2) of the bicep.

If there is no muscle close to your elbow joint, it may be because of the insertion point, and that is just genetics and how your body is structured.

Rep ranges and training intensity are usually what has a muscle grow or not grow, and this relates to whether or not the muscle is mostly fast twitch (heavy low reps) or fast twitch (higher reps) or a combo of both of them.

Fast twitch also hypertrophies more than slow twitch, so that is why people think you have to go heavy or go home, there is more response from fast twitch.

 

[the_alcatraz]

There is no upper and lower bicep.

There is a long head/outer (1) and a short head/inner (2) of the bicep.

If there is no muscle close to your elbow joint, it may be because of the insertion point, and that is just genetics and how your body is structured.

Rep ranges and training intensity are usually what has a muscle grow or not grow, and this relates to whether or not the muscle is mostly fast twitch (heavy low reps) or fast twitch (higher reps) or a combo of both of them.

Fast twitch also hypertrophies more than slow twitch, so that is why people think you have to go heavy or go home, there is more response from fast twitch.

The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, by Arnold talks about the being able to target the different "parts" of the biceps through diff. specialized movements.

Even though the biceps has two parts, and hence the name "bi" you can in essence target the peak, upper biceps, lower biceps, outer biceps and inner biceps.....

For example, to target peak, you must do movements liek concentration curls, and alternating dumbell curls with holding the weight at the top. Movements for outer biceps include close grip curls and movements for inner biceps include wide grip curls. Similarily, in order to stress on the lower portion of the biceps, i.e. you need to concentrate on 3rd range of motion exercises, i.e. preacher curls done in a way where you dont go all the way up but concentrate on a full extention and going half way up when curling and other movements that are similar.

I've tried these techniques and they've worked pretty well with me in the past. Though I understand that the biceps is only two parts, there are ways to target it as those it was divided into more parts.

Just my 0.02.

 

[enigma4dub]

while entertaining, arnolds book is not a good reference for how the body works physiologically. the way your arm looks is based on insertion points and your overall body development, tatyana hit the nail on the head. some people have good genetics some dont.

 

[the_alcatraz]

while entertaining, arnolds book is not a good reference for how the body works physiologically. the way your arm looks is based on insertion points and your overall body development, tatyana hit the nail on the head. some people have good genetics some dont.

Agreed on the good genetics part. But "gut" training and doing what works for you is very underestimated.

 

[enigma4dub]

Agreed on the good genetics part. But "gut" training and doing what works for you is very underestimated.

absolutely. and your results speak for themselves. however, the stimulus you applied to your body from the BIG numbers you have on the compounds, and your genetics, got your biceps to look the way they do. not concentrating on any particular range of motion while curling.

take for example the pencil neck curling all day, applying all these arm techniques, time under tension etc. by all accounts he should have incredible arms but he doesn't because the overall stimulus being applied to the body is shit.

 

[bottleneckblooz]

I have to agree with traz based on my personal experiences. I have been training for 20 years ( holy shit I'm getting old!), and biceps have always been a nagging body part for me. I have decent sized arms, but I've never been able to get high peaked biceps. After years and years of experimenting with different movements, I decided a few years ago that from now on I would concentrate ONLY on exercises that target the "peak" area, which is the upper outer part. I also had the theory that the reason why some people devellop certain areas of the bicep more than others is because of, well, genetics, but in a different way. Not because of what's inside the muscle, but the way certain people are built. Like if 2 people are doing barbell curls, and one of them has great bicep peaks and the other doesn't, it may simply be because the natural form his body takes as he does the curl. Like his shoulders may naturally tend to roll forward slightly or back slightly, what ever gives him that advantage. Now getting back to my experiences. I've definately noticed a difference since I've been concentrating on specific movements designed to isolate the peak contraction. I notice the pumps seem to be concentrated in the specific areas I'm trying to target (upper bicep), whereas when I start my routine with preacher curls the pump is centered in the lower bicep. I also notice the same thing with muscle soreness. If I have an intense workout where I concentrated only on the upper outer head, thats where I feel the soreness. If I do exercises that concentrate on the lower biceps, that's where I feel the soreness.

 

[enigma4dub]

pumps and soreness have no correlation to building muscle. d.o.m.s. in effect, is from doing something the body is unaccustomed to.

 

[bottleneckblooz]

pumps and soreness have no correlation to building muscle. d.o.m.s. in effect, is from doing something the body is unaccustomed to.

Which in turn, forces the body to grow.

 

[Knoxfan]

As far as my diet is concerned, I eat as clean as possible at the moment. Again, im just getting back into the swing of things so its going to take time for me to be strict again. I eat around 100g of protein a day at the moment. I know its not near enough to make amazing gains right off the bat, but again, im not looking for that at the moment. Im mainly trying to fix loop holes in my routines and make them better. For the moment, my bi's and tri's routine is basic weightlifting movements. I usually do 3 sets, 10-12 reps, of whatever weight I fail in that rep range at. In about another month, im planning on cycling test & eq (before anyone bashes me, ive cycled in the past....this will be my 5th cycle) Im just trying to button down a few things and make the best of my time in the gym through different movements and variations of things I already do. i.e. types of movement, frequency, reps, etc.
I do agree with the_alcatraz in that you can isolate specific areas of bi's. Ill work on the preacher stuff and see what happens there. Anything else you guys can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

btw..i love all the feedback. Thanks so far everyone!

 

[the_alcatraz]

pumps and soreness have no correlation to building muscle. d.o.m.s. in effect, is from doing something the body is unaccustomed to.

Doing something the body is unaccustomed to (provided it does not harm your body) will "shock the body" - another principle presented in Arnold's book, force the muscles to work in new ways, thus recruiting dormant muscle fibers and allowing the muscles to get pumped and grow.

 

[the_alcatraz]

absolutely. and your results speak for themselves. however, the stimulus you applied to your body from the BIG numbers you have on the compounds, and your genetics, got your biceps to look the way they do. not concentrating on any particular range of motion while curling.

take for example the pencil neck curling all day, applying all these arm techniques, time under tension etc. by all accounts he should have incredible arms but he doesn't because the overall stimulus being applied to the body is shit.

are you familiar with the concept of weak point training?

I believe that this concept does not only emphasize training the weaker body part first, but also using specific techniques to target weaker parts of whichever muscle groups you need to target.

The best advice I was given to develop the peak of my biceps was a while ago by a very prominent member of EF that passed away not too long ago - Guardian. He showed me how to target the peak of the biceps using specific movements and it worked very well.

I don't believe that you can only target the outer bis and inner bis and you're done with biceps - leave the rest to genetics? Then the entire biceps workout would be wide grip / narrow grip curls and I'm done....

 

[the_alcatraz]

Whether you have a long biceps or a short head with a peak is purely genetics, but you can in principal elongate the head of the biceps through concentrating on that part of the muscle and you can, in principal, develop a biceps peak through specialized movement. Genetics is important, but hard work and dedication outweigh anything.

As far as my diet is concerned, I eat as clean as possible at the moment. Again, im just getting back into the swing of things so its going to take time for me to be strict again. I eat around 100g of protein a day at the moment. I know its not near enough to make amazing gains right off the bat, but again, im not looking for that at the moment. Im mainly trying to fix loop holes in my routines and make them better. For the moment, my bi's and tri's routine is basic weightlifting movements. I usually do 3 sets, 10-12 reps, of whatever weight I fail in that rep range at. In about another month, im planning on cycling test & eq (before anyone bashes me, ive cycled in the past....this will be my 5th cycle) Im just trying to button down a few things and make the best of my time in the gym through different movements and variations of things I already do. i.e. types of movement, frequency, reps, etc.
I do agree with the_alcatraz in that you can isolate specific areas of bi's. Ill work on the preacher stuff and see what happens there. Anything else you guys can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

btw..i love all the feedback. Thanks so far everyone!

 

[enigma4dub]

yes i am familiar with the whole encyclopedia and its principles. i dont believe any of it though. i used to train like that exclusively. worrying about pumps endless drop sets confusing the muscle etc. i think all of it is rubbish. now i train with a purpose(constant progress) . frequency in the compounds and eating to caloric excess. i let my body fill out the way its supposed to. i think the body grows in relation with itself. i haven't been sore in forever and my gains have never been better.

of course i understand your conviction in what you believe as do i in what i believe. this is something that i am very opinionated on.

 

[highlander555]

I'm going to have to go with the standpoint that a bicep is a bicep and you can't focus on making in bigger on one end than the other. It's going to have to develope overall, which means that you'll just need to increase the overall size.

To think you can just develope one end of the bicep is like expceting spot reduction on your stomach to work by doing crunches.

 

[Tatyana]

It is amazing how long bodybuilding myths persist.

If you have a long or high insertion of the muscle near your elbow, then you will have a space before the bicep starts, and no amount of training is going to put muscle in where the tendon is.

Different training may be more effective in having the muscle hypertrophy.

I have had my bicep peaks come out recently, mostly because I started training them on a regular basis and in different rep ranges.

 

[SaiBoT]

The terms "lower" bi or "upper" bi are incorrect the proper words should be insertions as Tatyana stated on her post. Nevertheless makes it easier to understand by referring as low and up biceps doesn't it? Anyway the guy needs advice to makes is biceps look fuller, so lets help.

I would say:

-Ez-bar curl 3x8
-Dumbell zottman scott curls 3x6-8 all the way down, keep your wrists cocked, stop right before biceps looses contraction at the top.
-Underhand close grip chin ups 3x8 all the way down...

You Should do some direct forearm work for helping filling the gap between the bicep and forearm.

 

[the_alcatraz]

What's even more amazing is the very bodybuilding myths that you are talking about helped shape numerous Olympians and famous bodybuilders. Arnold was 7 time Mr. Olympia and arguebly the best bodybuilder of all time. Who am I to argue his principles?

Anyways, I agree with what "enigma" said on whatever works for you works for you, hence the saying: "if it aint broke, don't fix it."

I am not undermining your studies nor am I saying that you are wrong, please do not misunderstand me, I'm just saying that it is not a very easy thing to dismiss certain principles that have helped shape Olympians and build bodies that we will never attain, simply by calling said principles myths. I think until today, Arnold had some of the best biceps in the world. He knew how to train his biceps and based his principles on his experinces. Sometimes, experiences outweigh science, especially in bodybuilding.

It is amazing how long bodybuilding myths persist.

If you have a long or high insertion of the muscle near your elbow, then you will have a space before the bicep starts, and no amount of training is going to put muscle in where the tendon is.

Different training may be more effective in having the muscle hypertrophy.

I have had my bicep peaks come out recently, mostly because I started training them on a regular basis and in different rep ranges.

 

[the_alcatraz]

I'm going to have to go with the standpoint that a bicep is a bicep and you can't focus on making in bigger on one end than the other. It's going to have to develope overall, which means that you'll just need to increase the overall size.

To think you can just develope one end of the bicep is like expceting spot reduction on your stomach to work by doing crunches.

When I do a back double biceps pose, you can easily see the development of the biceps. When I used to do a front double biceps pose, my biceps was lacking....very lacking....I did specialized training and concentrated on the inner biceps and the peak. Now if I take the same pose, you can see a big difference. Experience has proved that Arnold's principles do in fact work and have prevailed. For a "myth" to prevail that long, something must be right.

 

[Tatyana]

What's even more amazing is the very bodybuilding myths that you are talking about helped shape numerous Olympians and famous bodybuilders. Arnold was 7 time Mr. Olympia and arguebly the best bodybuilder of all time. Who am I to argue his principles?

Anyways, I agree with what "enigma" said on whatever works for you works for you, hence the saying: "if it aint broke, don't fix it."

I am not undermining your studies nor am I saying that you are wrong, please do not misunderstand me, I'm just saying that it is not a very easy thing to dismiss certain principles that have helped shape Olympians and build bodies that we will never attain, simply by calling said principles myths. I think until today, Arnold had some of the best biceps in the world. He knew how to train his biceps and based his principles on his experinces. Sometimes, experiences outweigh science, especially in bodybuilding.

I am dismissing the incorrect terminology and that you can isolate a part of the length of a muscle, not the principles of training biceps.







Olympians are the genetically elite, and nearly bloody everything will work on them.

What I am referring to as myth are some of the terms like upper and lower biceps, and that you can isolate a part of the inner or outer bicep.

The entire muscle contracts or it expands.

Arnie's training techniques work because it is training, not because 'upper and lower' bicep is right or wrong.

It is sort of like gravity, we know it exists and has certain things happen, but exactly how gravity is thought to work/exist has changed since it was 'discovered'.

The new discoveries and developments in science haven't stopped apples dropping from the sky, just as blowing apart the old BBing myths and incorrect terminology is not going to stop doing bicep curls from growing biceps.

BBing is the application of art and science.

I figure we should at least have our science bit as correct and up to date as possible.

 

[enigma4dub]

I am dismissing the incorrect terminology and that you can isolate a part of the length of a muscle, not the principles of training biceps.







Olympians are the genetically elite, and nearly bloody everything will work on them.

What I am referring to as myth are some of the terms like upper and lower biceps, and that you can isolate a part of the inner or outer bicep.

The entire muscle contracts or it expands.

Arnie's training techniques work because it is training, not because 'upper and lower' bicep is right or wrong.

agreed with everything here. but also not only elite genetics but aas assisted which always needs to be brought into discussion. what works for the athlete assisted with aas will not necesarily do the same for the one that isnt.

 

[enigma4dub]

What's even more amazing is the very bodybuilding myths that you are talking about helped shape numerous Olympians and famous bodybuilders. Arnold was 7 time Mr. Olympia and arguebly the best bodybuilder of all time. Who am I to argue his principles?

also his principles differs from another multi Olympian. Ronnie does like one exercise per week for arms (see dvd unbelievable). never dedicating a full day to arms. id like to point out that i think arnie is way more aesthetic. but ronnies arms were jacked. his whole approach is simplistic in comparison to arnie.

 

[SaiBoT]

DISTINCT EXERCISES, REP-RANGE, TEMPO, GRIP WIDTH, STIMULATES, DIFERENT TYPES OF FYBERS WITHIN THE MUSCLES, MORE FYBER ACTIVATION LEADS TO MUSCLE GROW.

The reason why compound exercises work generally it's because they activate overall muscle fybers and increase greater, exercise induced, hormonal response, but, if you have lagging bodypart or you want to be the best you can be, EVENTUALLY you will have to exploit every possibility and that's what made arnold the best and away ahead of his time, not only genetics or the roids.

You may feel for example that your biceps are your best feature and you don't pay them much attention, imagine if every now and then you hit them w a diferent aproach. Now you might be denying yourself to reach your potential.

PS: Ronnie at one time stopped training his bis because they were ahead of anything else, then when he got his body to "proportion" he resumed his bis training. So Ronnie regarding lagging biceps thread is not the best example.

 

[highlander555]

What's even more amazing is the very bodybuilding myths that you are talking about helped shape numerous Olympians and famous bodybuilders. Arnold was 7 time Mr. Olympia and arguebly the best bodybuilder of all time. Who am I to argue his principles?

Anyways, I agree with what "enigma" said on whatever works for you works for you, hence the saying: "if it aint broke, don't fix it."

I am not undermining your studies nor am I saying that you are wrong, please do not misunderstand me, I'm just saying that it is not a very easy thing to dismiss certain principles that have helped shape Olympians and build bodies that we will never attain, simply by calling said principles myths. I think until today, Arnold had some of the best biceps in the world. He knew how to train his biceps and based his principles on his experinces. Sometimes, experiences outweigh science, especially in bodybuilding.

I don't think those (in my opinion, inaccurate) principals turned people like Arnold into Olympians. I think it was a combination of hard work and massive amounts of steroids. Their biceps were going to look fabulous no matter what they did.

 

[the_alcatraz]

I don't think those (in my opinion, inaccurate) principals turned people like Arnold into Olympians. I think it was a combination of hard work and massive amounts of steroids. Their biceps were going to look fabulous no matter what they did.

what steroids did arnold have at that point other than dbols and some test?

i could be wrong.

 

[the_alcatraz]

also his principles differs from another multi Olympian. Ronnie does like one exercise per week for arms (see dvd unbelievable). never dedicating a full day to arms. id like to point out that i think arnie is way more aesthetic. but ronnies arms were jacked. his whole approach is simplistic in comparison to arnie.

on ronnie's website, he says he has a complete biceps workout with only cables....i think thats total bs, marketing hype - much like ronnie's dvd

 

[SaiBoT]

on ronnie's website, he says he has a complete biceps workout with only cables....i think thats total bs, marketing hype - much like ronnie's dvd

+1

And Arnold claimed that is favourite was Trenbolone!

 

[immebz]

Muscle is genetics. You work it out, the whole thing contracts, and grows with rest. Your body grows in proportion. You want big bis? Gotta do squats.

How come you can train incline bench and get big upper chest? isnt that the same principle as doing 3rd range motion exercises for lower bis? I could be wrong, but now im confused. I thought i had a good point and then this...wtf

 

[SaiBoT]

Muscle is genetics. You work it out, the whole thing contracts, and grows with rest. Your body grows in proportion. You want big bis? Gotta do squats.

How come you can train incline bench and get big upper chest? isnt that the same principle as doing 3rd range motion exercises for lower bis? I could be wrong, but now im confused. I thought i had a good point and then this...wtf

LOL
OMG go check on POF (position of flexion) principles you will have another perspective. Keep an open-mind to it. Bodybuilding is art+science+quest

 

[the_alcatraz]

bodybuilding = theory + practice.

theories differ and so does practice among diff. bodybuilders, and thats why we have a diff. of opinions...

 

[chazk]

amazing things happen to the body once you apply stress at various angles.

Some guy argued with me over and over about only flat bench needs to be done and the no " upper ,mid or lower " pec exist just one pec.
I didnt argue with him about that what i told him was the pec has diff attachments that when the diff excersizes are performed they can stress the upper , mid and lower areas of the " pec "


I didnt even try to explain to him how the pec major attaches to the clavical and sternum or the fact that the pec minor runs under it , and that in no way would flat bench ever target the pec minor

but onto trazs point
hitting the bicep if the fascia and muscle fibers can be stressed on the lower arm( micro tears , stretched fascia) it will be forced to grow

the body does some amazing thing. When you build muscle the body grows new veins and capillaries to feed the muscle blood, a study was done that showed stress on the muscle not only will thicken the muscle fibers but that hyperplasia exist and bodybuilders could actually be making more muscle fibers

I can't argue about anatomy ,when the bicep contracts it contracts . Only thing I will argue with is stressing the lower muscle attachments were the muscle meets the tendons and ligaments in the lower arm will cuase micro damage that will need to be repaired

 

[immebz]

LOL
OMG go check on POF (position of flexion) principles you will have another perspective. Keep an open-mind to it. Bodybuilding is art+science+quest

thats true, ill go check it out thanks. I guess the thing is that muscle will contract, meaning the whole muscle will contract when u work it out, but if you focus more on working out the 3rd range motion, like with hammer curls, then you are tearing MORE muscle fibers in the lower bicep?

 

[highlander555]

Muscle is genetics. You work it out, the whole thing contracts, and grows with rest. Your body grows in proportion. You want big bis? Gotta do squats.

How come you can train incline bench and get big upper chest? isnt that the same principle as doing 3rd range motion exercises for lower bis? I could be wrong, but now im confused. I thought i had a good point and then this...wtf

I'm not sure the whold bicep debate can be compared to training upper and lower chest, it would be more like the ability to work the inner chest as opposed to the outer chest.

I don't think anyone will argue that there are distinct contraction differences between a flat press and an incline press (mostly having to do with the shoulders, in my opinion). However, to what degree you can isolate the upper chest from the lower is also a debatable issue that often gets discussed.

 

[highlander555]

but onto trazs point
hitting the bicep if the fascia and muscle fibers can be stressed on the lower arm( micro tears , stretched fascia) it will be forced to grow

the body does some amazing thing. When you build muscle the body grows new veins and capillaries to feed the muscle blood, a study was done that showed stress on the muscle not only will thicken the muscle fibers but that hyperplasia exist and bodybuilders could actually be making more muscle fibers

I can't argue about anatomy ,when the bicep contracts it contracts . Only thing I will argue with is stressing the lower muscle attachments were the muscle meets the tendons and ligaments in the lower arm will cuase micro damage that will need to be repaired

I'll argue (Nay, debate, because we're all grownups here, and grownups debate. Yeah, that's it.) that you can't stress a lower attachment, because a muscle can only contract wholey. In order to stress a particular attachment, you'd have to figure out how to get the muscle to contract more in one place than another, and I just don't see how you can do that.

 

[SouthernLord]

Did anyone in this thread mention reverse BB curls?

 

[the_alcatraz]

Did anyone in this thread mention reverse BB curls?

very good point. or hammer curls?

I suppose if we were to follow some of the concepts presented in this thread: "when the biceps contracts, it contracts" then all would be the same and we wouldnt need to hit th ebiceps form diff angles.

narrow-grip curls vs. wide-grip curls

preacher curls vs. alternating dumbell curls

concentration curls vs. hammer curls

are they all the same?

I believe diff exercises make the biceps work in diff. ways and that why using diff. techniques you can in fact stress diff. "parts" of the biceps

This should go without saying. Regardless of the anatomy of the arm, people can actually stress on peak, mass, outer, inner biceps etc...

 

[SaiBoT]

Hammer curls, reverse curls and Zottman curls work mostly on the brachialis and the forearm decreasing the gap between bicep and forearm. On a very developped arm the brachialis resembles a golf ball stuck between the biceps and triceps. A developped brachialis will help push the bicep brachii upward, which improves the so-called "bicep peak".

 

[SouthernLord]

Hammer curls, reverse curls and Zottman curls work mostly on the brachialis and the forearm decreasing the gap between bicep and forearm. On a very developped arm the brachialis resembles a golf ball stuck between the biceps and triceps. A developped brachialis will help push the bicep brachii upward, which improves the so-called "bicep peak".

This is what I was hoping someone would post. When you train the brachialis with heavy reverse curls, hammer curls, and pinwheel curls it will "pop" out your lower bicep. An overdeveloped brachialis will also make your bis apear more "peaky".

 

[the_alcatraz]

Hammer curls, reverse curls and Zottman curls work mostly on the brachialis and the forearm decreasing the gap between bicep and forearm. On a very developped arm the brachialis resembles a golf ball stuck between the biceps and triceps. A developped brachialis will help push the bicep brachii upward, which improves the so-called "bicep peak".

Exactly. That is the point I'm making here. In essence, you CAN do certain exercises to work on different "parts" of the biceps. Sort of like weak-point training.

 

[immebz]

But what makes the lower bicep work more just because youre doing hammer curls?

 

[the_alcatraz]

But what makes the lower bicep work more just because youre doing hammer curls?

"Hammer curls, reverse curls and Zottman curls work mostly on the brachialis and the forearm decreasing the gap between bicep and forearm."

very good explanation right there ^^

 

[immebz]

Oh so your not working the different part of the muscle, but rather the area by the part of the muscle you want bigger? like an illusion?

 

[SaiBoT]

"Hammer curls, reverse curls and Zottman curls work mostly on the brachialis and the forearm decreasing the gap between bicep and forearm."

very good explanation right there ^^

Thanks

 

[chazk]

I'll argue (Nay, debate, because we're all grownups here, and grownups debate. Yeah, that's it.) that you can't stress a lower attachment, because a muscle can only contract wholey. In order to stress a particular attachment, you'd have to figure out how to get the muscle to contract more in one place than another, and I just don't see how you can do that.

it is not done with the contraction but instead the negative portion of the excersize . You stress the lower attachment by placing the upper arm on the preacher bar, slowley lowering the weight (negative) and micro tear the tissue on the bottom attachments of the muscle to the tendons.
when done correct you will stretch the lower attachments and micro tear the lower portion of the muscle.
negatives are the most important part of most excersizes to induce muscle growth

 

[KDubba]

Dead on Chaz- when lowering the weight the last third is vital to make "lower" bis grow and not swinging the weight back up. My favourite- preacher curls with dumbells- full extension. When I started doing them I could not even extend all they down with half the weight I was curling, stretches the lower bi great which is what u want.

 

[artificialaspirations]

greaT point chaz.