Tip Bulletproof Your Biceps Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Bulletproof Your Biceps Bicep tears suck Prevent them by doing this unique exercise by Chris Peil November 14, 2019April 5, 2021 Tags It Hurts Fix It, Training Biceps tears are common in powerlifting. Using an alternate grip when deadlifting? That underhand arm is at risk. Tears are even more common in strongman. Tire flips and stone lifting are the usual culprits. Happens in bodybuilding too. And if you're a fan of ring dips or muscle-ups, then you too are at risk. Tears happen when the biceps are loaded and then suddenly lengthened. In a deadlift, they generally happen if the arm isn't 100-percent straight at the start but then straightens during the pull. In strongman, tears occur when a stone or tire slips. As the object drops, the athlete tries to stop it, rapidly loading the biceps as they lengthen. To some extent, it's a problem you can't always prevent, but you can definitely lower your risk. Lessons From the Biceps Femoris Soccer players have hamstring tear problems. A huge amount of money and time has gone into trying to prevent them. What people have found is that the risk factor involves the way the hamstring is loaded (and overloaded) as it lengthens – the same mechanism of injury as biceps tears in strength sports! Research has also found that strengthening the hamstrings as they lengthen helps reduce the injury risk. The most famously researched exercise has been the Nordic curl. How can we use this for our biceps? We use a Nordic curl for biceps, otherwise known as the biceps glide. This exercise loads the biceps as they lengthen. The Biceps Glide Loading and conditioning the biceps this way will, over time, reduce the risk of tearing when mixed-grip deadlifting, stone or tire lifting, and in life in general. Notes When you first do this exercise, you're fatiguing the biceps through the risky range of movement and loading pattern. Initially, you might slightly increase risk. So go gently at first, progress carefully, and for 72 hours stay away from other movements that may also put your biceps at risk. As you improve at this exercise, you could use them as a warm-up to activate the biceps before a high-risk movement. This needs to be done lightly and for low volume without fatiguing the biceps. Once you're proficient with glides, you can load them up heavier to condition the biceps, but in sessions 72 hours away from full-body, high-risk movements like deadlifts and strongman events. The movement itself will always have a risk. It has to in order to have a positive conditioning effect. It's very low and controlled risk relative to the movements where biceps tend to pop, but you should still treat it with respect. Ease into it and be progressive. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip Functional Dry Needling Restores Mobility Heard of dry needling? Thinking about trying it? Here's what it looks like and what it can do for you. Exercise Coaching, Tips Dr John Rusin January 15 Training Tip The Leg Press and Real Strength Can you build strength in the leg press, or is it nonfunctional? Coach Carter lays the smack down here. Legs, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Paul Carter February 7 Training Tip Do the Russian Fighter Pull-Up Program This simple plan involves "sneaking up" on reps in the pull-up. It just takes a few minutes per day. Check it out. Tips, Training Dan John May 3 Training The Bulletproofing Leg Workout If you're after strength, size, athleticism, and happy joints, add these four unilateral exercises to your leg workout. Bodybuilding, Legs Brandon Rynka July 11