If you have a rounded shoulder or a slumped posture then you will want to watch this video to see how building bigger biceps can fix this. Here I am demonstrating how the biceps actually work in concert with the muscles of the shoulder that help to externally rotate the arm in a better position to keep you more upright.
It is very important to understand the anatomy of the muscles you are trying to train when you work out. The reason for this is that it allows you to perform certain exercises that might not seem all that helpful at first glance for a purpose you would never have expected. That’s the case when it comes to the options of biceps exercises.
Bicep exercises like the hammer curl and even cross body curls actually do the opposite of what you want them to do. While they are good at building the brachialis they are not as good at building the biceps. At the same time, you perform these exercises with a great deal of internal shoulder rotation which will contribute to a poor posture long term.
You may not think that there is anything serious about having rounded shoulders other than the way it looks. This is incorrect. Having internally rotated shoulders is one of the fastest ways to injure yourself in the gym since performing exercises overhead with this posture is likely to cause inflammation and breakdown in the structures of the shoulder.
Here I show you an exercise called the no money curl that requires only a single pair of dumbbells and a wall for feedback to make sure you are doing it properly. The exercise gets its name from the position of the hands at the top of the curl. It looks as though you are telling someone that you have no money if they asked you for some.
The key is to stand up against a wall and keep the dumbbells in contact with the wall to start. Begin by contracting your biceps, supinating your forearms and curling the dumbbells up and out over the shoulders. This should occur naturally due to the carrying angle of the elbow that is anatomically in place to help carry things on our side without bumping into them when we walk.
At the top of the movement, you really need to make contact with the wall with the dumbbells. This is key. This will require a great deal of shoulder external rotation to do so. This is the exact movement that needs to be strengthened to help eliminate rounded shoulders, a slumped posture and a forward head.
Hold the contraction at the top for a moment and then bring the dumbbells back down to your sides. This is a great way to build bigger biceps, but also, given its impact on the rotators of your shoudlers, this will help to counteract and fix the bad posture as part of an overall complete exercise regimen.
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