How useful are bicep muscles?

[FCAthlete34]

So me and my roommate got into an argument the other day about isolation workouts. Basically, we both bench but he also works out his separate muscles like doing bicep curls. I told him that biceps will grow as your bench increases (neighboring muscles must grow). Keep in mind that I am following Pavel's book "Power to the people", so I am also doing deadlifts.

Are biceps really that useful in MMA? Should I be doing isolation exercises or is that just a waste of time? Please share some insights if you have experience.

 

[ThinkGreen]

No they are not very useful in MMA

 

[blakethemus]

Not usefull at all. Cut them off and save weight so you can fight at a lower weight class.

 

[magicman531]

Useful? Sure, they allow me to bend my arm towards my shoulder. Also I can lift things with them. It's not a bad idea to do some direct bicep work after you've done your major lifts. Don't avoid it like the plague. Just don't make it the focus of your workout. imo

 

[ThinkGreen]

And if you're doing curlz over chinz then you're doing something wrong

 

[Andy Rickert]

Biceps are super important. I devote tuesday, thursday, and saturday to biceps. And by that I mean squats, deadlifts, and everything else not directly bicep related.

 

[vision1]

If I didn't have them, my arms wouldn't work. so.....

EDIT: bench and deadlifts don't do much for them.

 

[Andy Rickert]

If I didn't have them, my arms wouldn't work. so.....

EDIT: bench and deadlifts don't do much for them.

that to

 

[Chaseg1520]

I heard ChaseT has a secret room in his house for preacher curls.....

 

[Andy Rickert]

its called "the room of truth"

 

[ghostwipe]

You don't need to isolate them, but I wouldn't neglect them either, especially if you play rugby, or football or other sports where you need to tackle.

Do some pullups and bent over rows.

 

[Gary Peters]

Just do your main compound lifts and throw in 2-3 sets of curls at the end, its not that difficult or time consuming.

 

[Donut62]

I think everyone throws in some curls from time to time. No need to focus or worry about them or plan them in. You can do bullshit lifts whenever you want.

 

[CarnalSalvation]

I think everyone throws in some curls from time to time. No need to focus or worry about them or plan them in. You can do bullshit lifts whenever you want.

Exactly. There's absolutely no reason not to curl. I takes very little time or energy compared to the big three, the quick lifts, or even things like rows.

I recently started curling gain, when I realized there are guys who can curl twice what I can, and squat less than half as much. That's just stupid on BOTH sides.

 

[ratman201]

You can't masturbate without the bicep, so they are very important.

 

[vision1]

You could probably just pinch with your elbows.

 

[CarnalSalvation]

That's why I train grip and am a CoC.

So I can pleasure myself something FIERCE!

 

[ratman201]

That's why I train grip and am a CoC.

So I can pleasure myself something FIERCE!

As long as there is rest time between the two, otherwise one ends up being disappointing/frustrating.

 

[Urban]

I do 3x10-20 of a curl variation about once a month (thickbar curls and hammer curls are really the only two I keep in rotation). as a rule, they're very low priority exercises, and done primarily for injury prevention and strengthening connective tissue (had an issue at a grip comp a while back with the 500 lb Trap bar hold for time). The biceps are an essential muscle in your arm for movement purposes, but as far as being critical in terms of training them hard for more power or something, leave it to compound exercises like rows, chins and pullups. Isolation for injury prevention only IMO.

 

[Frenzy1]

They're useful for hanging out your car window when you're driving.