An often overlooked aspect of arm training is hand positioning. Yet proper hand position is critical when attempting to build big biceps. There are 3 positions in which you can place your hands during your arm training workouts: the supinated position; the neutral position; or the pronated position.

The supinated position occurs with your hands facing upward and is essential for biceps training success. Your hands are in a neutral position when your palms are turned inward when your arms rest naturally at your sides. Pronation refers to a palms-downward position and primarily involves the pronator muscles of the forearm during reverse-grip curls or other arm contraction exercises. To maximize efficiency and get desired results from your biceps training, you must avoid placing your hands in the wrong position when targeting these muscles.

For example, inexperienced bodybuilders often make the mistake of doing hammer curls in an effort to build big biceps. While the biceps provide some assistance in this exercise, the neutral hand position used in hammer curls make the brachialis and brachioradialis muscles the real workhorses for this movement. The brachialis is located in the upper arm between the biceps and the humerus. The brachialis is a true forearm flexor, and its sole purpose is to pull the forearm toward the upper arm. Similarly, the brachioradialis is also a forearm flexor that works to pull the forearm toward the biceps.

The biceps are most involved in exercises performed with the hands in a supinated or “palms up” position. Therefore, hammer curls are not the most effective way to train them. Yet whenever I go to a gym, I never fail to see people trying to build their biceps by “bombing” and “blasting” them with hammer curls. The sad truth is that while hammer curls are great for building big and strong forearms, this exercise is relatively inefficient for building big biceps.

To get the most out of your biceps training exercises you should perform them with your hands in a supinated position throughout the entire movement. Rotating or twisting your wrist is wasted energy and your biceps are not doing the work while your hands are in a neutral position. As a practical matter, this means that any “twisting” curl movements or other exercises with your hands in a neutral position are simply not the most efficient choices for building big biceps.

Unfortunately, many people waste valuable time during their workouts by failing to use proper hand position when attempting to build big biceps. When training your biceps, your workouts should focus on preacher curls, concentration curls and other exercises in which your hands are in a fully supinated position. The importance of proper hand positioning cannot be overstated for maximum efficiency and success in your quest for big biceps.