Mike Mentzer Recommending the "Close Grip Palms Up Lat Pulldown" as a Biceps Exercise
Mike Mentzer recommends the close grip palms up lat pull down as one of the "best biceps exercise in the world" and "better than any curl you can do." Most people think of lats when they think of the lats pulldown exercise, but the exercise also works the rear deltoids and the biceps. Mike Mentzer states that the Close Grip Palms Up Lat Pull Down works at the elbow joint and the shoulder joint. He calls out this exercising as causing the muscle to contract "uniformly" at both ends. Another mechanism involved is that when a biceps contraction occurs overhead (ie., with the elbow overhead), the biceps in the raised arms brings the origin and insertion of the biceps closer together even before the biceps contracts. This puts a little slack in the biceps, which changes force production in the biceps because of the principle of the Length-Tension Relationship. Optimal Length of Muscle - Additional Commentary from ArlingtonAthletics.com: Force generation in...
