The two heads of the Biceps Brachii muscle are involved in flexing the elbow (bringing the hand to the shoulder), supinating the forearm (turning the palm up to the ceiling), and flexing the shoulder (raising the arm in front of the body). Because of its attachments to the scapula, a tight biceps tends to hunch the shoulder forward and in. Here are a couple of quick and easy stretching variations to get a little more length in the upper arm.

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Guidelines for stretching:

• Stretch on the exhale.
• If you feel pain then back off a little.
• Hold the stretch for 4-10 breaths, or until you feel the resistance soften.
• 3 times each side is considered ideal, but if you’re short on time then do what you can.

Variation 1:

1. Hold your arms out to either side at shoulder height, with your palms up.
2. Bend your hands back at the wrist so your fingers point towards the floor.
3. Feel the stretch in the front of your upper arm.

For a more intense stretch:

1. Put your hand on the wall behind you, arm straight and fingers pointing down; your arm is rotated all the way to the outside.
2. Turn your head and body away from the wall to increase resistance.

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References:

1. ↩This image was made out of, or made from, content published in a BodyParts3D/Anatomography web site. The content of their website is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.1 Japan license. The author and licenser of the contents is:
“BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science licensed under CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan.”

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© William Wells 2015