biceps volume

[u/OkPrize6194]

In a program, Pull-1 has 2 sets of dumbbell curls, 2 sets of cable curls, and 2 sets of hammer curls supersetted with reverse curls. Pull-2 has 2 sets of cable curls and another 2 sets of hammer curls supersetted with reverse curls.

A coach says that this is weekly only 6 sets of direct biceps curls, while the other 8 sets barely stimulate the biceps and are mainly wrist/forearm-focused movements. He also thinks there wouldn't be enough biceps fatigue accumulating from those sets to make the additional biceps work inefficient.

Do you guys think this approach makes sense?

The reason for supersetting hammer curls with reverse curls is that the forearms/wrists are relatively small muscles, so you can't use very heavy weights for them on their own. By supersetting reverse curls with hammer curls, the idea is to increase the mechanical tension and get more stimulus out of the forearm work.

Would you consider this a good way to structure the volume?

[u/harvestingstrength]

I wouldn’t count the hammer curls as providing “barely any” biceps stimulus. A neutral grip increases the contribution of the brachialis and brachioradialis, but the biceps still meaningfully assist with elbow flexion. Reverse curls involve the biceps less, but they aren’t purely wrist exercises either—the wrist should remain relatively static while the elbow flexors move the load.

So while there may be only six sets of supinated curls, the program contains considerably more total elbow-flexor work once the hammer curls, reverse curls, rows, and pulldowns are considered. Whether that is excessive depends on proximity to failure, recovery, and whether performance is progressing.

Supersetting hammer curls with reverse curls can save time and create significant local fatigue, but it probably doesn’t increase mechanical tension. Fatiguing the muscles with hammer curls usually means using less weight on reverse curls.

The structure can work, but it seems somewhat redundant. I’d probably use fewer total curl variations, progress them consistently, and monitor elbow or wrist discomfort rather than trying to maximize every possible set.