Bicep’s Role in Throwing and How to Minimize Pain
By Christian Sullivan
During the off-season arm conditioning period, many of our athletes have started to increase throwing intensity during their progressions. With this, few are experiencing bicep pain, but are unsure what the cause of this may be. I wanted to take some time to dive into the anatomy and mechanics of the throwing arm, particularly the role of the bicep.
In order to determine what causes bicep pain in a high-intent throw, some background anatomy must be given to see the whole picture.
The bicep consists of two heads that separate into the long head and the short head. The short head of the bicep runs up the inner arm (medially, towards the midline of the body) and connects to the scapula, particularly the coracoid process (small, boney structure at the front of the scapula). The long head of the bicep runs laterally up the humerus through a groove, eventually inserting into the superior labrum.
The bicep main role is a flexor of the elbow, as well as a supinator of the forearm. Understanding the bicep’s function will aid in the understanding of its role in throwing mechanics.
During a high-intent throw, the bicep plays a role in the deceleration of the arm. Due to the extension of the elbow at a high velocity, the bicep, along with the posterior shoulder, act as the brakes. With the hand pronating and shoulder getting into extension, the bicep acts as a key piece to deceleration post-release.
There are some opposing opinions on the role of the bicep during the deceleration phase of a throw. Most popular is Driveline’s Blog post (How Muscles Work to Protect a Pitcher) talking about the importance of training the eccentric contraction of the bicep, which is what is happening the bicep during deceleration. Another recent article (Eccentric Biceps Is The Devil For A Throwing Athlete) from Florida Baseball Ranch’s owner Randy Sullivan talks about why eccentric bicep exercises are the “devil” in a blog post back in March 2019.
In my opinion, I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
It is important to have a strong posterior shoulder in order to aid in the process of deceleration, but the bicep does play a role. My stance on the subject is that having muscle surrounding the elbow to aid in absorbing force through a throw is going to be best when trying to prevent injury. Mobility and stability through the full range of motion through the throwing action are both key.
With that being said, having a healthy arm path is going to be the biggest preventer of injury. Without proper shoulder health and thoracic extension/rotation, none of this is really going to matter. The timing of rotation, acceleration, and layback all play into the amount of stress put on the arm during throwing.
Prioritizing thoracic extension and rotation, as well as shoulder strength and stability through a full range of motion (mobility), especially overhead (shoulders most unstable position) is going to be key.
At PRP, we are always assessing mechanics during drill work and mobility. Specifically a drill such as the pivot pick, we have to make sure the athlete can properly get the arm into external rotation to avoid a “pushy” feel to a throw. The torso rotates, allowing the arm to work in more of an “unraveling” motion instead of a “catapult.” This allows for more of a smooth arm path, and much cleaner arm action. I believe having a scapula that upwardly rotates properly, stabilizing the humerus in the socket, aids in the ability of an athlete to get into proper positions. We also use other drills such as walk aways, opposite knee throws, and catch to throws in our plyocare programming to clean up patterning.
Prone Cuban Press - Arm Care Exercise
Strengthening the rotator cuff is the obvious focus of every thrower. At PRP, we focus on movements such as the prone cuban press (shown right) on an incline bench. Our focus with this is the retraction of the scapulas during the row and external rotation of the arms. As the athlete begins to press up over head, the focus is allowing the scapulas upwardly rotate keeping the arms on the same plane of the body.
When it comes to Thoracic mobility, movements such as the bridge with rotation is going to be a staple. This movement is very dynamic because it causes the extension and rotation of the thoracic spine, all while taking the scapula through a dynamic range of motion and working stability of the shoulder. Another movement that we use at PRP is a half-kneeling kettlebell windmill. This movement has similar features to the bridge with rotation or a phase of the Turkish get-up. The thoracic spine is extending and rotating all while the scapula moves along the rib cage and the shoulder works to stabilize the kettlebell overhead.
After addressing arm mechanics, posterior cuff strength and thoracic mobility, if bicep pain is still prevalent, then we can look at adding in eccentric bicep work. This may include eccentric bicep curls in all variations, as well as pulling exercises with a focus on the eccentric contraction.
PRP Arm Care Exercises for Bicep & Shoulder Care:
Prone Cuban Press
KB Windmills (Standing, 1/2 Kneeling - Shown above)
TRX Overhead Raise
Prone ITYs
Prone Handcuffs
Prone Reach Over/Under
KB Turkish Get Up
Bridge with Rotation
Wall Presses
Wall Windmills
TRX External Rotations
Plank Bodysaw’s