The biceps is the large muscle on the front of the upper arm that helps you bend your elbow and lift things. People often show off their biceps by flexing their arms.
From Latin “biceps,” meaning “two-headed,” from “bi-” (two) and “-ceps” from “caput” (head). It refers to the muscle’s two points of origin on the bone.
Your biceps isn’t just one lump of muscle; it literally has two “heads” that attach in different places. That’s why certain arm exercises feel slightly different—they’re targeting different heads of the same muscle.
Discussion of biceps and muscularity has often been gendered, with muscular arms framed as a masculine ideal and women’s muscularity alternately stigmatized or fetishized. Fitness language around biceps has contributed to narrow body ideals for all genders.
Use neutral anatomical language and avoid assuming interest in or judgment about biceps size based on gender. When giving fitness advice, decouple muscle development goals from gender norms.
["upper arm muscle","arm flexor (biceps brachii)"]
Women athletes and bodybuilders have expanded understandings of strength and muscularity, challenging gendered expectations about who ‘should’ have visible biceps.
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