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The aim of the present study was to analyse the role of exercises' resistance profile in regional hypertrophy. Thirty-eight healthy women completed a 9-week resistance training program consisting of either 4 sets of 12 repetitions to volitional failure of inclined bicep curls (INC group) or preacher curls (PREA group), three times per week. Pre- and post-intervention muscle thickness was measured using B-mode ultrasound imaging with a linear-array transducer. Scan acquisition sites were determined by measuring 50%, 60% and 70% of the distance between the posterior crest of the acromion and the olecranon. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. No region of the INC group grew when comparing pre- to post-intervention. The 70% region of the PREA group grew significantly (muscle thickness increased from 2.7 ± 0.43 cm to 2.94 ± 0.44 cm). We found no growth differences between regions when analysing per group (p = 0.274), region (p = 0.571) or group*region (p = 0.367). Our results show that the distal region of the arm grows in response to the preacher curl that places the highest amount of strain in the range of motion in which the arm muscles are more elongated.

Horizontally loaded exercises have become very popular during the last years among strength and conditioning practitioners and coaches to enhance the performance of hip extensors. It has been shown that they are superior to the traditional standing free-weight exercises like squats or deadlifts in many aspects. The most famous exercise of this kind is the Barbell Hip Thrust, a close-kinetic chain exercise performed with a barbell to strengthen hip extensors. However, variations of the hip thrust have appeared, created by coaches to better suit their necessities, the most famous of them is the Loaded Glute Bridge. The aim of this paper is to analyze and compare the biomechanical differences existing between the barbell hip thrust, and the loaded glute bridge.