Building Biceps

trotter_inc

Hi Folks.

Anyone got any tips/good exercises on building biceps?

I normally work my biceps twice a week - First night I would do standing bar bell curls and then sitting bicep curls. Second night I would do sitting bar bell curls and then cable curls or concentration curls.

The problem is that Im not seeing much results. Im only about 72 kgs but can lift over 35kgs doing standing barbell curls which I think is pretty good! Ive been working on fairly regulary over the past year but havent seen much results in my biceps.

I have seen results in other parts of my body eventhough I dont take supplements - I do however eat a lot of protein food.

Anyone any advice or tips for me? Thanks.

Jak

Well I only train arms once a week and find them one of the quickest parts to respond to training. Bear in mind that other sessions - particularly chest in my experience - will work your arms somewhat also.

For triceps I would encourage you to work towards dips and weighted dips - assuming that perhaps you might have problems with them at the moment. Skull crushers (or nose crushers) and french press and narrow grip bench are all options, but personally I find upright dips to be the key to building triceps.

For biceps, well I moved away from freestanding curls as I found the lack of strictness made it harder to target the arms. Solutions include a harness for your curls or keeping your back flat against the wall.

Personally for biceps I try not to go super heavy, but rather keep the muscle as flush with blood as I can for the session. I do seated incline curls to keep constant tension on the muscle and also a variation of preacher curls where I pause for 1 second at the top - middle and just above the low point - again to keep constant tension. I find it works quite well, tho finding a good preacher machine and bar can be issues. Sometime it can crucify your elbows.

JAK.

sparkite

low reps with high weights.i found that when i worked out 1/2 a week it had very little effect tbh....not until i took it up to 4/5 times a week.bit vigorous though!

rs

Try doing some 21's.

Do the first seven reps but only come half way up (stop when you forearms are parallel to the ground) and go back down again.

The next seven reps, start from half-way and go to the top.

The last seven are from bottom to top (normal bicep curls)

You'll find you can do a lot less weight with 21's, but typically, they'll hurt a lot more

They force you biceps to work a little differently than they are used to, and the haif reps work well at keeping your biceps contracted for longer when you are stopped in the middle.

I also like preacher curls and incline dumbell curls because they are nice strict movements.

But try some 21's for a while, just for a bit of a change and see how you get on.

Have a look here for pics and description.

http://www.netfit.co.uk/biceps_exercises_bicep/barbell_bicep_exercise_9.htm

moby2101

21's are definitely one of the best ways to build big biceps and keep them.
A rugby coach who was a member of my Gym a while back got me into them.
Size and definition very quickly.

sound_wave

would you be able to do 21s with a Knurled Curl Bar?

Guv

Try putting on some weight. You cannot expect to get big or bigger arms without gaining significant weight. You need to focus on getting stronger and bigger. With strength will come size. Heavy chest work will fry your tri's and make them massive.
They say that to gain an inch on your arms you need to put on a stone in weight. That's a stone of muscle, not cheese. So this applies more to guys using juice than those training naturally.

How big is a big arm? It's hard to believe measurements which come out nowadays, but it has been verified that Arnold S had 20" arms, and maybe a little bigger pumped.. Every Tom Dick and harry said they had 20" arms. Even Franco Columbo said he had.... Basically there has been a lot of horse s**t spoke about arm size. A 17" honest arm measurement is considered a large measurement. There is a significant viible jump up to the 18" mark. There are very few 19" arms and hardly any honest 20+" arms going around. This is taking into account that many people will have used steroids to get to this size. Getting any of the above measurements are far harder if you are natural.


Now there are other factors here as well, fat lot of good having an 18in arm if you have no peak. Nothing worse than a flat bicep!

Here is an example of a good physique and good bi's: http://www.hardtrainer.com/eddieellwood.htm - granted he is 6ft1 and weighing about 300 in the picture and can deadlift in excess of 900lbs, it is safe to say he has 21in arms or so but look at how big the rest of him is! No way could he get his arm size short of synthol at say 260 or 280.

Get bigger and your arms will follow.

Guv

Arnold S was a genetic freak because at a bodyweight of not mroe than 235lbs on stage and standing 6ft2in tall he was able somehow to have 20in arms. This is virtually unobtainable by anyone today even with better supplements.

Most guys would be happy with a 17in arm or maybe 18 if they were very lucky at that height and weight!

rs

Originally posted by sound_wave
would you be able to do 21s with a Knurled Curl Bar?

I generally use a straight bar, but there's no reason not to use a Knurled Curl Bar.

Give it a go a see how it feels, that's the only real test.

R

sound_wave

I generally use a straight bar, but there's no reason not to use a Knurled Curl Bar.

thanks. cant lift anything at the moment though my wrist is knackered and i got a rugby match tomorrow too! bit of strapping me thinks.

Easygainer

Guv has given some excellent advice and Jak has correctly pointed out that the triceps are the most important aspect to big arms - they take up 2/3!

I have 18" arms when flexed (natural ) but am hoping to bring that closer to 18.5 or 19 by April cos I'm bulking. I have a savage triceps routine cos I really need to bring up my bench:

1)3 x 8 pyramiding up - reverse close grip bench
2)3 sets to failure of lying floor extensions -
set 1 use 45lbs plates on an ez curl bar
set 2 use 35lbs plates
set 3 use 25lbs plates
adding additional weight outside if you want - this enables the triceps to be hit from 3 different angles! Also use a very slow negative and an axplosive eccentric phase
3)4 sets of pushdowns - I do pulldowns on my knees and vary the height settings to increase the ROM along with reps for each set. Reps - 4-6,6-8,8-10,10-12
4) Superset dips and overhead cable extensions - three supersets to pump up arms and increase bloodflow!

For biceps I fit them in after back. I'm thinking of just doing a biceps session now - feeling kind of guilty cos didn't get to work back on Friday!

joc_06

Originally posted by Easygainer
Guv has given some excellent advice and Jak has correctly pointed out that the triceps are the most important aspect to big arms - they take up 2/3!

I have 18" arms when flexed (natural ) but am hoping to bring that closer to 18.5 or 19 by April cos I'm bulking. I have a savage triceps routine cos I really need to bring up my bench:

1)3 x 8 pyramiding up - reverse close grip bench
2)3 sets to failure of lying floor extensions -
set 1 use 45lbs plates on an ez curl bar
set 2 use 35lbs plates
set 3 use 25lbs plates
adding additional weight outside if you want - this enables the triceps to be hit from 3 different angles! Also use a very slow negative and an axplosive eccentric phase
3)4 sets of pushdowns - I do pulldowns on my knees and vary the height settings to increase the ROM along with reps for each set. Reps - 4-6,6-8,8-10,10-12
4) Superset dips and overhead cable extensions - three supersets to pump up arms and increase bloodflow!



For biceps I fit them in after back. I'm thinking of just doing a biceps session now - feeling kind of guilty cos didn't get to work back on Friday!

I never thought of exercising the triceps to get bigger arms i always concentrated on the biceps.
You obviously know what you are on about (18" must be massive) but can you explain some of your exercises and give weights etc?
I mean what is a reverse bench? do you lift the bar with your knees??
thanks