Biceps twice a week

ICX

Hi All,

I would like to here some of your opionions on training biceps twice a week as I feel they are lagging behind compared with the rest of my
body.:(

I was thinking of maybe hard session Monday light session Thursday!

MattKid

People will think you're a bicep boy.

I very rarely do isolated arm exercises, I find a hard back workout and shoulder and chest workout hit my arms just fine. They are only small muscle groups compared to the rest.
You might find they aren't growing due to over training

Colm_OReilly

What's your current program? What are your aims overall, aside from giving directions to the beach?

WHIP IT!

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

What's your current program? What are your aims overall, aside from giving directions to the beach?

Heh Heh - that's some funny sh*t right there...

Dragan

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

What's your current program? What are your aims overall, aside from giving directions to the beach?

Colm,

I'm not a fan of this. Last time i checked the role of a Crossfit Trainer was not to be seen as arrogantly judging the goals of others which is exactly how this came across.

He clearly stated he wants bigger biceps, either answer the question or don't post in the thread.

Cheers.

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Heh Heh - that's some funny sh*t right there...

If you want funny then go to the Comedy Club, otherwise answer the question.

WHIP IT!

Dragan wrote: »

Colm,

I'm not a fan of this. Last time i checked the role of a Crossfit Trainer was not to be seen as arrogantly judging the goals of others which is exactly how this came across.

He clearly stated he wants bigger biceps, either answer the question or don't post in the thread.

Cheers.



If you want funny then go to the Comedy Club, otherwise answer the question.

Oh please - we're not all that sensitive here Pal... As Brendan O'Carroll likes to say: "F*ck ye if ye can't take a joke!"

Dragan

And as Dragan the Fitness Moderator says,

"See ya!"

ICX

Program looks like this;

Monday: Legs and biceps
Tue : Chest
Wednesday: soccer
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Back and Triceps
Saturday: Squash

All above body parts will have four exercises 5 x 5.
I'm 73Kg 5" 8 to give you an indication of current Pb's Squat 125 Kg's, Deadlift 140 Kg's, Bench 105kg's. Diet is pretty clean low carb high protein (approx 175grams).
Overall aim's build muscle get bf down (don't know current % but can see top two ab's)

Colm_OReilly

Dragan,

You've inferred an insult which I didn't imply. If I offended the OP, I apologise, it was not my intent - just trying to be a little humourous.

Ask to questioning his program and goals, we need to know if he's other goals which bicep work could potentially hinder his gains/progress or cause imbalances. We also need to know where best to fit them in.

Dragan

No problem Colm.

I figured there was nothing behind, simply pointing out the way it was coming across to me.

As for the answer the question bit that was aimed at Whip It, i just completely ballsed up my quotes, as per usual.

Sorry dude.

amazingemmet

What size are your arms now op? At 72kg they'll only get to about 15in you'll need to gain more overall size to get bigger arms simple really. Also your squat and dead are quite low relative to your bench

ICX

No offence taken Colm

Emmet you are correct 15in. Squat and dead are increasing week on week so im happy enough with that as for my bench, reached 100kg 1rm target 5 weeks ago and finding it very difficult to push more. Thinking of switching it up a bit tbh.

farva

I've got similar stats to yourself OP, I'm 5'6" and about 71Kg. I do biceps curls with the EZ bar 3 times a week - 4 sets of 8 reps @ about 45Kg (including the bar) and dumbell curls seated 4 sets of 8 reps @ 20.4kg (45lbs) 3 times week. Its possibley over training but I do have pretty big bieceps - don't know what size my arms are though.

And before I get stick for being a "biecep boy" - I do a lot of tricep/chest work too. I got 115kg on the bench last night:D

Hanley

You're doing well to have 15 inch arms at <75kg. How tall are you? Chances are you just need to start gaining more weight overall.

Oh and another tip I would give you that most people neglect is to measure you arms relaxed and flexed. If your relaxed measurement goes up half an inch over a month or two, but your flexed measurement stays the same, it's most likely that your triceps are growing and not your bi's.

aye

what do you currently do for your biceps?
what exercises?

they will get hit on the back also with all the pulling movements.

is there a reaon you work your triceps on the day you do your back (pulling), instead of the day you do your chest (pushing)?
nothing wrong with it, i'm just wondering.

Hanley

farva wrote: »

I've got similar stats to yourself OP, I'm 5'6" and about 71Kg. I do biceps curls with the EZ bar 3 times a week - 4 sets of 8 reps @ about 45Kg (including the bar) and dumbell curls seated 4 sets of 8 reps @ 20.4kg (45lbs) 3 times week. Its possibley over training but I do have pretty big bieceps - don't know what size my arms are though.

And before I get stick for being a "biecep boy" - I do a lot of tricep/chest work too. I got 115kg on the bench last night:D

You're not overtraining. 90% of people who talk about over traning are not over traning. You don't get overtrained by doing biceps 3x a week. If you're strength and the amount of weight you can handle on the exercise starts to decline then it might be time to changes things up.

Overtraining isn't an isolated thing that stops you being able to increase one exercise. It's a whole body thing that basically shuts you down on all exercises.

Black Swan

If biceps development is so important to you, why not work them every other day, skipping a day inbetween to recover?

Patto

Hanley wrote: »

You're doing well to have 15 inch arms at <75kg. How tall are you? Chances are you just need to start gaining more weight overall.

Oh and another tip I would give you that most people neglect is to measure you arms relaxed and flexed. If your relaxed measurement goes up half an inch over a month or two, but your flexed measurement stays the same, it's most likely that your triceps are growing and not your bi's.

So when someone says they have 15" arms does that mean relaxed or flexed?

ICX

Aye the reason I don't do triceps and chest together is so I can lift heavyer weight for triceps (after chest they would be smashed).

Currently doing;

1. EZ bar 5 x 5 @ 45Kg (including the bar)
2. dumbell curls seated 5 x 5 @ 22.5kg
3. Standing Hamer curl 5 x 5 @ 22.5kg

DB precher 20kg
or
Cable curls (drop set till faliure) .

aye

ICX wrote: »

Aye the reason I don't do triceps and chest together is so I can lift heavyer weight for triceps (after chest they would be smashed).

true but would you not be recruiting more muslce fibres in the tricpes then?
much like pre-exhaust training method?

Hanley

Patto wrote: »

So when someone says they have 15" arms does that mean relaxed or flexed?

Generally, unless otherwise specifed it means flexed.

aye wrote: »

true but would you not be recruiting more muslce fibres in the tricpes then?
much like pre-exhaust training method?

By being able to lift more weight with them is there not a greater potential to get stronger which should lead to being bigger? It's a two way street like. Neither of which is right or wrong.

Colm_OReilly

have you tried adding in chins/weighted chins to your program?

Regarding that EZ bar - your biceps are more fully engaged when your arm is suppinated rather than pronated.

I can't remember exactly why, but in the gospel according to Rip, he cites this as a reason why the EZ bar is less than optimal for bicep specific work. If anyone's interested, I'll dig up a quote later at home.

Reps - 5x5 is better suited to strength/size gains. You might want to consider higher reps (8-12) with shorter rest (~1min) for pure hypertrophy.

All this should come with the caveat that I don't do isolation work.

amazingemmet

ICX wrote: »

No offence taken Colm

Emmet you are correct 15in. Squat and dead are increasing week on week so im happy enough with that as for my bench, reached 100kg 1rm target 5 weeks ago and finding it very difficult to push more. Thinking of switching it up a bit tbh.

You need to add more mass all over really. I've been slowly gaining mass am up from 80kg before the summer to 92kg now and my arms have improved considerably and the only direct arm work I do is 3x8-10 or 3x5 of a curl variation on my upper body days. Same has happened with calves I can't remember the last time I done a calf raise but my calves are bigger now just from gaining weight all over.

aye

Hanley wrote: »

By being able to lift more weight with them is there not a greater potential to get stronger which should lead to being bigger? It's a two way street like. Neither of which is right or wrong.

yep i agree.
i was just wondering if there were advantages to pre exhausting it.

Hanley

aye wrote: »

yep i agree.
i was just wondering if there were advantages to pre exhausting it.

Of course there are.

Is there drawbacks? Of course there are.

Should one be exclusively use? Of course not!!

Pre-exhaustion isn't something I've ever given great thoguht to since I don't think it's that great for strength training, but I do do isolation work at the end of my sessions so I guess you could say that I'm sorta pre-exhausting.

Proper pre=exhaustion would be something interesting to try next time I have a free period before a comp tho.

ICX

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

have you tried adding in chins/weighted chins to your program?

Regarding that EZ bar - your biceps are more fully engaged when your arm is suppinated rather than pronated.

I can't remember exactly why, but in the gospel according to Rip, he cites this as a reason why the EZ bar is less than optimal for bicep specific work. If anyone's interested, I'll dig up a quote later at home.

Reps - 5x5 is better suited to strength/size gains. You might want to consider higher reps (8-12) with shorter rest (~1min) for pure hypertrophy.

All this should come with the caveat that I don't do isolation work.

Colm I normally do chin's on back day along with pull up's etc.
Might be a good idea to change back to (8-10) rep range to mix things up a bit. Confuse em eh

ICX

amazingemmet wrote: »

You need to add more mass all over really. I've been slowly gaining mass am up from 80kg before the summer to 92kg now and my arms have improved considerably and the only direct arm work I do is 3x8-10 or 3x5 of a curl variation on my upper body days. Same has happened with calves I can't remember the last time I done a calf raise but my calves are bigger now just from gaining weight all over.

Hem thats a fair bit weight you put on there.
How many extra caloires daily did you eat?
What way are your ab's?

amazingemmet

ICX wrote: »

Hem thats a fair bit weight you put on there.
How many extra caloires daily did you eat?
What way are your ab's?

Just as a reference I was at 85kgish and cut down to 80kg for the holiday so a lot of the gains was just muscle memory. At the moment I have a six pack not an amazing one but you can see all my abs when standing straight and relaxed.

On the cals front I'm on a 35-40hrs a week acorbatic training course plus whatever I do in the gym so my maintenace is pushing 4000 cals a day. I'm eating about 4500-5000 at the mo and gaining slowly and steadly. Though just for reference I'm really anal about my diet only eat good food and use supplements as much as possible at the right time.

Imo most people don't really understand what the body is capable once you get all the pieces into place. I used to think I was a hard gainer when i first started trying to get bigger, then I started doing everything right and now I'm covince I'm actually an easygainer

Transform

I would have the same progress as amazingemmet and agree with all he said- Current weight 91kg up from 78kg a year ago.

I would consider doing weighted chins the best bicep builder - now up to 20kg for 5 sets of 5reps and maxing at 35-40kg for one rep.

I never split up body parts as i find it does not work in the long run and find it boring.

Bigger arms need a bigger frame so keep building the squat and DL along with decent chins.

No need to worry about extra calories - traing hard and the apetite will take care of it.

Body fat consistently between 5-6% using calipers.

Mikel

If you want big arms then squat and deadlift

Hanley

Mikel wrote: »

If you want big arms then squat and deadlift

If you want to read a cliche response....

I'm always amused at all these people who shun isolation exercises. Over reaction in the short term, under reaction in the long term.

Listen, if you want to improve am muscle group, you NEED to train them. Saying squat and deadlift adds nothing. If you had said rows or pulldowns there MIGHT have been some legitimacy in the post, but the above lacks it.

I KNOW that at 100kg I had arms smaller than guys 10-15kg less than me, and I was squatting and deadlifting more than them. How do you explain that?