Maximum frequency to work out biceps?
I have heard/read mixed things about how often you should work a muscle group. From what I can tell, the majority of advice is to allow 48 hours minimum before working out the same muscles. Some even say once a week should be the max if you are lifting really heavy.
Bottom line, I want to really work on my biceps. I currently have a 5 day split where I do as follows:
Day 1 ? chest
Day 2 ? legs
Day 3 ? back
Day 4 ? shoulders & abs
Day 5 - arms (biceps & triceps)
So, I am hitting my biceps on day 5 directly, and only indirectly when I do back on day 3.
I recently read an article that said if you have an undeveloped area that you should attack it with high frequency, high volume and high intensity & that you can train that area 3-4 days per week! That frequency surprised me. I normally would have ignored it as going against most of what I had heard. However, the source really made me decide to post this question to you experienced bodybuilders. The source was ?Ask Arnold? by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Muscle & Fitness - January 2008 (pg 234). This particular advice was using the example of having small calves as the weakness, so perhaps that may change the opinion since I am looking to increase biceps?
Thoughts/ideas on how I can increase my frequency to add mass to my biceps?
Vince Gironda used to advocate working arms 3 days in a row
for specialization. Just cut back on other body parts...work 3 days and one day off and repeat... do it twice go back to a regular workout and then repeat when ready. A lot of growth is due to satellite cell growth in muscles and this overwork stimulates that. Its not for a prolonged period but specialization only.
Sometimes I'll hit biceps directly twice in a week...
...just to shock the muscle. However, as has been said, if you really work hard doing back training from a variety of angles, hitting biceps directly, with high intensity, once a week (I usually do them with either chest or shoulders or triceps) is enough. Hitting them directly more than twice a week is counterproductive, in my opinion.