After seeing countless threads across the teen and exercise forum asking the same question over and over, "How do I get big biceps," I decided to help clear things up for all of you guys out there. I collected and used articles from the bodybuilding.com database and took the most important pieces of information and put them all into this thread dedicated to those who need bicep help.
Lets get started
First, you need to understand the function and anatomy of the biceps, "The biceps, as per it bi prefix, is a two-headed muscle. Its specific physiological function is twofold: to bend the elbow (the essence of a curl movement) and rotate the wrist." Well what does that mean? It means that the biceps are composed of two heads of pieces of muscle, an outer and inner head, serving in two functions: rotating the wrist and bending the elbow (curling motion).
So, continuing on, here are the 7 most important pieces of information you need to know if you want big arms (again, summarized from bb.com articles)
1) Know the anatomy. Which you should know from above.
2) Hit'em Hard, But Briefly. "The whole point of lifting weights is to trigger a growth response...To achieve this, you must lift heavier and/or do more reps than you're used to...Some muscles have a high ratio of slow-twitch muscle fibers and may benefit from more reps with lower weight. Biceps and triceps aren't among them. For best results, focus primarily on fairly heavy training in the 6-8 rep range (using strict form)... ***Doing set after set of bicep curls for hours may be downright counterproductive, while just a few, high-intensity sets where you really wring every ounce of juice out of the muscles, is enough to trigger the growth response mentioned earlier."
3) Mix Things Up. Day in and day out doing the same old thing gets boring, and that's how your body feels. Dont be afraid to try new exercises or new routines, youve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Try different hand positions, drop sets, supersets, or 21s
4) Target Specific Parts Of Each Muscle. "In order to maximize development, you should make an active effort to target each part in every workout. So how do you accomplish this?" You've got to train the entire bicep, not just one part, do exercises for the inner and outer biceps as well as the brachialis to achieve maximum results.
5) Intensity techniques. Use them sparingly, only at the end of your bicep routine (this goes for any bodypart). Failing to use these techniques appropriately can cause overtraining and be counterproductive. Here are a few:
-Dropsets
-Supersets
-21s
-Forced and Partial reps
-Negative reps
6) ***Get Plenty Of Rest.*** SLEEP, 7-8+ hours is usually fine. You don't grow in the gym guys
7) Eat Plenty. If you don't eat enough, theres no point in even training. Your body will simply not have enough calories, protein, and energy it needs to grow.
So those are the 7 basic steps to building biceps as well as any other muscle.
Answering the popular question, "Which exercises should I do?" is next up.
There is no secret, hands down, these are the best bicep builders:
- Standing bb curls (should be in every bicep routine you do - recommended by Arnold himself)
- One-arm preacher curls and Preacher curls
- Incline Hammer curls
- Hammer curls
- Pullups and Chinups
- BACK training, yes back training, your biceps are worked in EVERY back movement you do (pulling motion), so hit your back hard forcing your biceps to come into play.
A wider grip will target the outer bicep head a narrow grip will target the inner bicep head.
Tips on curling:
"Curl the bar up in a wide arc, bringing it as high as you can.
Do no allow your elbows to pull forward at the top; make your biceps do the work. By curling the bar in a wide arc, you can prevent other muscle groups, such as the deltoids, from performing the majority of the work."
Splits:
The last part of bicep training is actually training the biceps on the right day. If you are struggling in the arm department I suggest pairing biceps and back together as that is a solid choice. As you get more advanced, you can split up biceps and pair them with whatever suits you. Personally right now I train biceps and triceps as well as forearms when I work my chest.
Last notes:
Lastly, don't neglect tricpes. They make up about 2/3 or 66% of the upper arm, and adding mass to the triceps will add mass most definitely to the upper arm area in general.
That's it guys, there isn't much too it. Bicep training is not hard, it just has to be done right. Remember hit the bis briefly but intensely, 6-8 reps, to failure (I advocate failure, but that's another topic ) including the above mentioned exercises and training tips.
Here are the complete articles which I referenced to combine them into this one thread:
http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/derek3.htm
http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/aj2.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson215.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt107.htm
Intensity Techniques http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fivestararms.htm
I hope this clears some stuff up for you guys having arm troubles. I thought Itd be a good idea to make one big thread for those who need help. Also check our RoidRage300's thread if you have a beginner question or any question for that matter
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=2175171
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Thread: ***The OFFICIAL BICEPS Thread***
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07-12-2007, 09:03 PM #1
***The OFFICIAL BICEPS Thread***
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"No fck that, I'm not gonna miss any reps. I'll die before i miss a rep." - dynamik, #1
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07-12-2007, 10:19 PM #23
When would you say is the best time to train Teh Gunzzz
i do 2 hard set of BB curls and 2 hard sets of Any other curl i feel like doing that day once a week is that good?
jsut started that ofcourse though
also what are 2 good isolation exercises for the tricep that hit every part of the tricepLast edited by ThatArmyKid; 07-12-2007 at 10:24 PM.
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07-12-2007, 10:20 PM #24
I believe he is correct.
yes. wrist curls with a bb or db. When seated place the barbell on your kness with the grip the same width as the knee positioning (palms should be facing the floor) and curl your wrists up making sure to get full extension and contraction.
thanks man, my goal was to help out
reps back to all you guys, Ill get you all eventually$
"No fck that, I'm not gonna miss any reps. I'll die before i miss a rep." - dynamik, #1
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07-12-2007, 10:23 PM #25
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07-12-2007, 10:23 PM #26
4 sets, not bad but I would throw in another exercise. Once a week is fine. How's this for an idea
bb curl
preacher curl however you feel that day (bb or db)
incline db
hammer curls
thats really all you need in terms of direct bicep exercises, try to keep it 9-12 sets no more, so about 2 or 3 sets per exercise.$
"No fck that, I'm not gonna miss any reps. I'll die before i miss a rep." - dynamik, #1
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07-12-2007, 10:28 PM #27
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07-12-2007, 10:28 PM #28
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07-12-2007, 10:39 PM #29
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07-13-2007, 10:40 AM #30
- Join Date: Feb 2006
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this was the last thread i read last night and first one i read before going to lift....awesome that today is my arm day.....thanks for the clear up on outer and inner...watched a video with milos sarcev like months ago saying holding bars on the inside hit your outer and vis versa.....so reps to you for clearing that up hopefully it works wonders..
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