In every gym that you go to, you will see people pumping their biceps. Biceps along with the pecs and abs are sometimes called vanity muscles because they are the most visible and therefore commands the most respect. Invariably, when you ask someone to show you his muscles, he will probably flex his biceps.
Before we discuss biceps development, I want to point out that the biceps make up only one third of your upper arm with triceps the other two-thirds. So to have an impressive arm, you must build your triceps too or the effort on your biceps will not show good results. Many people fail to realize this and that is why you see them doing curls after curls without much improvement. We will touch on triceps exercises in another article. For now, let’s talk about biceps.
Here are some exercises that will blast your biceps. Most of you would have done some or all of these exercises. The question I am asking is, are the exercises done in the correct form and techniques because if they are not, you will most likely be wasting your time as your biceps will not grow to its full potential. Perform each exercise for 3-5 sets once or twice a week and at reps between 6-10, but make sure that at the high end of the reps, you will not be so fatigued that you can’t perform another rep in good form.
a) Standing Barbell Curl/ EZY Bar
You can perform this exercise with either a straight bar or an ezy bar. This is a great mass building exercises for your biceps.
Stand with feet shoulder width apart and grasp the bar with an underhand grip, hands should also be about shoulder width apart. Curl the bar up slowly focusing intensely on the biceps contraction. Do not swing or use momentum to curl especially at the later stages when your biceps get weaker. Never swing or move your body, only your arms are moving. Keep your elbows locked to the side of your body and do not pivot them.
Then lower the weight, taking 3-4 seconds resisting the weight on the way down to emphasize the negative part of the exercise. Never let gravity pull the weights down.
At all times, do not curl or bend your wrist which must always be in a straight neutral position.
b) Incline Dumbbell Curls
This exercise will hit different fibre in your biceps and gives you the peak bicep look.
Sit back on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand, keep your elbows well forward throughout the movement, curl the weight upward and toward the shoulder level. Then squeeze your biceps hard at the top position. Lower the weights again, slowly under full control. The speed and techniques are similar to what was described earlier.
c) Preacher Curl
Similar to barbell curl but using the preacher curl station. This is an excellent bicep peaking isolation exercise.
d) Hammer Curl
Hammer curl gives your biceps the full look and your forearms are also working hard.
Similar to incline dumbbell curl except you will be using the hammer grip on the dumbbell like holding a hammer knocking nails in and standing up instead of sitting down.
e) Build Biceps Tips
Focus on the movement of your biceps all throughout the motion. Don’t lift weights that are too heavy that will compromise your form and techniques to show off.
By slightly turning and squeezing, you’ll build more peak on your biceps. Like all exercises, pose and stretch the biceps between sets. This is to flush out lactic acid and help your biceps recover better for the next set.
Remember to change the order of the exercises you perform after 6-8 weeks to shock your biceps into new growth and watch those arms grow!
Showing posts with label biceps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biceps. Show all posts
Moving From Beginner To Intermediate Level Bodybuilding
By now you’ve made significant progress in your bodybuilding career. For the past three to six months you’ve learnt how to perform the core lifting exercises in a technically correct manner. You’ve also conditioned the body and developed sufficient core strength to prepare yourself for a whole new level of intensity. Hopefully you’ve also built some rock solid muscle! But that’s only the beginning.
In recent weeks your workouts have probably lost some of their effect so, even though you’re lifting bigger weights, your muscles now need even greater stimulation to generate maximal growth. Don’t expect miracles though – from this point onwards, every little bit of improvement will take even greater and more intensive work than before.
Because you’ll be working your muscles more intensively, they’ll also need more recovery time to adapt and grow and that’s why you’ll be reducing your workouts to three a week. Each primary muscle group trained will now need one full week to recover. After being used to whole body sessions and more workouts per week it may seem as if you’re not doing enough but the point is, you’ll be working your muscles very, very intensively and making better use of your time.
As you gain more experience you’ll be able to tweak or re-design your basic muscle building program to suit your own individual needs, but the program described here should provide a useful starting point. What I’m proposing is basically a 3-split of the body on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
MONDAY (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)
1. Chest Exercises
Incline dumbbell press – this is a compound exercise that targets the chest but also works the triceps and shoulders to a lesser extent.
Pec-deck flye – this is an isolation exercise that works the pectorals.
2. Triceps
Dips – this compound exercise targets the triceps but also works the chest and shoulders.
3. Shoulders
Front military press – this compound exercise targets shoulders but also works the triceps.
Dumbbell lateral raises – this isolation exercise works the shoulders only.
Bentover dumbbell laterals – this isolation exercise works the rear delts.
WEDNESDAY (Back, Biceps, Forearms)
1. Back
Front lat pulls – compound exercise that targets lats but also works the biceps and mid-back.
Deadlifts – compound exercise that targets the back and quads but also works hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Dumbbell rows – compound exercise that targets mid-back but also works biceps and lats.
Dumbbell shrugs – isolation exercise that works traps.
2. Biceps
Dumbbell biceps curl – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
Dumbbell hammer curls – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
3. Forearms
Barbell wrist curl – isolation exercise that works the forearms.
FRIDAY (Lower Body)
1. Legs
Squats or leg press – compound exercise that targets the quads but also works the hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Leg extension – isolation exercise that works the quads.
Leg curls – isolation exercise that works the hamstrings.
Standing calf raise – isolation exercise that works the gastrocnemius calf muscle.
Seated calf raise – isolation exercise that works the soleus calf muscle.
You could start this program by aiming for two sets of 8-10 reps per exercise but as your strength and size increase you should really introduce techniques that boost the intensity even further. This can be achieved in a number of ways including the use of pre-exhaustion, super sets, partial reps, isometric contractions and forced reps. These techniques are covered in detail elsewhere in this series of articles.
In recent weeks your workouts have probably lost some of their effect so, even though you’re lifting bigger weights, your muscles now need even greater stimulation to generate maximal growth. Don’t expect miracles though – from this point onwards, every little bit of improvement will take even greater and more intensive work than before.
Because you’ll be working your muscles more intensively, they’ll also need more recovery time to adapt and grow and that’s why you’ll be reducing your workouts to three a week. Each primary muscle group trained will now need one full week to recover. After being used to whole body sessions and more workouts per week it may seem as if you’re not doing enough but the point is, you’ll be working your muscles very, very intensively and making better use of your time.
As you gain more experience you’ll be able to tweak or re-design your basic muscle building program to suit your own individual needs, but the program described here should provide a useful starting point. What I’m proposing is basically a 3-split of the body on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
MONDAY (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)
1. Chest Exercises
Incline dumbbell press – this is a compound exercise that targets the chest but also works the triceps and shoulders to a lesser extent.
Pec-deck flye – this is an isolation exercise that works the pectorals.
2. Triceps
Dips – this compound exercise targets the triceps but also works the chest and shoulders.
3. Shoulders
Front military press – this compound exercise targets shoulders but also works the triceps.
Dumbbell lateral raises – this isolation exercise works the shoulders only.
Bentover dumbbell laterals – this isolation exercise works the rear delts.
WEDNESDAY (Back, Biceps, Forearms)
1. Back
Front lat pulls – compound exercise that targets lats but also works the biceps and mid-back.
Deadlifts – compound exercise that targets the back and quads but also works hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Dumbbell rows – compound exercise that targets mid-back but also works biceps and lats.
Dumbbell shrugs – isolation exercise that works traps.
2. Biceps
Dumbbell biceps curl – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
Dumbbell hammer curls – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
3. Forearms
Barbell wrist curl – isolation exercise that works the forearms.
FRIDAY (Lower Body)
1. Legs
Squats or leg press – compound exercise that targets the quads but also works the hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Leg extension – isolation exercise that works the quads.
Leg curls – isolation exercise that works the hamstrings.
Standing calf raise – isolation exercise that works the gastrocnemius calf muscle.
Seated calf raise – isolation exercise that works the soleus calf muscle.
You could start this program by aiming for two sets of 8-10 reps per exercise but as your strength and size increase you should really introduce techniques that boost the intensity even further. This can be achieved in a number of ways including the use of pre-exhaustion, super sets, partial reps, isometric contractions and forced reps. These techniques are covered in detail elsewhere in this series of articles.
Simple Steps To Bulging Biceps And Horseshoe Triceps
It’s no secret that every serious lifter out there desires an impressive pair of strong, muscular arms. Who wouldn’t be happy with tall, peaking biceps sitting on top of rock-hard, horse-shoe-shaped triceps? Who wouldn’t love to have a pair of ripped, well-developed guns forcefully bursting through the sleeves of their shirt? While developing muscular arms is usually at the top of many peoples’ agenda, the reality is that the majority of lifters out there have a very poor understanding of how to properly train their arms for maximum gains. In order to gain the proper insight into effectively stimulating arm growth, we must first recognize three basic truths:
1) Relatively speaking, the biceps and triceps are small muscle groups.
2) The biceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pulling movements for the back.
3) The triceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pressing movements for the chest and shoulders.
What do these 3 points tell us about effective arm training? The most important thing for you to realize is this:
For maximum gains in muscle size and strength, the biceps and triceps require only a very small amount of direct stimulation!
So why is it that every time I enter the gym I see the same misinformed people, week in and week out, slaving away on endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions?
It’s very important to understand that the biceps and triceps receive a very large amount of stimulation from all of your chest and back training. In fact, a lot of the time when you reach muscular failure on a chest or back movement, it is actually your biceps or triceps that give out first! Couple this with the fact that your biceps and triceps are already small muscle groups to begin with and it becomes quite clear that direct arm training is of minor importance.
Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym. The work that you accomplish as you train with weights is merely the “spark” that sets the wheels of the muscle growth process into motion. The real magic takes place out of the gym while you are resting and eating, as this is the time when your body will actually be synthesizing new muscle tissue. Because of this, it is vital that you do not overtrain your muscles. You must always make sure to provide them with sufficient recovery time if you want to see impressive results. Overtraining can actually make your muscles smaller and weaker.
If you’re looking to achieve serious arm growth, you must stop placing so much emphasis on direct arm movements. Forget about performing endless sets of concentration curls and tricep pressdowns. Strong, muscular arms are mostly a product of heavy chest and back training. If you are able to accept this basic truth and place the majority of your focus on building up the muscle size and strength in your major muscle groups, you will prevent yourself from overtraining your arms and will therefore yield greater overall gains in bicep and tricep size.
This is not to say that no direct arm training is necessary, just not very much. Here is a sample arm routine that you can use as a part of your program:
Barbell Curls – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Dumbbell Curls – 1 set of 5-7 reps
Close-Grip Bench Press – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Cable Pushdowns – 1 set of 5-7 reps
Take all sets to complete muscular failure and focus on progressing each week by using slightly more weight or performing an extra rep or 2.
If you can incorporate this way of thinking into your arm training, you will achieve arm size beyond anything you previously thought possible!
1) Relatively speaking, the biceps and triceps are small muscle groups.
2) The biceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pulling movements for the back.
3) The triceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pressing movements for the chest and shoulders.
What do these 3 points tell us about effective arm training? The most important thing for you to realize is this:
For maximum gains in muscle size and strength, the biceps and triceps require only a very small amount of direct stimulation!
So why is it that every time I enter the gym I see the same misinformed people, week in and week out, slaving away on endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions?
It’s very important to understand that the biceps and triceps receive a very large amount of stimulation from all of your chest and back training. In fact, a lot of the time when you reach muscular failure on a chest or back movement, it is actually your biceps or triceps that give out first! Couple this with the fact that your biceps and triceps are already small muscle groups to begin with and it becomes quite clear that direct arm training is of minor importance.
Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym. The work that you accomplish as you train with weights is merely the “spark” that sets the wheels of the muscle growth process into motion. The real magic takes place out of the gym while you are resting and eating, as this is the time when your body will actually be synthesizing new muscle tissue. Because of this, it is vital that you do not overtrain your muscles. You must always make sure to provide them with sufficient recovery time if you want to see impressive results. Overtraining can actually make your muscles smaller and weaker.
If you’re looking to achieve serious arm growth, you must stop placing so much emphasis on direct arm movements. Forget about performing endless sets of concentration curls and tricep pressdowns. Strong, muscular arms are mostly a product of heavy chest and back training. If you are able to accept this basic truth and place the majority of your focus on building up the muscle size and strength in your major muscle groups, you will prevent yourself from overtraining your arms and will therefore yield greater overall gains in bicep and tricep size.
This is not to say that no direct arm training is necessary, just not very much. Here is a sample arm routine that you can use as a part of your program:
Barbell Curls – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Dumbbell Curls – 1 set of 5-7 reps
Close-Grip Bench Press – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Cable Pushdowns – 1 set of 5-7 reps
Take all sets to complete muscular failure and focus on progressing each week by using slightly more weight or performing an extra rep or 2.
If you can incorporate this way of thinking into your arm training, you will achieve arm size beyond anything you previously thought possible!
Know Your Muscles The Shoulders And Arms
Becoming familiar with the muscles that make up your body has more benefits than simply allowing you to talk shop with your training partners. The more familiar you are with the muscles you’re working, the better you’ll be able to judge what’s needed to make improvements. In this article we’ll get to know the muscles that make up the shoulders and arms.
Shoulders and arms work together but they require significantly different exercises to make them bigger and stronger. The main muscles found in these areas are as follows:
1. Deltoid – this is comprised of three separate segments that cover the shoulder and run a few inches down the arm. The anterior deltoid raises the arm to the front. The middle deltoid raises the arm to the side. The posterior deltoid draws the arm backwards.
2. Rotators – these are small muscles of the rotator cuff that control small movements of the upper arm. Consisting of an internal rotator, external rotator and supraspinatus they are used in lifting and throwing actions.
3. Biceps brachii – the biceps covers the front part of the upper arm and consists of a long head and a short head. The long head crosses the shoulder joint and works with the front deltoid to raise the arm to the front.
4. Triceps brachii – the triceps covers the the back of the upper arm and consists of three sections – the long, lateral and medial heads. The role of the triceps is to straighten the arm at the elbow.
5. Brachialis – this muscle lies between the upper arm bone and biceps. It helps the biceps to bend the elbow when the palm is facing sideways.
6. Forearm muscles – the forearms consist of many little muscles called flexors and extensors. The largest forearm muscle is the brachioradialis that lies close to the elbow.
Shoulders and arms work together but they require significantly different exercises to make them bigger and stronger. The main muscles found in these areas are as follows:
1. Deltoid – this is comprised of three separate segments that cover the shoulder and run a few inches down the arm. The anterior deltoid raises the arm to the front. The middle deltoid raises the arm to the side. The posterior deltoid draws the arm backwards.
2. Rotators – these are small muscles of the rotator cuff that control small movements of the upper arm. Consisting of an internal rotator, external rotator and supraspinatus they are used in lifting and throwing actions.
3. Biceps brachii – the biceps covers the front part of the upper arm and consists of a long head and a short head. The long head crosses the shoulder joint and works with the front deltoid to raise the arm to the front.
4. Triceps brachii – the triceps covers the the back of the upper arm and consists of three sections – the long, lateral and medial heads. The role of the triceps is to straighten the arm at the elbow.
5. Brachialis – this muscle lies between the upper arm bone and biceps. It helps the biceps to bend the elbow when the palm is facing sideways.
6. Forearm muscles – the forearms consist of many little muscles called flexors and extensors. The largest forearm muscle is the brachioradialis that lies close to the elbow.
Moving From Beginner To Intermediate Level Bodybuilding
By now you’ve made significant progress in your bodybuilding career. For the past three to six months you’ve learnt how to perform the core lifting exercises in a technically correct manner. You’ve also conditioned the body and developed sufficient core strength to prepare yourself for a whole new level of intensity. Hopefully you’ve also built some rock solid muscle! But that’s only the beginning.
In recent weeks your workouts have probably lost some of their effect so, even though you’re lifting bigger weights, your muscles now need even greater stimulation to generate maximal growth. Don’t expect miracles though – from this point onwards, every little bit of improvement will take even greater and more intensive work than before.
Because you’ll be working your muscles more intensively, they’ll also need more recovery time to adapt and grow and that’s why you’ll be reducing your workouts to three a week. Each primary muscle group trained will now need one full week to recover. After being used to whole body sessions and more workouts per week it may seem as if you’re not doing enough but the point is, you’ll be working your muscles very, very intensively and making better use of your time.
As you gain more experience you’ll be able to tweak or re-design your basic muscle building program to suit your own individual needs, but the program described here should provide a useful starting point. What I’m proposing is basically a 3-split of the body on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
MONDAY (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)
1. Chest Exercises
Incline dumbbell press – this is a compound exercise that targets the chest but also works the triceps and shoulders to a lesser extent.
Pec-deck flye – this is an isolation exercise that works the pectorals.
2. Triceps
Dips – this compound exercise targets the triceps but also works the chest and shoulders.
3. Shoulders
Front military press – this compound exercise targets shoulders but also works the triceps.
Dumbbell lateral raises – this isolation exercise works the shoulders only.
Bentover dumbbell laterals – this isolation exercise works the rear delts.
WEDNESDAY (Back, Biceps, Forearms)
1. Back
Front lat pulls – compound exercise that targets lats but also works the biceps and mid-back.
Deadlifts – compound exercise that targets the back and quads but also works hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Dumbbell rows – compound exercise that targets mid-back but also works biceps and lats.
Dumbbell shrugs – isolation exercise that works traps.
2. Biceps
Dumbbell biceps curl – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
Dumbbell hammer curls – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
3. Forearms
Barbell wrist curl – isolation exercise that works the forearms.
FRIDAY (Lower Body)
1. Legs
Squats or leg press – compound exercise that targets the quads but also works the hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Leg extension – isolation exercise that works the quads.
Leg curls – isolation exercise that works the hamstrings.
Standing calf raise – isolation exercise that works the gastrocnemius calf muscle.
Seated calf raise – isolation exercise that works the soleus calf muscle.
You could start this program by aiming for two sets of 8-10 reps per exercise but as your strength and size increase you should really introduce techniques that boost the intensity even further. This can be achieved in a number of ways including the use of pre-exhaustion, super sets, partial reps, isometric contractions and forced reps. These techniques are covered in detail elsewhere in this series of articles.
In recent weeks your workouts have probably lost some of their effect so, even though you’re lifting bigger weights, your muscles now need even greater stimulation to generate maximal growth. Don’t expect miracles though – from this point onwards, every little bit of improvement will take even greater and more intensive work than before.
Because you’ll be working your muscles more intensively, they’ll also need more recovery time to adapt and grow and that’s why you’ll be reducing your workouts to three a week. Each primary muscle group trained will now need one full week to recover. After being used to whole body sessions and more workouts per week it may seem as if you’re not doing enough but the point is, you’ll be working your muscles very, very intensively and making better use of your time.
As you gain more experience you’ll be able to tweak or re-design your basic muscle building program to suit your own individual needs, but the program described here should provide a useful starting point. What I’m proposing is basically a 3-split of the body on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
MONDAY (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)
1. Chest Exercises
Incline dumbbell press – this is a compound exercise that targets the chest but also works the triceps and shoulders to a lesser extent.
Pec-deck flye – this is an isolation exercise that works the pectorals.
2. Triceps
Dips – this compound exercise targets the triceps but also works the chest and shoulders.
3. Shoulders
Front military press – this compound exercise targets shoulders but also works the triceps.
Dumbbell lateral raises – this isolation exercise works the shoulders only.
Bentover dumbbell laterals – this isolation exercise works the rear delts.
WEDNESDAY (Back, Biceps, Forearms)
1. Back
Front lat pulls – compound exercise that targets lats but also works the biceps and mid-back.
Deadlifts – compound exercise that targets the back and quads but also works hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Dumbbell rows – compound exercise that targets mid-back but also works biceps and lats.
Dumbbell shrugs – isolation exercise that works traps.
2. Biceps
Dumbbell biceps curl – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
Dumbbell hammer curls – isolation exercise that works the biceps.
3. Forearms
Barbell wrist curl – isolation exercise that works the forearms.
FRIDAY (Lower Body)
1. Legs
Squats or leg press – compound exercise that targets the quads but also works the hamstrings, calves and glutes.
Leg extension – isolation exercise that works the quads.
Leg curls – isolation exercise that works the hamstrings.
Standing calf raise – isolation exercise that works the gastrocnemius calf muscle.
Seated calf raise – isolation exercise that works the soleus calf muscle.
You could start this program by aiming for two sets of 8-10 reps per exercise but as your strength and size increase you should really introduce techniques that boost the intensity even further. This can be achieved in a number of ways including the use of pre-exhaustion, super sets, partial reps, isometric contractions and forced reps. These techniques are covered in detail elsewhere in this series of articles.
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