Building biceps?

trapsagenius

I'm fairly happy with how my body is progressing in most areas but my biceps seem to be lagging behind a bit.I'd appreciate if people could recommend what exercises to do for biceps(and what ones to avoid).

I'm more geared to muscle than strength btw.

Thanks.

P.S before the inevitable "you shouldn't just concentrate on your biceps" comment comes, let me assure you i am not neglecting any area.

squod

Standing one arm cable curl. I'm trying these.

InKonspikuou2

I'm not sure of your other exercises but if you are deadlifting, benching, shoulder pressing, rows, squating you are using your biceps to an extent. So on top of them i find the best for adding size for me has been a simple barbell curl. At the moment i'm doing seated hammer curls which have really been harsh on me as i deadlift and barbell row before them. I've made good strength and size gains in the 2 months i included them into my routine. Don't try get too fancy and overtrain your biceps. If you really want your arms to look bigger try focusing on triceps. close grip bench press, dips, pulldowns or whatever are good.

amazingemmet

Perfect Curl is the perfect addition to any perfect bicep routine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOgLBUsdIYs

ilovelamp2000

Spider Curl

digme

Resistive force is greatest when path of weight is parallel to gravity.90degrees
At 45 degrees, approximately 71% of weight * lever arm ratio
at 30 degrees, approximately 50% of weight * lever arm ratio



Close grip chin ups beat curls hands down.Keep the curls for the women, and there 5 kg dumbbells.

Hanley

digme wrote: »

Close grip chin ups beat curls hands down.Keep the curls for the women, and there 5 kg dumbbells.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. :rolleyes:

justaday

genetics my friend.

digme

Hanley wrote: »

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. :rolleyes:

BossArky

digme wrote: »

Keep the curls for the women, and there 5 kg dumbbells.

digme wrote: »

Less of this rubbish please.

Barry.Oglesby

This is like so totally my favourite subject. And you like soooo never get to talk about them on here! Oh my God!!!

Anyway, I'm torn between recommending the pumpy stuff and the stuff that I've found actually works. Ez curls give the best pump for me but preachers (though I hate them) tend to add the most over time. I can't remember the article or the author even but there was something about your lever length and someone had gone to an awful lot of trouble to recommend bicep exercises for long/short levers and peaked/flat biceps. I'm off to bed but I'll have a search for it tomorrow. Think it was on t-nation.

InKonspikuou2

Pulls ups can be good for the arms but i'd never substitute them for curls with good form. When i'm doing pull ups i'm using my back to get up over the bar. Not my biceps.

Barry.Oglesby

Try short supinated grip pull ups. aka chins.

Paulo83

Twisting Dumbbell curls - for the biceps brachii,
Concentration / Preacher curls - more stress on the brachialis,
Hammer curls - more stress on the brachioradialis

Brian?

Drop sets seem to work fairly well for me. The easiest way to do them is with a cable stack.

Pick a weight that you can curl for 10, do 10 reps, drop the weight by one plate, rep out to failure, repeat until there's no more plates.

I would only do this at the end of a workout and only once a week.

trapsagenius

Thanks for the comments lads.Some good stuff here.

rubadub

The only time I ever get serious DOMS in my biceps (if that means anything) is doing negative only dumbbell curls, I do these one arm at a time with my free hand assisting the dumbbell. I might be able to manage 2-4 normal curls and then do negative onlys.

Even when doing heavy weighted negative only chins I don't get much bicep DOMS, lats can be utterly destroyed though.

I sometimes superset chins with negative only curls.

Transform

my fave -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9DKQYcohpU

i very rarely do any biceps work - bores me

cardio,shoot me

i keep meaning to try that transform!

Transform

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

i keep meaning to try that transform!

go nice and heavy on the chins or better still some good heavy negative chins first!

cardio,shoot me

id say id hit 5x5 chins with 10-12kg attached , how much lower would you drop the db curls from when youd be fresh?

Transform

for me and my giant gunzzz i do not drop them at all!!

Seriously - about 3-4kg lighter and go back for some more body weight chins!!

cardio,shoot me

cool, i might try it with a barbell instead of dumbells.

rubadub

Transform wrote: »

good heavy negative chins first!

Do you still do any negative only work? I think you were the only person I saw doing them before (besides people doing negative chins when they are just starting out). From this ancient thread.

Transform wrote: »

Just wondering if any of you have used it in your programs.

I am getting great results from it on negative only chins with 20-35lbs weight and performing parallel bar dips (concentric and eccentric i.e. doing them as normal) with an added 20kg hanging off me. By back has not been this stiff in ages and i find the dips excellent for chest development.

There are lots of other exercises but i picked the compound ones only.

Rycn

justaday wrote: »

genetics my friend.

Genetics doesnt play that big a role in biicep development, hard work does pay off, and as someone said before me - chin ups work the sh1t out of your biceps.

Websters

of course genetics plays a part in bicep development jesus christ....


OP depending on what you think is wrong with your bicep will determine how succesfull your going to be. if you have poor bicep insertion(bicep raises slightly high from the the inside of your elbow) its going to be very hard to get the length you might be looking for. If its that your arm looks smaller head on then then in actual fact your tricep can have more to do with that full look. The bicep is a tiny muscle compared to your tricep and big arms look that way due to all of these muscle groups being hit heavy. You have 3 heads in your tricep and only one in your bicep(unless your a professional body builder and the HGH made yours split off like coleman)

state more as to what it is your trying to achieve. bigger arms, or just a bigger bicep?

Transform

rubadub wrote: »

Do you still do any negative only work? I think you were the only person I saw doing them before (besides people doing negative chins when they are just starting out). From this ancient thread.

yes i thow them in on chins and other exercises at times throughout a week but to be honest if i have to do say 150 chins for time in a session there is no need as my lats and arms are hanging off me after a session like that.

They do work really well but should NOT be put into every session or you will burn out

Brian?

Transform wrote: »

my fave -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9DKQYcohpU

i very rarely do any biceps work - bores me

How many rounds of that do you do? It looks like a killer.

I usually do very little direct bicep work, usually at the end of a back day, I'm wondering would it be a good idea to try this or will it just burn me out.

21inchguns

Websters wrote: »

of course genetics plays a part in bicep development jesus christ....


OP depending on what you think is wrong with your bicep will determine how succesfull your going to be. if you have poor bicep insertion(bicep raises slightly high from the the inside of your elbow) its going to be very hard to get the length you might be looking for. If its that your arm looks smaller head on then then in actual fact your tricep can have more to do with that full look. The bicep is a tiny muscle compared to your tricep and big arms look that way due to all of these muscle groups being hit heavy. You have 3 heads in your tricep and only one in your bicep(unless your a professional body builder and the HGH made yours split off like coleman)

state more as to what it is your trying to achieve. bigger arms, or just a bigger bicep?

Hmm, HGH makes your bicep split off? Ok, think about the name bicep, the clue is in the bi bit, the same way the tricep has tri in it... I would say biceps account for 40% of the arm and triceps account for the other 60%, I dont think it's tiny compared to the triceps by any means.

I find neutral grip chins the best, I do them after I have done back and really focus on using the biceps to do the work rather than the back. (I have 21" guns, I should know)

Barry.Oglesby

Hey 12inch guns, you seem to know your stuff. If HGH makes your biceps split, does that then make them the triceps? Then if your triceps split will they become your quadriceps? Thanks.

Noffles

Keep it simple, heavy as possible dumbell curls and the same for barbell curls... throw in maybe 2 sets of any sort of preacher, concentration or hammer at the end and you'll be happy(ish)....

TommyKnocker

When/if my arms look like Transforms arms, then I'll be happy(ish)

Chet Zar

An underrated move for biceps is the dumbbell row, I did lots of these in the early stages and they got me the gunzz - I did more of those than bicep curls that's for sure.

Focus on overall arm size. That's what you're really after. Well developed triceps, shoulders and biceps. So try supersetting bench pressing with push-ups on dumbbells and bicep curls with one-arm rows and come back to me if your arms aren't bigger!

trapsagenius

Websters wrote: »

of course genetics plays a part in bicep development jesus christ....


OP depending on what you think is wrong with your bicep will determine how succesfull your going to be. if you have poor bicep insertion(bicep raises slightly high from the the inside of your elbow) its going to be very hard to get the length you might be looking for. If its that your arm looks smaller head on then then in actual fact your tricep can have more to do with that full look. The bicep is a tiny muscle compared to your tricep and big arms look that way due to all of these muscle groups being hit heavy. You have 3 heads in your tricep and only one in your bicep(unless your a professional body builder and the HGH made yours split off like coleman)

state more as to what it is your trying to achieve. bigger arms, or just a bigger bicep?

Just bigger biceps really.I'm fairly happy with my tris at the mo.

mindaugelis

B-Builder wrote: »

When/if my arms look like Transforms arms, then I'll be happy(ish)

show me his arms

Hanley

Websters wrote: »

have 3 heads in your tricep and only one in your bicep

Oh man... that's probably the funniest post I've ever read on this board.

TommyKnocker

mindaugelis wrote: »

show me his arms

Just pop back and watch the video in the third post on page 2 of this thread

Chet Zar

Hanley wrote: »

Oh man... that's probably the funniest post I've ever read on this board.

Amazing.....never knew the biceps only had one head!

brianthebard

Chet Zar wrote: »

Amazing.....never knew the biceps only had one head!

Little known fact that genetics decides how my muscle heads you have in your biceps....

Hanley

brianthebard wrote: »

Little known fact that genetics decides how my muscle heads you have in your biceps....

Lesser known fact, GH can give you more.

Transform

mindaugelis wrote: »

show me his arms

couldn't give a sh1t about my arms as the 200kg+ deadlift tends to take care of them.

Hanley

Transform wrote: »

couldn't give a sh1t about my arms as the 200kg+ deadlift tends to take care of them.

Gonna have to disagree!! You've seen my biceps.. I have none. All tri baby!!

d'Oracle

Transform wrote: »

couldn't give a sh1t about my arms

Yeah, that lil flex at the start of the bicep video says that alright.


"....bicept work" PING!

Rycn

Transform wrote: »

my fave -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9DKQYcohpU

i very rarely do any biceps work - bores me

Whos that in the video hes an absolute bear

Hanley

Rycn wrote: »

Whos that in the video hes an absolute bear

That's me!! Cheers dude.

mindaugelis

Transform wrote: »

couldn't give a sh1t about my arms as the 200kg+ deadlift tends to take care of them.

your arms dont look very big, just because of low BF you look great

p.s. what is your BW?

Rycn

Hanley wrote: »

That's me!! Cheers dude.

Theyre some arms ye have, well done.

Rycn

mindaugelis wrote: »

your arms dont look very big, just because of low BF you look great

p.s. what is your BW?

I think i smell jealousy...

Hanley

Rycn wrote: »

I think i smell jealousy...

Just to clarify, I was taking the p!ss. The guy in the vid is Transform. My arms are waaaay bigger than his. He's 90kg-ish afaik and in better condition, fitter and stronger than 90% of the peopel here..

Rycn

Hanley wrote: »

Just to clarify, I was taking the p!ss. The guy in the vid is Transform. My arms are waaaay bigger than his. He's 90kg-ish afaik and in better condition, fitter and stronger than 90% of the peopel here..

Well then your not an absolute bear anymore

mindaugelis

Rycn wrote: »

I think i smell jealousy...

arms or BF?