Blasting your Biceps! what do YOU do?

[| Bass Drop |]

I have a partial gym at home. flat & incline bench. preacher curls, lat pull down, easy curl bar. etc.

I always seem to have a problem getting a good bicep blast. I have done crazy 8's from time to time.

my bicep & forearm routine usually takes 30-40min with 1 full minute between sets

consisting of...

dumbell bicep curl
barbell bicep curl
hammer curl
preacher curl
reverse barbell curl
forearm curl

but with most of these bicep exercises you do not get the same resistance at the top of the curl, I really want something that will have my biceps burning and sore the next day. I usually feel it in my elbow area but not as much in my bicep, especailly towards the upper part. I need a cable machine that gives the same resistance through the full range of motion. but until then...

what do you do as a good bicep workout?

:tmyk:

[| Bass Drop |]

daaang.

none you guys do curls? me thinks yes.

[oh no its nick]

I've found that lowering the weight and upping the volume has helped, but honestly once I started doing compound lifts, rows and weighted chinups is when my arms really started to grow, doing tons of curls/etc before that didn't do much for em

I also hate working my arms in the gym because I feel like 90% of the gymgoing fratboy routine population that's on a bench - curl - bench - curl - tricep - bench/curl superset - bench routine, but that's moronic of me, because it's dumb to ignore any part of my body, including arms. So I'm always grumpy when I do arms after shoulder day :P

[zartan]

40 minutes on your biceps is a really good way to injure yourself and not be able to work out at all... see what happened to methodus.

IMO the key is a limited number of sets with the right number of reps, perfect form, no bounce, and extremely slow movement on the contraction as well as extension.

[Biodigit]

Try Supersets. It has worked wonders for me. But you have to be really careful that you dont cause any injuries, since it can put lot of strain on your muscles.

[LOGO]

Hmmm...I've not heard of Crazy 8s.
However, I do an exercise that I call 50/50s (I don't know what it's really called).

The exercise is performed like this:

Either with dumbells or an EZ curl bar, choose a weight that is easy for you to curl.
I suggest about 30-40 lbs.

Curl the bar up, but stop when your forearms are paralell to the floor.
Return to the starting position.
Do 10 reps of this.

On the 10th rep, instead of stopping halfway up through the range of motion, continue on to curl the bar up to your chin.

Now, do 10 reps in which you curl the bar down halfway.

On the 10th rep, instead of stopping halfway down through the range of motion, continue on to curl the bar down to your thighs.

Do 10 more reps curling halfway up, then 10 more reps curling halfway down.


Do 2 sets of these, and you'll shred your biceps.


Here (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Biceps) are all sorts of additional biceps exercises.

[ramz]

pull ups

lots and lots and lots of pull ups...

and push presses

thrusters

and overhead squats

curls are for people that are trying to look good without actual strength or substance... who wants to be a pretty boy body builder when they can just be an ox of a man?

[ramz]

yes... rows! but you actually have to use proper form... some people were on the rowers the other day at my gym and it was all I could do to keep from falling on the floor and laughing at them...

[Skandalus]

When Im in school and actually going to a gym (and not working out at home during breaks) I do about 4 reps of 20 on my arms, but in rotations of about 3 (I do arms, stomach, and legs in rotation 3 times).

I never use really heavy weights, just reps of average weights, about 20lbs.


I try not to go crazy with strength training on my arms, because being a former gymnast, I have pretty muscular arms for a girl, even when I'm out of shape in gymnastics terms. So while I want to keep them toned, I really don't want to add anymore bulk to them.

I'm sometimes jealous of the petite girls with really slender feminine arms. they make me feel like I have man arms and shoulders. it only bothers me in terms of certain cut tops that look cuter on small arms.

[SCHLiTZ]

yes... rows!

rowing is a great way to work arms and back without switching machines, plus you get even resistance through the full range of mothion. with proper contol you can get a great bicept or shoulder or mid-back workout. i would also recommend sets similar to LOGO's 50/50's.

[LOGO]

pull ups

lots and lots and lots of pull ups...

and push presses

thrusters

and overhead squats

curls are for people that are trying to look good without actual strength or substance... who wants to be a pretty boy body builder when they can just be an ox of a man?
:no:
Not entirely true.
All those other things you mentioned work several muscle groups simultaneously, thereby reducing the amount of strain put on each individual muscle group.

Curls are concentrated biceps exercises.
Isolation works individual muscle groups harder than combination exercises because 100% of the focus is on that specific muscle group.

Now, people who ONLY do curls, well, yeah, of course they're not going to have the overall strength of someone who does a comprehensive full-body workout.

[LOGO]

But, I do agree with your point that those types of exercise you mentioned are good for developing overall strength.

[oh no its nick]

Curls are concentrated biceps exercises.
Isolation works individual muscle groups harder than combination exercises because 100% of the focus is on that specific muscle group.

Yeah, curls are one of the few isolation exercises I'd say counts as an exception, simply because mostly anyone from a child to an adult, if you say "flex your bicep" they know exactly how to do it, and thus the isolation is helpful.

However 98% of the "isolation" exercises in the gym that most normal people do are ice skating uphill, simply because they don't have the muscular/neural capacity yet to only flex that isolated part of their muscle/body, and so isolation exercises aren't the right choice to make at that stage. If you go to the same kid or adult and say "flex only your left lat/right delt/erectors/etc etc" they wouldn't know how to do it...yet you always see people doing fancy iso exercises they read about in a magazine for them and not progressing.

[john c]

I have a partial gym at home. flat & incline bench. preacher curls, lat pull down, easy curl bar. etc.

I always seem to have a problem getting a good bicep blast. I have done crazy 8's from time to time.

my bicep & forearm routine usually takes 30-40min with 1 full minute between sets

consisting of...

dumbell bicep curl
barbell bicep curl
hammer curl
preacher curl
reverse barbell curl
forearm curl

but with most of these bicep exercises you do not get the same resistance at the top of the curl, I really want something that will have my biceps burning and sore the next day. I usually feel it in my elbow area but not as much in my bicep, especailly towards the upper part. I need a cable machine that gives the same resistance through the full range of motion. but until then...

what do you do as a good bicep workout?

:tmyk:

ive found thats overkill. 3 or 4 solid exercises and enoguh test time in between will do u much much better. the bicep is only a 2 part muscle (duh, its called bi-cep). 2 exercises to hit both areas and ur golden. i used to overtain and spend double the time for less the results. once its difficult to do 8 reps with ur normal max weight, u know ur bicep is fatigued. dotn overtrain!

[oh no its nick]

also, your biceps (or any muscle group for that matter) being sore the next day isn't necessarily a sign of a good workout...soreness never is

[christauff]

40 minutes on your biceps is a really good way to injure yourself and not be able to work out at all... see what happened to methodus.

IMO the key is a limited number of sets with the right number of reps, perfect form, no bounce, and extremely slow movement on the contraction as well as extension.

sound advice.


As to Ramz's point, I feel that the armed forces make a good point in being able to handle your own body weight. Hence lots of pushups/pullups to work many muscle groups will give superior strength.

This may not accomplish the aim of making your biceps pop however.

I used to be into climbing and this guy I knew from Carter Rocks did 1,000 (one thousand) every morning.

We watched him do it once. Took a long time. But he was so strong and had such endurance it crazy. Not very popped-out, however.

[2rip]

[QUOTE=oh no its nick]I've found that lowering the weight and upping the volume has helped/QUOTE]

Jah.... Totally agreed. Biceps respond very well once you find the "perfect weight" for an exercise. I had a phenomenal bicep routine in college... Obviously I had to split up the exercises from week to week but a sample day looked like this:

2 warm-up sets (of either barbell or dumbell curls)

5 sets of barbell curls
do 1 set of full range, 1 set of half contraction from extended arms, 1 set of full contraction from the half-contracted point, then finish the last 2 sets at full range

2 drop sets on the preacher stand... fail the shit out of yourself

3 sets of dumbell curls with medium weight



i've been noticing lately that doing rowing exercises has really been helping my biceps by hitting the segment that connects your bicep to your shoulder. most people tend to concentrate on the head of the bicep but this has already started to help my definition, not to mention it's a compound movement.

[oh no its nick]

Yes, rows, are CRUCIAL for this stuff. Phenomenal exercise.

Another way to think about this is - would you -ever- do a routine like the original posted for a single other muscle in your body? For example:

Machine Calf Raises
Standing BB Calf Raises
Donkey Calf Raises
Calf/Toe Presses on the Leg Sled
Single Leg Calf Raises Holding DBs
etc etc?

no, you wouldn't. Same thing applies to any kind of single muscle. Doesn't make sense, and is wasted effort/injury potential.

[2rip]

Yes, rows, are CRUCIAL for this stuff. Phenomenal exercise.

Another way to think about this is - would you -ever- do a routine like the original posted for a single other muscle in your body? For example:

Machine Calf Raises
Standing BB Calf Raises
Donkey Calf Raises
Calf/Toe Presses on the Leg Sled
Single Leg Calf Raises Holding DBs
etc etc?

no, you wouldn't. Same thing applies to any kind of single muscle. Doesn't make sense, and is wasted effort/injury potential.

i always stick with either 2-3 exercises and put as many variations on them as possible so that i can hit every muscle in the group. no matter who you are, you have to learn your body's limit. i made the mistake of trying to go past my body's limits (a lot) in the past and the amount of injuries i sustained eventually put me out of commission to the point where i couldn't lift a single weight and had to stay out of the gym for 2 whole months.

[imabagel]

i just lift a supermug from the bar to my lips every other day. usually many reps, or until im drunk enough to need a super straw.

[Bioteknik]

40 minutes on your biceps is a really good way to injure yourself and not be able to work out at all... see what happened to methodus.

IMO the key is a limited number of sets with the right number of reps, perfect form, no bounce, and extremely slow movement on the contraction as well as extension.

I know I said something to eric before, but then again you're(the original poster) doing even more than what methodus was doing. But overworking muscles groups isn't good for your muscles.

I'm also trying to get some good guns, but what I'm doing is combining other exercises with my sets of curls and hammer curls, like dumbbell presses, dumbbell rows, and dumbbell floor presses (when I'm at home). I've also read that doing some squats will help since it'll boost your metabolism and help your fat loss, which will of course help make your arms look more defined.

[someguy]

rack mount switches for 12 hours a day

[Big McLargeHuge]

rack mount switches for 12 hours a day

those 2950's and 3550's kicking your ass?

[someguy]

those 2950's and 3550's kicking your ass?

dual stacked 3750's :)

they're not bad individually, but after the 30 or 40th one, i was pretty worn out

[Big McLargeHuge]

dual stacked 3750's :)

they're not bad individually, but after the 30 or 40th one, i was pretty worn out

do some curls with some 4500's and then get back to me

[someguy]

do some curls with some 4500's and then get back to me

ill start with just the power supplies.... i am 6 foot @ 170lbs after all, you can only expect so much.