For many coaches, nothing is more important than building big arms. Here are 10 ways to get the most out of every exercise in your bicep workout! In the article you will find not only a list of the best exercises, but also you will learn how to perform them as efficiently as possible in training for maximum muscle growth.
If there's one muscle that gets all the attention and everyone wants, it's the massive biceps brachii. There is hardly anything cooler than a tight sleeve and the pleasant knowledge that you can play with a double bicep. Each muscle requires its own specific approach to training. Biceps are no exception. If you want to look like Arnold and have arms like him, you first need to understand your muscles and follow the techniques that will allow this to happen.
The anatomical structure of the biceps
To properly pump the biceps, you need to know how it works. First things first, its main function is to flex the elbow. Simply put, the bicep serves to bring the forearm to the shoulder. The secondary function is supination or rotation of the hand.
And although we often think of the biceps as consisting of two parts (hence the "bi" in the name), in fact it consists of three. The main fragment that makes up the bulk of the biceps is the long and short heads. Therefore, brachialis is no less important.
The short head is on inside arms. Therefore, it is often called the inner head. Short head make up most arm mass when looking at the biceps straight. It is more actively involved when the hands are located narrower than the shoulders or directly in front of the body. This means that the best bicep exercises like the EZ barbell curl or the Scott bench curl will predominantly target the short head.
The long head is on the outside of the arm. This is the section of the biceps, which forms that very impressive mound. It is used in exercises where you keep your arms at your sides or wider. Movements such as incline bicep curls or wide grip bicep curls engage the long head more. The difference in stretch when you're doing side-to-side movements or when your arms are in front of you should be pretty obvious. It is this difference that determines the emphasis on one or the other head of the biceps.
Working out the brachialis is like lifting the biceps up. You probably don't do it enough and often forget about it. And yet, if you want to look your best, you need to remember about it. The brachialis is located on the outside of the arm between the long head of the biceps and the lateral head of the triceps. This muscle works best when the hand is in a vertical or neutral position. He trains best with hammer curls.
Among other things, this helps to pump up the forearm, since this position also engages the brachioradialis muscle on its upper side. It will be a long time before this muscle begins to be seen, but for everyone who understands this at least a little, the sleeve outlines a powerful tuberous brachioradialis.
Now that you understand the structure of the biceps, it's time to get to work. Applying any of these techniques will give you arms as wide as a valley and as powerful as a mountain.
10 best exercises for biceps volume
#1 Reverse pull-ups
It's easy to get carried away with simple dumbbell curls and forget the best basic bicep exercises, especially one of the best known to mankind. Each of us, wanting to attract the attention of the opposite sex, began with the simplest push-ups to work out the muscles of the chest and triceps. The same for the back and biceps - pull-ups with a reverse grip. This allows you to build even bigger muscles than push-ups.
Estimate how much the dumbbell you lift weighs. Now think about how much you weigh. If you do any variation of the reverse grip pull-up, you are guaranteed to put a lot more stress on your biceps, especially if you train for weighted pull-ups. If you turn your palms towards your body, this will maximize the activation of the biceps, since you are essentially doing the same movement as with a traditional bend. A narrower grip will give even more emphasis on the biceps, and pull-ups will also capture the brachialis.
Just as Popeye has always eaten spinach, so should you always pull yourself up with a reverse grip. As an added bonus, you will develop your forearm and develop a strong grip.
#2 Hammer grip curls
The brachialis is the secret weapon of the biceps. If you train it correctly, you can achieve huge hands. Most effective exercises for biceps in gym to help you achieve this bump between the heads of the biceps and triceps are curls with a hammer grip or pull-ups with a neutral grip (when the palms are facing each other).
Performing a biceps curl in the gym with supination also engages the brachialis, which also contributes to the development big hands. By training in this way, you will not only increase the volume of your arms, but also protect your shoulders through balanced muscle development and strengthening of the biceps tendon. Do not get carried away with training only one grip and work out all parts of the biceps.
#3 Concentrated Curls
We all want to lift as much weight as possible. The problem is that this usually only results in us starting to pick them up quickly. It is important to remember that the main amount of muscle microtrauma occurs during the eccentric part of the movement, that is, when you lower the weight, and this works best at a slow pace.
Instead of lowering the weight quickly, deliberately slowing down the reverse movement for at least two seconds will explode your biceps. Once you get used to this pace, try increasing your eccentric to four seconds for at least one biceps exercise. To make sure you maintain a strict pace, count the seconds in your head or ask a training partner to watch the bar and set your pace.
#4 Workout with a partner
A good finishing exercise is what separates a powerful workout from a mediocre one. This technique works best when you have a partner, but you can also challenge yourself. Pick an exercise you would like to end your biceps workout with (the EZ bar curl is great) and a weight you can do 12 reps with. It is best to use the same weight as a partner, but you can do each with your own.
Have the first of you do as many reps as you can. As soon as muscle failure is reached, the second begins. Change in this way until each of you can no longer do a single repetition.
The point is to do fewer and fewer reps with decreasing rest time. If you don't have a partner, time yourself, see how long each round takes you, and use that time as a rest period. You will quickly notice that this method requires serious perseverance and perseverance.
#5 Do super sets
Work the biceps from all angles in order to completely hammer them. Since the biceps are made up of several parts, an effective training tactic would be to perform supersets, or you could do two biceps exercises at home one after the other that would target different parts of the biceps. For example, do 12 incline folds, then immediately 12 Scott bench raises. Repeat the superset three times.
As a result of this combination, you will work the short head, long head and brachialis. Experiment with different combinations of exercises. Just make sure that each of them engages the biceps under different angle thus focusing on different parts of it.
#6 Prioritize
It may sound obvious, but in order to work a muscle, you need to pay attention to it in the training program. You will never unlock the potential of your biceps if you only do a few random sets at the end of your workout once a week.
To really pump up your biceps, you need to work them while they are fresh. Set aside a separate day for the arms when you can train the biceps separately with the highest possible weights with which you can perform 12 to 15 sets.
#7 Little is good, more is better…
It is very important to give your best each workout, but if you use the biceps several times a week, you can increase the training volume. There are several ways how this can be achieved.
The first is to train biceps twice a week. Once a day on the back, the second - on the day of the hands (you can do this at home). A more innovative method is to grab the biceps every time you train the triceps, but in a different way. For example, in addition to your regular biceps workout, you can also grab it on chest and triceps day. Do basic biceps and triceps exercises in supersets, but do 12 to 15 reps and don't go to muscle failure.
These extra reps with sub-maximal weights will promote hypertrophy by pumping blood into the muscles and signaling for the body to send nutrients and restored. Such training can be somewhat painful at first, but over time the body adapts and begins to grow. Don't worry about pain: the biceps will recover quickly, as it is a fairly small muscle compared to other muscle groups in the body.
#8 21 nice repeat
The old school volumizing methods focused on getting the maximum pump. And while high-rep sets are effective, they are time-consuming, as workouts end up lasting up to two hours. Luckily, we can use the same tactic to achieve a huge pump in a very short amount of time. The 21 rep method will give you the most powerful pump of your life, after which your arms will hang around your body in exhaustion.
The bottom line is to divide the exercise into three parts, each of which consists of seven repetitions. If you're doing cable pulls, for example, do the first seven reps from the bottom to the middle, the next seven from the middle to the top, and the last at full range. This does not require very large weights, but you need to reach muscle failure. Use this technique either as a warm-up or as a finishing move in the gym for two or three sets.
#9 Try Occlusal Training
This is one of the most radical ways enhance muscle growth, also known as the blood flow constriction method. Use it carefully. As the name implies, it consists in clamping the blood circulation in the muscle with the help of tourniquets. Muscle contractions in this case will result in a pumping of blood (also known as a pump), as with each contraction the muscle swells with blood.
Rubber or fabric bands tied under the shoulder will force the blood to pump harder and create a colossal pump that will swell your biceps like never before. Poor blood flow, however, means that oxygen will not reach the muscles. And this in turn means that the muscle will tire very quickly and you will not be able to lift a lot of weight, but do not worry, you will not need it.
Start by tying the bands under your shoulders and don't remove them until you've completed all sets. On the first set, do 30 reps at 20% of your 1-rep max, then do five sets to muscle failure at 50% of your 1-rep max. Rest 45 seconds between sets. After completing all approaches, remove the bandages so that the muscles can be oxygenated. Trust me, it's much more difficult than it looks. Over time, when you get comfortable with the technique, you can gradually increase the volume, and then the weight.
Guys go rock for powerful hands, wide back and press cubes. After all, a pumped-up man is much more interesting for ladies than a typical modern male representative with an “office” figure. Today we will talk about how to pump biceps correctly.
What newbies face
The main question for beginners is how to quickly pump up biceps? But, bad things happen quickly! Any progress takes time. You can pour a pharmacological drug into the muscle, for a while you will get ideal forms. But in the end, under the skin there will be just an elastic mass, not muscles. And at the slightest violation of sterility during the injection, instead of a biceps, there will be an extensive abscess, and everything will end with a surgical intervention.
Muscles cannot grow quickly, except in cases of powerful artificial stimulation. It is given by the very drugs on which you will need to sit constantly, killing your body.
Therefore, while looking for information about biceps, how to quickly pump up these muscles, etc., you should not pay attention to supposedly magical means. It is much more reasonable to cool your ardor a little and put up with a gradual, but qualitative increase in mass. After all, we want not only to increase it in volume, but also to make it stronger, right?
So, there is only one way to achieve our goal - to swing on our own, using the potential of our body to the maximum.
The information below will help you make sure that your biceps grow as quickly as possible in vivo. At the same time, the advantages are obvious: the muscles retain their volume and shape longer after the cessation of exercise, there is no harm to the body.
The second problem that beginners face is overestimation of their own capabilities on initial stage. The guys are in a hurry, trying to take big weights on the biceps. Technique is lost, the quality of exercises tends to zero. Progress stops.
The third problem is the lack of technology. Ideally, it would be nice if the trainer showed you how to do the exercise correctly and followed you. To do this, you need to take personal training from him. But not everyone has this opportunity, and most people start training on their own.
Another issue we will end the list with is the desire to have super huge biceps - like top bodybuilders. We repeat that such a super result can be achieved only in unnatural ways and daily many hours of training. Are you ready to live in the hall and stuff your body with drugs? Let's be a little more modest, you are the Hulk.
To solve all these problems, you need to be patient and study the technique of exercises, the laws of work in the gym. Go!
Biceps workout
You can train biceps several times a week. The number of workouts is determined individual characteristics your body. To understand these characteristics, the trainer needs to work with you for a month, decide on the best exercises, and optimally adjust the training program. This work is not easy, so choose an experienced and competent coach.
The greatest effect is achieved in most people if you train the biceps twice a week.
The biceps muscle itself does not occupy the largest part of the arm. A significant part of the volume falls on the triceps (more than half). The development of the biceps muscle betrays the same courageous relief to the shoulder. Therefore, the question of how to pump up a large biceps can be answered evasively - this is not the biggest muscle. Do you want not only embossed, but also voluminous hands- swing and triceps too. And this does not mean that pumping the biceps is unnecessary and useless. When your hand becomes wider even by 2 cm, it will look very impressive from the side, see for yourself.
You need to pump the biceps muscle with different exercises, diligently and patiently.
When pumping any muscle, it is important to focus on the sensations in it. This is especially true for beginners who do not yet know how to do the exercises correctly. After all, in order to work out the body better and more efficiently, you need to follow the movements, do everything consciously. Then, after a workout, exactly those muscles and their parts that you planned to train will hurt you.
Let's go directly to the exercises.
A set of exercises for arm flexors
How to pump up biceps?
Barbell
The most important exercises for biceps for mass are barbell curls while standing and on the Scott bench. The first is designed to increase the thickness of the biceps muscle, and the second - to give a sharper roundness with arm tension.
We will immediately warn the question, but if there is no barbell, how to build biceps without it? Do not despair, this can be done, for example, with dumbbells or on a horizontal bar.
It is important to know not just how to pump up the biceps in width and height, but how to properly build the training process. In the first case, you can just waste time without getting even half of the desired result.
Bending the arms with a barbell
- Stand up straight, it is better to press your back against the support of the power rack, but not against the wall. Your elbows need to be able to go back a little. The wall in this case is the last thing you can snuggle up to.
- The pelvis, back of the head and heels touch the support, the barbell lies in front of you.
- Take the barbell, press your elbows to the body, if necessary, press them to the press, placing your elbows in front of you.
- It is better to hold the bar with a reverse grip at shoulder width. We bend our arms to the chest or neck, lower them back.
When lifting the bar you need to exhale, while lowering - inhale. - To build mass, you need to do 4 sets of 6 times with the maximum weight for this number of repetitions.
Scott Bench Raises
Exercises on the Scott bench are done while sitting. You need to place your elbows on supports. Take the weight and do the exercise without completely straightening your arms at the bottom point. You also need to bend to such a position, the forearms slightly did not reach the vertical.
By the way, a curved neck will be more comfortable for your hands than a straight one and will allow you to pump your biceps as efficiently as possible.
Emphasis in this exercise done on the extension of the arms, try to lower the weight slowly, feeling how your muscles work.
Actually now we know how to increase the biceps. It's time to give it shape.
Dumbbell exercises
Hammer exercises, dumbbell curls on an incline bench, sitting or standing, concentrated lifts help to create biceps relief. The hammer helps to make the biceps more prominent with outside, as well as load the muscles of the forearm. Curls with dumbbells will help pump up the biceps from the inside. And concentrated lifts will comprehensively work out the muscle.
Hammers
Hammer technique:
- Sit on a bench, take dumbbells in your hands.
- Turn your arms as if instead of dumbbells you are holding hammers (dumbbell bars are perpendicular to the floor).
- The elbows are pressed to the body, their position is fixed.
- Bend your elbows, lifting the weight to shoulder level, hold the weight in this position for 1-1.5 seconds, lower it back.
- If you do not fully straighten your arms, then the biceps will pump better.
You need to do 3-4 sets of 10 times. How to make sure that the loading of the biceps is optimal? Do barbell curls first, and then move to the hammer.
Concentrated Lifts
The Concentrated Biceps Curl allows you to give your biceps maximum bulge. This effect is achieved due to the maximum contraction and stretching of the muscle.
There are 2 options for doing the exercise: with the elbow on the inside of the thigh while sitting, and as Arnie advised.
Lifts with an emphasis on the elbow to the thigh are done like this:
- Sit on a bench, spread your legs apart.
- Take a dumbbell in your hand, lean forward and slightly turn your body towards the arm with the dumbbell. Rest your elbow on your thigh.
- The elbow should be on the inside of the thigh. Lower the dumbbell to the floor, almost straightening your arm.
- Bend your arm, holding the dumbbell at the top for 1-2 seconds. Lower the weight slowly.
- Bending the arm in this exercise is accompanied by turning the hand (supination). You can do without it. Some coaches believe that such a twist is bad for the tendons. But it is supination that allows you to work out the biceps as efficiently as possible. Therefore, be careful and follow your feelings.
This exercise is performed in 3 sets of 12 repetitions. It is done after the first two mentioned above.
Arnold's Concentrated Biceps Curl is done while standing in a bent position:
- You lean forward so that the arm with the dumbbell hangs freely perpendicular to the floor. Flexion of the arm with weight occurs in this position. The second hand can rest on the thigh for stability.
- The peculiarity of the exercise is that at the elbow working hand no point of support. Due to this, the muscle can change its length as much as possible, tensing and relaxing at the same time. However, standing in a bent position is not as comfortable as one would like.
Bending arms with dumbbells
As we have said, dumbbell curls can be done while standing, sitting, and reclining on an incline bench. We will not describe the technique while sitting here, it is given in the corresponding article.
Of particular interest is the last version of the exercise:
- You need to set the angle of the bench to 45 degrees.
- Take dumbbells in your hands, lower them on both sides of the bench. In the free state, the elbows are lowered down and go, as it were, back behind the back. It is this position that is best for maximum muscle contraction.
- For the best effect, the exercise is done with each hand in turn. First, one dumbbell rises, then it lowers, but not to its original position - almost reaching it (the elbow joint does not fully unbend). This position is necessary to create constant tension in the muscle, which will increase the endurance of your biceps. Then the second one comes up.
- You need to bend your arm with a dumbbell as completely as you can.
You should not start lifting the second hand until the first one drops to the desired position.
Lifting at the same time causes an incorrect distribution of stress, but, however, saves time well.
For optimal effect, this exercise should be done 3-4 sets of 8-10 times instead of a hammer.
So, let's sum up: how to pump up the muscles of the flexors of the arms and how to increase the volume of the biceps.
- We do the bending of the arms with a barbell.
- We perform the exercise hammer or bending the arms with dumbbells.
- We complete the biceps workout with a concentrated lift.
Thus, for biceps, three exercises in one workout are enough.
If you want to do more than once a week, you can set aside a second day for biceps. On this day, you can work with dumbbells, doing the last two exercises. With a barbell for strength and power, it is better to work once a week. On the second day, you can do the hammer, and on the day of the main training, use the incline bench curl.
Dumbbells can be replaced with lower blocks. Sometimes it's more convenient to do that. How to increase the biceps by exercising on a cable simulator: we do bending of the arms while standing or sitting in front of the simulator, holding the handle of the lower block with a grip from below.
When pumping wide biceps, do not spend all the time training on it. You should not devote much time to the biceps, since this muscle is not the largest on the arm. The relief flexor of the arm with a weak triceps will look ridiculous, so pump all the muscles, giving preference to the largest ones.
A lot of publications have been written about how to properly pump up biceps and other muscles, but all the experience in the end comes down to simple and understandable conclusions. It is necessary to create a good load on the muscles, give them a rest after it and do not forget about good nutrition.
And do not forget to warm up before working with iron - do idle approaches, start with small weights.
Biceps of impressive size, and even if it is embossed, is a bodybuilder's dream. He (biceps) is the hallmark of any bodybuilder. But the question is, how to pump it up, and what methods exist.
In this article, we will consider the correctness of performing exercises for the biceps and select a powerful program for pumping it.
Common mistakes:
- Overtraining
- Performing exercises with errors in technique
- Workouts not according to the program
- Avoiding basic exercises
- Muscles get used to one load program
Many guys in the gym spend 2-4 hours a day, wasting energy on mindless pumping of the biceps, and as a result, the “muscle” simply does not grow. What do we get as a result? Overwork, unwillingness to exercise, depression ... Yes, plus, the possibility of injury also increases significantly.
Some athletes, even experienced ones, simply overload the muscle with an abundance of exercises and approaches, making up the wrong programs.
Anatomy
Biceps is a muscle consisting of 2 "bundles". In order for it to grow, it is necessary to pump it (the muscle) completely, all departments, however, like any other muscle group.
Important nuances in training biceps:
- Many people forget about the muscles of the forearm. Without them, you will never be able to properly load the biceps. How do you work a muscle if you can’t hold a dumbbell in your hands? You will simply reduce the weight, which will lead, accordingly, to a decrease in the load.
- Many guys in the “rocking chair” try to take as much weight as possible in the hope that it will simply “tear” their biceps, but, alas, they begin to include their back, legs, and shoulders in the work. All - the load is divided into several muscle groups. The long-awaited effect is not observed.
Correct technique
Regardless of how long you go to the gym, if you do not grow the much desired biceps, think over the correct technique (in any case, it is recommended to consult with specialists to take into account such important parameters as a state of health and the capabilities of the body as a whole).
First, reduce the working weight. Yes, yes, the correct execution of the exercise involves a powerful intense workout with maximum tension.
Secondly, control your body movements (nothing more), concentrate on the work of the muscle.
As for the technique itself:
- When working with a barbell or dumbbell while standing, push your arms slightly forward in front of your body, bring your elbows out of the side projection of your torso.
- The maximum tension in the muscle is created when you do not bend it, but straighten it. The moment of "lowering" you should take more time than lifting.
- Try not to move your body. You must be motionless, of course, this does not apply to the hands.
Biceps programs:
We bring to your attention several programs for loading the biceps. They are not the ultimate truth, since, in any case, one should take into account individual characteristics body of an athlete, but they can help you in the formation of your own strategy.
General program for biceps mass
*First number is sets, second is reps
- Lifting the bar while standing on the biceps (base): 3 to 10 *
- Lifting dumbbells sitting on the biceps (concentrated): 3 to 10
- On the Scott bench EZ-bars (peak): 3 to 10
The scheme of (concentrated) exercises for the "peak" beam:
- On an incline bench with dumbbells: 3 to 10
- Sitting dumbbell curls: 3 to 10
- Hammer: 3 x 10
Relief exercises:
- On the cattle bench with dumbbells: 3 to 12
- Sitting with dumbbells: 3 to 12
- Incline dumbbell curls: 3 to 12
The scheme of exercises for the development of strength and endurance:
- Standing dumbbell curls: 5 to 5
- Standing Barbell Lift: 5 to 5
There are a few important things to remember:
- The program should be changed every 1.5-2 months so that the muscles do not get used.
- It is necessary to develop the biceps comprehensively, all its bundles. Don't focus on mass or endurance alone. Vary.
- Change the load.
Rest is a very important moment in muscle building. Do not try to drive your body into a dead end. This is fraught with fatigue, weight loss and injury. During the period of changing training programs, let the body rest for about 1 week, and then - forward, again into battle!
Biceps are, of course, cool, but without developing triceps, which is 2/3 of the volume, you will achieve ... disproportionate arms. If you are seriously engaged in the construction of the body, then it will be hard. Only the harmonious development of all muscle groups will make you an "Apollo".
Rules for building a workout
There are thousands of special programs for building biceps, but any training scheme has common points:
- In order to qualitatively pump the biceps during training, you must first do the basic exercise, and then aim at the concentration work of the muscle. (Standing with a bar; on a Scott bench; on an inclined board).
- No need to do 10 exercises for 10 sets in one workout, this scheme has remained in the distant past. You only need 3 exercises of 10-12 repetitions.
- Give all your best, as in last time. This is logical, because the muscle grows only if you perform the last 2-3 “possible” times that the body allows you.
Here are examples of exercises with which you will swing your "banks":
- Bending, standing with dumbbells or with a barbell
- Biceps curl on the lower block
- Curls with a barbell or dumbbells on the Scott bench
- The hammer
- Bending, sitting on an incline bench with dumbbells
- Bending, sitting on a horizontal bench
- Bicep curls on the block
- Bent over bicep curl on a horizontal bench
- Curl of arms in a crossover
- Pull-ups
Remember that all exercises can be modified: do alternately with one, then with the other hand, with a grip from above or below, slowly or quickly, you can focus on the phase of lowering or lifting the weight.
Remember your biceps, literally and figuratively, are in your hands. You build your body yourself, and may luck smile on this difficult path.
And finally, watch a video on how to pump up biceps, here you will find useful information. And if you have any questions, ask them in the comments and subscribe to the newsletter to receive new ones. interesting articles for free.
4 Secrets to Activate Biceps Growth
Add volume to your arms by applying 4 methods that will definitely come in handy if you don’t know why your biceps are not growing, although you have tried to swing it in different ways.
When you started exercising, your arms grew without special efforts, regardless of the technique of performing exercises and the approach to training. However, over time, you reached a plateau, got stagnant and your biceps do not grow, unfortunately this is inevitable. Now you realize that you need to master some basic principles of muscle growth in order to continue to progress further.
Muscle growth is not only the result of what exercises you do in training, it is also important how you perform them. Although there are many exercises that can work your biceps, you still need to learn 4 basic principles that affect the growth of muscle fibers.
Insulation
Muscle failure occurs when you can no longer lift the weight with proper technique. However, many of us sometimes forget about correct technique and use other muscles or momentum to lift the weight. The biceps need to work hard in order to grow. If you include, when performing exercises for the biceps, other muscles in the work, you do not allow the biceps to get involved in the work as much as possible.
Let's look at this principle using an EZ bar as an example. During the set, your biceps get tired, you arch your back and start to swing or engage your shoulders, bringing your elbows forward. As a result, the biceps receive less stress and its subsequent growth is limited.
The secret to isolating the biceps lies in proper technique. If you find it difficult to control the work of the biceps, press your back against the wall or use an armblaster to fix your elbows. The Scott bench will allow you to concentrate more in isolation on the work of each biceps and will allow you to work out each arm separately.
Load progression
You must be well aware that permanent job with the same weight does not lead to muscle growth - the muscles just do not need to adapt and become bigger or stronger. In order to grow, you must constantly increase the load, this can be done in several ways: increase the working weight, add a set or repetition, increase the frequency of training. One of best practices load increases are also negative repetitions, especially when it is difficult to use other methods.
In order to perform negative reps, you need to have a training partner. It helps you lift the projectile, and you lower the weight on your own and slowly. Performing negative repetitions forces the muscles to work beyond their capacity, allowing the destruction of muscle structures, which are subsequently restored and increased in order to cope with the load.
Pumping
Many professional bodybuilders will tell you that for quality muscle growth, you do not need to perform exercises with large weights 5-6 times, so you will only develop strength. Undoubtedly, this moment is also important, but the emphasis should be on "Pumping", since during the pumping of the muscle with blood, it (the muscle) hypertrophies, which causes growth.
In general, if you look from the point of view of physiology, hypertrophied muscle growth is a deviation from the norm, but this is not a disease, of course.
Since Arnold's famous monologue from the movie "Pump the Iron," many athletes have been training their biceps in pump mode. This is no coincidence, pumping not only gives an amazing feeling of fullness, but also has positive influence for muscle growth. Blood fills the muscles, bringing with it nutrients that speed up recovery and growth.
Movements such as the crossover bicep curl in various variations help keep tension in the biceps and achieve a good pump. If you want something more sophisticated, you can try blood flow restriction training.
Hand position
You can perform exercises for biceps in various variations: sitting, standing or even lying down. You can separately focus on the position of the elbows or grip.
Where you hold the projectile during the exercise can greatly affect which muscle section will be more involved in the work. If you turn your little finger towards you while lifting the dumbbells, this will allow you to better contract the inner head of the biceps. The hammer grip exercise develops the brachialis and forearm muscles well. Taking the barbell with a wide grip will allow you to better work out the inner head of the biceps.
The position of the elbows is also very important. By performing the barbell torso curl, where your arms are pulled back behind your back, you can achieve a deeper contraction and stretching of the biceps. If your elbows are in front, as is the case with the Scott bench exercise, the inner head of the biceps works more actively. By adding a few different variations of the exercises, you can better work the biceps and in long term get more volume growth.
Biceps workout program
Rest between sets 45-60 sec.
| 1. Lifting the bar for biceps 4 sets - 12, 10, 8, 6 reps. (Perform while leaning against the wall.) |
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| 2. Lifting dumbbells for biceps while sitting 3 sets - 12, 10, 8 reps. (The last set includes 3-4 negative reps.) |
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| 3. Bending the arms with a barbell along the torso 3 sets, 10 reps |
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| 4. Lifting dumbbells for biceps in the Scott bench 3 sets of 15 reps |
Not all training programs are equally effective. These five bicep workouts are guaranteed to help you grow your biceps, no matter your fitness level or fitness goals!
This may sound over the top, but most of the guys who visit the gym want to have powerful arms. Despite the fact that this is a relatively small muscle group, large and beautiful biceps have great importance for most men.
The main movement to increase the biceps is the arm curl, but there are many variations that engage the three main parts of the biceps: the long head, short head, and brachialis. The proposed workouts contain relevant and effective methods for biceps growth that make them unique! By varying the speed and reps using failure training, you can take a beginner workout and make it a staple for bulking.
Things to remember: When your elbows are out of the plane of your body (as in the Scott Bench Curl), the long head of the biceps is not able to fully stretch, so these types of exercises will better engage the short head. However, when the elbows are in the plane of the body (as in seated dumbbell curls), the long head is fully extended, allowing more weight to be lifted. By changing the position of the arms along the body when bending the arms with a barbell, you get the opportunity to shift the emphasis of the load and use various options doing the same exercise.
You can also try exercises that change the position of your palms (grip) - be it supination (palms up), pronation (palms down), or neutral (palms facing each other). These seemingly small differences have a big impact on which part of the forearm will be loaded harder.
One more point: You don't have to be a guy to get the most out of these workouts. For many, they can be tiring, regardless of fitness level and training experience, but we still encourage girls to give them a try!
1. Mass training
Side-shift pull-ups are not the best basic movement for biceps. If you want to start with an exercise that allows you to work with maximum weights, then, of course, this should be a standing barbell curl. Use a shoulder-width grip to engage both heads of the biceps. In subsequent exercises, you should change the position of your arms and elbows: bending your arms while sitting on an incline bench stretches a long head better, while doing exercises on a Scott bench (platform) is well suited for a short head. The neutral grip (the grip that is used when performing the “hammers” exercise) perfectly loads the brachialis lying under the biceps, and the reverse (direct) grip emphasizes the load on the brachiodialis (brachioradialis muscle).
Note
These training schemes contain only working sets! Complete right amount reps, but never take your warm-up to failure!
Select the weight needed to reach muscle failure for the given reps. This training program uses a reverse "pyramid" approach in which you decrease the weight on each successive set while increasing the reps. It is very important to bring each set to complete muscle fatigue.
If you are training with a partner, do a few forced reps on the hardest set of each exercise (you should choose the first or second set). If you don't have a partner, do a drop set on the last set of each exercise: when muscle failure is reached, reduce the weight by 25 percent and do a few more reps.
Mass training
2. Training using supersets
This workout involves all parts of your biceps, and even your forearms. Supersets increase the intensity of your workout by increasing the number of repetitions, which leads to a pumping effect (a sharp rush of blood to the muscle). Seated curls have a shorter range of motion, and therefore should be performed after full standing curls.
Note
Choose a weight with which you can reach muscle failure by completing a given number of repetitions. Use the same weight for all sets in the exercises (the weight for each exercise should be adjusted individually). Bring each set to muscle failure.
Exercises "hammers" perform with both hands at the same time, bending the arms with dumbbells - alternately.
Exercises in supersets are divided into pairs, rest only after you complete both.
- Superset training
1 superset
2 superset
3 superset
3. Workout for beginners
This training program consists of three exercises: in the first one you have the opportunity to use heavier weights. In the last exercise in one set, bend your arms at the same time, in the next - alternately to find out which method suits you best.
Note
Choose a weight with which you can achieve maximum muscle fatigue, but not achieve muscle failure during the first month of training. The first two exercises are performed according to the “pyramid” principle: weight increases from the first set with a decrease in the number of repetitions in subsequent ones.
Beginner training
4. Training with an emphasis on the peak of the biceps (long head)
When you bend your arm at the elbow, the biceps contract, and its height is called the “peak”. The longer the head of the biceps, the higher its peak. This workout is aimed at developing a long head and increasing the peak of the biceps.
Notes
Choose a weight with which you will reach muscle failure for the number of repetitions indicated in the program. Workouts are built according to the "pyramid" method: you add weight with each set, while reducing the number of repetitions. To achieve complete muscle failure should only be in the last set of each exercise.
Biceps Peak Workout (Long Head)
5. Workout with an emphasis on the short (inner) head of the biceps
To achieve perfectly developed biceps, you should not rely only on exercises aimed at increasing the long head. In order to shift the focus to the short head of the biceps, you should use different angles when bending relative to the torso.
Notes
Choose a weight with which you will achieve muscle failure from the number of given repetitions in this block.
The training program involves using the same working weight for all three sets. Try to complete all the planned repetitions in each of them (but do not stop if you can do more). You should use a lighter weight on each subsequent exercise (to increase the number of repetitions).
Training with an emphasis on the short (inner) head
Training advice
Keep your arms close to your body as you do the curls. If you push them forward in an attempt to lift more weight, the front delts will take some of the load off!
Translation and adaptation:
Many men want to have powerful and massive arm muscles. But not everyone can do it. And it's not even about genetics.
In order to build big muscles, you do not need to take anabolic steroids and consume an unlimited amount of cottage cheese and meat every day. Of course, nutrition is one of the main factors. But the main thing is training.
Many novice athletes make two gross mistakes when training biceps: they work with large weights, violating the exercise technique, or they start too early. pumping"(so in the language of bodybuilding is called the training" on the mass, with large quantity sets and repetitions with small weights).
How to pump biceps correctly
In any exercise, you need to not only work hard, but also technically correct.
Of course, at a more advanced level, cheating (the scientific name for movement with a controlled violation of technique) will be useful, but at the initial and intermediate levels, it will not be at all.
Many "stars" of bodybuilding often resort to the "wrong" approaches. For a mere mortal, such "exploits" are simply useless. Biceps that are not used to heavy weights simply will not respond correctly to such training. In addition, such exercises can lead to microtrauma - from stretching the muscle itself to damaging the joint.
The biceps is a biceps muscle that performs two functions - flexion of the elbow and movement of the forearm. The main part of the biceps is the long head. It is used to the maximum in all exercises for the biceps. With a short head (brachialis), the situation is more complicated. For the development of brachialis, special exercises where the elbow bends, but the long head practically does not work.
The biceps respond well to sets with an average number of repetitions - from 5 to 8. But at a certain level - when the trainee is already accustomed to training and can withstand heavy loads - approaches with no more than 5 repetitions will be more useful for the biceps. This is necessary in order to to more heavily load the tendons and ligaments. Without the development of strength (it is the ligaments and tendons that are responsible for this development), it is impossible to develop a quality mass. You can pump up the biceps through a large number of sets with a high number of repetitions, but such muscles lose quality - in that they disappear much faster than they appear when you refuse training. With high-quality muscles, the situation is quite different.
The best exercise for biceps is barbell curls for biceps
Lifting the bar for biceps, standing - best exercise for the development of the biceps. It is useful for everyone, regardless of body type and shape of the biceps. But this exercise will not bring any results if it is not performed correctly. Even in the "cheating" period, you need to allow the slightest error in bending your arms. Everything else must be infallible.
When lifting the barbell for biceps, you need to stand straight, without arching your back “on the line”, but not slouching. Legs - shoulder width apart. At the top of the movement, the bar should not touch the chest. There should not be long delays at the bottom point. The ideal bicep pace is 120. 1 is one second up, 2 is two seconds down, and no hold down.
Some athletes like to use curved bars when training their biceps. Such bars are more comfortable, but for experienced athletes they are not effective enough. With such a neck, the long head of the biceps is not involved along the entire length. At the initial stage - when you need to master the technique of the exercise and get used to the load - such a bar will be very useful. But for those who are already ready for serious training, a straight neck will be much more useful.
Biceps exercises with dumbbells
Dumbbells may well replace the barbell when working on biceps. All exercises performed with a barbell can be successfully replaced with similar exercises with dumbbells. And for those whose biceps are oblong, dumbbells will even be more productive.
The longer the biceps, the more it should be stretched at the bottom point - for more power emphasis. Therefore, it is better for owners of oblong biceps to prefer lifting dumbbells for biceps, sitting on a bench with an inclined back. The back of the bench should be tilted back at a slight angle.
The procedure is the same as in lifting the barbell:
- the back is straight, but without unnecessary tension;
- movement is carried out due to the effort of the biceps of the arm, and not due to the inertia of the elbows and shoulders.
For those whose biceps are short, classic dumbbell bicep exercises will be productive:
- Lifting dumbbells while standing.
- "Hammers".
- Lifting dumbbells sitting on the Scott bench.
The last exercise is for the development of the abdominal muscles. For those whose biceps are not yet strong enough and massive, it is better to leave dumbbell lifts on the Scott bench for later.
Also, in terms of effectiveness in the development of the “peak”, the previous exercise is not inferior to lifting dumbbells for biceps, standing in an incline and partial lifts.
How to pump up biceps on the horizontal bar
For those who cannot afford training in the sports complex, pull-ups can be recommended for pumping biceps. Pull-ups for biceps should be performed a little differently than classic pull-ups.
The grip should be reversed, and the width between the palms should be no more than 8 cm. The eccentric part of the exercise (lowering) should be slightly shorter than with regular pull-ups, and the concentric (lifting) should be to the point where the chin is at the level of the crossbar.
With the number of repetitions and the number of approaches here is the same as in athletic training. On the entry level- at least 5 sets of 8-10 repetitions. Then, a little getting used to the power loads, you can move on to more advanced training - pull up with weights, 6-8 repetitions.
Mass training biceps
In order to pump up the biceps faster, you need to fulfill several conditions.
- Take the initial course - to prepare the muscles for hard work.
- Train smart and to the fullest.
Specialized techniques - supersets, tri-sets and other programs - will work flawlessly if you give all the best to them and do not start them ahead of time.
With such techniques, it is extremely important to prevent cheating. Otherwise, all efforts will be wasted. With supersets, you need to rest as little as possible. Perfect option- do not rest at all. But for those who are trying the "super technique" for the first time, 30 - 40 seconds of rest can be allowed. The first exercise should be compound, and the second - isolating. In this case, the first exercise will be a barbell curl, or its variations with dumbbells, and the second exercise will be a curl for biceps, sitting on a Scott bench.
You should not perform the second exercise "hammers" or similar exercises. Such exercises are for the brachialis (short biceps muscle). For those who have difficulty developing brachialis, it is better to do special exercises on another day.
In the first exercise, you need to perform no more than 6 repetitions, with the appropriate weight. In the second, the number of repetitions should be more. In general, low to medium rep sets are needed to develop mass. But in the second exercise of the superset, the number of repetitions should not be lower than the average - because this is a "secondary" exercise, for pumping the muscle with blood.
Tri-sets- also a good technique for pumping biceps. But it is better to resort to it when the massive biceps need “polishing”.
Biceps Relief Exercises
To give relief to the muscles, you need to perform many sets in in large numbers repetitions and with small weights.
But in order not to turn “drying” workouts into “pumping” ones, you need to approach this issue competently. The best option for this case is three-sets. The first exercise is basic, with the number of repetitions not more than 6, the second is isolating, in high number repetitions, the third is basic, but taking into account the shape of the biceps. That is, the owner of short biceps should perform the third exercise barbell lifts on the Scott bench, or dumbbell lifts in a standing position. For those who have oblong biceps, the best final exercise of a three-set is dumbbell raises on an incline bench.
The number of repetitions in the final exercises of the three sets is above average. Although these are basic exercises, their goal is to pump the “predominant” part of the biceps as much as possible.
The number of three sets performed per workout should be no more than three. Anything more is just wasted effort. And as for the "ungifted" athletes, for them such a bust is not only unproductive, but also harmful. Lactic acid produced extra effort, will interfere with the processes of anabolism (muscle recovery). Maybe the muscles from this will become a little more prominent, but at the same time they will lose in strength and quality.
How to do push-ups to build biceps
Some athletes consider such push-ups useless. Others are efficient. Both the first and second are wrong - because they are not the most effective even for those whose constitution is disposed to this exercise. But they are not useful for those who are not very comfortable. With the help of “biceps” push-ups, you can pump up your biceps, but you can’t develop them. For development, exercises are needed where the biceps work as much as possible. Otherwise, the fibers of the biceps muscle are not injured, and the blood that is poured into the muscle during “pumping” push-ups on the biceps will leave much faster than the muscle developed through injury decreases.
"Biceps" push-ups should be performed in much the same way as regular push-ups, but the brushes should be turned back. Hands should be pressed to the body. When moving, the elbows should move without deviation, as in all exercises for the biceps.
Such push-ups, of course, will not give the effect that exercises with a barbell and dumbbells, but it's still better than nothing.
Regularly performing "biceps" push-ups will give the unsightly biceps muscles a more or less athletic look and strengthen them.
Kettlebell exercises for biceps
For pumping the biceps of the arms, you can quite successfully use such a projectile as a kettlebell. In general, the kettlebell is recommended for those who are predisposed to athleticism by nature. However, kettlebell exercises are absolutely beneficial for any body structure.
When performing supersets, no one will lose anything if they replace dumbbells or a barbell in the first exercise with a kettlebell. Also, the kettlebell will help in the training "on the relief" of the biceps. In general, you can perform all exercises for biceps with a kettlebell without the slightest fear.
The only case that excludes the use of kettlebells in biceps training is “pumping”. When an athlete needs to "pump" a muscle, the kettlebell will only slow down the process. In all other cases, it is no less effective than barbells and dumbbells.
Biceps training methods
In order for the above recommendations to give the maximum effect, you need to do it cyclically, with full gear and pay sufficient time rest. Best Options biceps training is twice a week, with alternating intensity.
For "individual" cases - for "drying", or the development of a "peak" - you need to train the biceps once a week. In this case, it must be taken into account that there are no “crossing” exercises in one workout. For example, if you do supersets after heavy pull-ups or bent-over rows, the biceps will either be underdeveloped, or the athlete will receive a microtrauma - stretching, or excessive clogging. This overcrowding is not dangerous if it happened once. But with regular repetition, it will only slow down the growth process of the trained muscle.