Help me with my biceps...

[Polska]

For the past several months or so I CANNOT get my biceps stimulated correctly. Because of this my bi's have plateaued tremedously. I used to be able to stimulate my bi's just fine when they were smaller. I think I have subconsciously altered my form, and now I don't know what the hell to do.

Yesterday I spent 45 minutes trying to find an exercise that would stimulate the bicep's brachii, the area of preferred stimulation. Instead, I am stimulating the brachialis and/or the brachioradalis... pretty much the lower outer bicep and upper forearm.

I've attached a picture to illustrate what I mean. The blue area is what I want to feel pumped while I am working out. The area in red is what I am feeling is being worked. That area gets pumped during the workout (not the bi's) and that area is sore the next day. I haven't had actual bi soreness for more than half a year now.

Please note that I am not a newbie to this, I've been training for over 4 years. But I need to know the proper FORM for bicep training since I seem to have lost it. Please give your opinions on best exercises, form, tempo, amount of sets, reps, etc. What could I be doing wrong to get this effect?

[cjp85]

I have the same problem. I have to do super heavy sets with a higher volume of exercises. I was just reading the encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding, and arnold says that the biceps are the fastest healing muscle in the body. Im not sure if this is true or not, I have never heard this anywhere else, but it kind of seems like my bi's need to be focused on a little more to stimulate them better

[cdog]

What I would do is Incline curls 3 times a week .I would only work on Incline curls for 10 sets of 8-15 reps sounds like alot I know but stay short of failure and youll be fine ...Im not sure what you have been doing for your arms but try this out for 3 weeks and see if you have added any size ...Ill bet your arms will be bigger than they are now ...Remember stay short of failure on all the reps .May be a rep or two short of failure on all your lifts...CDOG

[monster.]

One arm dumbell curls on a preacher bench(make sure you go ALL the way down), 21's always kill the biceps... concentration curls work wonders... Reverse grip (curl bar) curls work the outer bicep, while wide grip curl bar curls work the inner head... try to SQUEEZE at the top like your flexing your bicep this is very important...

Your bi's will like them apples bro...and i wouldn't train them more then 2 twice a week heavy, otherwise there isn't any time for them to recover and grow... Your body grows when your out of the gym not while you are lifting... Make sure you hit your tris also, because they are a 3 parts ur arm, and ur biceps are a rather small muscle group

good luck bro

[Polska]

Monster, I've tried all of these exercises and at one point they all did do wonders. Now that my arms are big I can't seem to target the bi's at all. I have no problems with tri's.... my tri's grow like weeds. I hit bi's and tri's once a week.

[pumped99]

Monster, I've tried all of these exercises and at one point they all did do wonders. Now that my arms are big I can't seem to target the bi's at all. I have no problems with tri's.... my tri's grow like weeds. I hit bi's and tri's once a week.

My training partner had the same problem. What he did to break through was to do only 2 bicep exercises a workout with 4 - 5 sets of 10 reps of extreme isolation. He did straight bar curls (very heavy), then took a 10 minute break and finished up with preacher curl negatives as heavy as he could. Maybe this could work for you, it worked for him and he has 19s at the time.

[gtxben]

I was stuck at 17.5's for the longest time. I recently started a cycle (don't know if this has a lot to do with the growth or not), started working bi's twice a week (once on back day but only do 2 exercises for 5 sets of 10 reps and another on their own day with tri's), and also started implementing hammer curls which I hadn't done in a really long time. After 2 weeks of the above I went to 17 3/4" but haven't measured again. I think I will measure after this week which is week 4 of my cycle, hoping that I move into the 18" world :-) My goal is to have 20" sometime in the future?????? Highly doubt it will be with this cycle :-(

[Polska]

So my problem may not be form then but simply routine... I may give the 2 exercises for 5 sets of 10 a try

[Polska]

Any more opinions?

[wakatak87]

tell me if this works:

(this is for the right bicep)
get a heavy dumbell (put it in your right hand) and lean foward towards something, and hold yourself up with your left arm, have your left foot fowards and bent at the knee, and right foot back and straight. then rest your right elbow on your hip when you are lifting the dumbell. I did this and I feel ALL of the soreness in only the blue part you were talking about.

[Mu'min]

Bismillah
I agree with pumped99. Negatives are a good way to go. Whenever I feel that my bicepts are lacking (getting to be that way), I finish then off with some negatives either with preacher curls or Hammer Strength mach. Hammer Strength is easier when you are alone.
Peace

[needtbbig]

try doing your bi's twice a week say mon and fri go heavy one day 6-8 reps and go lite the next with 8-10 reps..or work bi's every four days...good luck..

[MMC78]

The brachioradalis and brachialis muscle are most active at the lower part of curling movements. The biceps brachii are more active at the topmost range--around 90 degrees and beyond.

Try to focus on the upper range of movement with either a biceps machine or by doing 21's. Good luck!

[Testify]

I have always made the foundation of my biceps workout the standing E-Z bar curl. I almost always also incorporate the incline dumbell curl and the preacher curl. Sometimes I'll substitute a cable version for a change. I always change the order of the exercises. That seems to work pretty well for me. I always lift at a medium pace, slower on the negative, and squeezing hard at the peak contraction.

Another thing that is great is changing the number of reps. As your muscles become used to a certain workload, they are able to complete the movement with fewer muscle fibers - or at least without taxing them as much. Try switching to low reps. Go as heavy as you can for say 4-6 reps. I find that this range is just enough to really feel it, and it forces you to recruit every last muscle fiber.

Also try methods like supersets - and dropsets at the end of your workout - just don't use these in every workout.

[Polska]

Thanks for all the advice bro's!!

[Justincase]

I really like cable curls from a preacher bench, it really keeps pressure on them from top to bottom!! and the pump after is great!!!!

[bornbad71]

Bro I have your same problem.......bis don't grow and just thinking about workingout tris and they grow...I have tried this workout the past few weeks and it is starting to help my bis grow some.......give it a look and see what ya think.

GRIPPING BICEPS WORKOUT

BB curl comfortable grip(warm-up) 2 x 10
BB curl shoulder-width grip 1 x 6-8
BB curl 6" beyond shoulder-width 1 x 8-12
BB curl 2" inside shoulder width 1 x 8-12
BB curl 4" beyond shoulder-width 1 x 6-10
BB curl shoulder-width grip 1 x 6-10
BB curl 2" beyond shoulder-width 1 x 6-10
Inclined DB curl 2 x 6-10
Preacher curl 2 x 8-12

[Ammar]

Try supersetting bro...or even 21's.

[motocross308]

i stalled at 19 and now im back on track .. i do a high volume continious super-set ( 10 sets of 10 ) at the end of my workout with 50% of my 1rm db curls and pressdowns ..it is brutal tho

[Bean666]

dang i wish i could even hit 17s

my bis and tris are steadily growing but i think i just passed 15s recently... 17s seem so far off