Bicep Growth Question

[BuiltForThis]

I would appreciate any help I can get. My biceps are my lagging body part and I've tried tons of different approaches to try and spur some growth. Doing them after back, having an arms day, etc. The only thing I haven't tried is working them out twice a week. Is working out a lagging body part twice a week recommened?

[ms222]

train only once per week to maximise growth. .. try drop setting your routine.. start heavy .. then get lighter after each set .

[swol_je]

straight bar bicep curls have been shown to recruit the most muscle fibers out of any bicep exercise. start with these nice and heavy but with good form. not no half ass hang cleans

[swol_je]

Ill see if I can find the actually study that was done.

[jAcKeD!!!!]

i use the straight bar curl first then go to preacher dbell but use the opp side of preacher so my arm extends all the way down...18.5" arms

[rickrick55]

if you are currently lifting heavy (under 8 lets say) try to lift for high reps (12-15)..switch it up..thats what i did and saw some great growth!

[jc95605]

If you want your peaks to get bigger try cable curls. I started doing them and about 2wks after i started them i noticed some good results. That and my veins in my arms started to show alot which is always awesome i think.

[moregunsthanroses]

I forget where I read this but for bis you can take a weight you can do for 6-8 reps once you complete those swing your back a bit for a couple more all the while focusing on the negative for every reps I think they said to only do it for 1 or sets I'm not really sure..

[boondockSAINT]

I've had lagging biceps for quite some time too. Fortunately they sprouted nicely with a 6 week cycle, but all I did for them was straightbar curls, 5 sets of 6, and keep them slow (2 secs up, 3 secs down). I was considering using syntherol as I was close to benching 350 with 15" arms but they've just started to show some development.

[Coop77]

21's exhaust my biceps like nothing else. I do a few sets standing then a few sets leaning over a preacher curl stand. usually can barely touch my head afterwards

[Coop77]

train only once per week to maximise growth. .. try drop setting your routine.. start heavy .. then get lighter after each set .

Not necessarily true for everyone. I definitely saw improvement when i started training arms more frequently.

[Deadlift007]

Are you squating? Doing deads? Military presses?

My biceps didn't do anyting until I added to my base foundations. I'm a begginer myself, but I know these are neglected excercises that are very very very impotant to overall growth.
If you are advanced and are looking for tweaking, I'm not the one to turn to.
If you are a begginer, then I would suggest the above exercises.

[BuiltForThis]

Thanks for all the advice so far. Yeah Deadlift, I do all the major compounds. I have about 6 years experience under my belt so I'm just trying to bring my arms to match the rest of my body.

[newahnald]

I have great biceps. I know I owe a great deal too my genetics, but my training is pretty good too. I have never been big on dumbell curls, but my two mass builders have been standing barbell curls and preacher curls. I have found MUCH success in doing heavy sets for biceps, but I have found it is also important to incorporate some higher rep sets to really pump them up and fill them out.

I usually start with the barbell curls and pyramid in weight from lighter sets of 12-15 reps to heavy azz sets of 4-8 reps. Then in doing preacher curls I usually do sets of 6-10 (usually in the lower 6 rep range) and then I usually do a finisher exercise to really smash my biceps. Most often I finish with heavy incline curls to where my finishing set I am only able to do about 4-6 reps.

Another important aspect is STRICT form. It is SO easy to cheat the biceps and not hit them adequetly. Also, variation is important for these small fast recovering muscles. After a week or two of preacher curls, do dumbell preacher curls, or start off your routine with preacher curls and finish with barbell curls to really shock them.

Basically, heavy weights, and STRICT form are the key.

AS for training with another bodypart, I only train them with triceps and superset each bicep exercise with a tricep exercise. This way the blood is constanly flowing to your arms.

Also, train arms only once a week. Start off with 8-10 sets before moving up to 12.

[iggyh28]

The bigest guy i know works out every thing twice per week and he compeats, and at least for me when i work out a body part twice a week it gets stronger and stronger means eventialy biger right?

[helium3]

I have great biceps. I know I owe a great deal too my genetics, but my training is pretty good too. I have never been big on dumbell curls, but my two mass builders have been standing barbell curls and preacher curls. I have found MUCH success in doing heavy sets for biceps, but I have found it is also important to incorporate some higher rep sets to really pump them up and fill them out.

I usually start with the barbell curls and pyramid in weight from lighter sets of 12-15 reps to heavy azz sets of 4-8 reps. Then in doing preacher curls I usually do sets of 6-10 (usually in the lower 6 rep range) and then I usually do a finisher exercise to really smash my biceps. Most often I finish with heavy incline curls to where my finishing set I am only able to do about 4-6 reps.

Another important aspect is STRICT form. It is SO easy to cheat the biceps and not hit them adequetly. Also, variation is important for these small fast recovering muscles. After a week or two of preacher curls, do dumbell preacher curls, or start off your routine with preacher curls and finish with barbell curls to really shock them.

Basically, heavy weights, and STRICT form are the key.

AS for training with another bodypart, I only train them with triceps and superset each bicep exercise with a tricep exercise. This way the blood is constanly flowing to your arms.

Also, train arms only once a week. Start off with 8-10 sets before moving up to 12.

the best advice yet, except the part about training bi's once per week. yeah if you are doing a lot of sets but if you adjust the volume you can train them 3x per week, easily 2 anyway. the body is able to repair and synthesize muscle much quicker than people think, it is the centrol nervous system that takes longer to recover, hence the reason i say you can use lower volume and more frequency.the reason for using higher frequency is that it allows you to make better use of the anabolic window.the time in which the ps response is optimised.

[helium3]

The bigest guy i know works out every thing twice per week and he compeats, and at least for me when i work out a body part twice a week it gets stronger and stronger means eventialy biger right?

i agree totally, however you have to consider how conditioned he is to training and the fact hes prolly on 4 gram a week test lol.one of the most optimised ways of training is an upper and lower split 4x per week.

in the end though any shceme in which you can successively lift heavier weights is going to work. so no training program should be overlooked for its usefulness.

[joeguns]

low rep barbell curls, 8, 8, 6, 6, 4. keep your elbows down during the curl and end it with some concentration curls or 21's to pump the blood in. strict form seems to be the key, i'v ovr 18 inch arms and don't curl more than 20kgs each side on a EZ bar. alternate with preacher and standing variations and you should grow, measure them at the start of each month.

[Flagg]

Everyone is different, and once upon a time someone told me my arms were small compared to the rest of me! Naturally I wasn't too impressed so I'd dedicate one day at the gym to JUST biceps and one day at the gym to JUST triceps and I think I got some awesome results. PREACHERS!!!

[Ashop]

I would appreciate any help I can get. My biceps are my lagging body part and I've tried tons of different approaches to try and spur some growth. Doing them after back, having an arms day, etc. The only thing I haven't tried is working them out twice a week. Is working out a lagging body part twice a week recommened?

once per week if you hit them hard should be plenty.

[.45Caliber]

the best advice yet, except the part about training bi's once per week. yeah if you are doing a lot of sets but if you adjust the volume you can train them 3x per week, easily 2 anyway. the body is able to repair and synthesize muscle much quicker than people think, it is the centrol nervous system that takes longer to recover, hence the reason i say you can use lower volume and more frequency.the reason for using higher frequency is that it allows you to make better use of the anabolic window.the time in which the ps response is optimised.

helium,
Do you mean one can use low volume high intensity in one session. In the next session one would use high volume low intensity. Also if one was training 3 times in a given number of days one would use medium volume and medium intensity. Is this what you mean?

If I'm on the right track, would you please give a set/rep example for high, medium and low volumes?
Thanks,
Don

[helium3]

helium,
Do you mean one can use low volume high intensity in one session. In the next session one would use high volume low intensity. Also if one was training 3 times in a given number of days one would use medium volume and medium intensity. Is this what you mean?

If I'm on the right track, would you please give a set/rep example for high, medium and low volumes?
Thanks,
Don

no probs, what i meant was that right now you may be training them once per week and you may use 9 sets total and lets say you train them on a monday and i am saying it is possible and can be very benificial to train them 3x per week(if you wanted).

you would do 3 sets on monday 3 sets wed and 3 sets friday totaling 9 sets.this would constitute high frequency but low volume(per day).the only advantage of this type of training is that the typical protein synthesis response is optimised(but not limited to) the first 48hrs so you would be hitting them again and reaping the benefits.

at the moment i train mine once a week as i get enough work out of heavy compounds,but it is just another option for you if you are begining to platue.

some people are not comfortable with this type of training but hst(hypertrophy specific training) has some excellent principles which i fit into my workouts. such as: i start my workout cycle with around 20 reps on week one,then i drop down to say 16 reps(heavier weight)on week two and 12 reps on week 3 and so on.

the idea is to keep moving up in weight every week which will force you to drop the reps.the important part is that the load progresses until you reach you maximum lifts, then start the cycle all over again.this stops you from pushing the same weights week in week out if you have platued.

[hellomycognomen]

Recommend training them in 3 different positions: midrange, stretch, and contraction. This way you fully hit and exhaust the muscle completly.

hope this helps. respect.

[ChuckLee]

i use the straight bar curl first then go to preacher dbell but use the opp side of preacher so my arm extends all the way down...18.5" arms

You bastard!!!

[FREAK]

You bastard!!!

i got that in forearms

[str8street247]

this week i will start my mission i will code name everest... this mission will be to turn my 16 and 1/4 in arms into 18 in arms with a peak like mt everest.... i always thought my bis were lacking and the majority of my arm muscel was in my tris and i never measused them for what ever reason... after reading this thread i got the tape out and now its time to whip those bytchs into shape

[drive it!!]

mine used to lag as well i have nice arms (around 19.5"now) but they were all triceps at the time around 17". about a year ago i switched my split so for the first time i had an arm day . started doing bi's when i was fresh (priority principle) not after back or any other large muscle but when i was fresh. reps wieght and exercise are always changing. But the things that are always constant are.

1 contracing against the stretch
2 big wide arcs
3 hard contractions held at the peak

[SayIWont21]

Theres this guy in my town, and he has the biggest guns i know and the reason why lol you wont believe this but its pretty crazy, He has OCD lol and he says when he curls, he cant stop curling until hes done lol kind of crazy but it seems to work or him!

[Manorexic]

if you have a workout buddy, try 13s after your arm workout for an insane pump.... grab a bar that you can do 15-20 times and do 1 then had to your partner for him to do 2 then back to you for 3 and so on and so forth up to 13 and back down to 1....

[GT2]

I forget where I read this but for bis you can take a weight you can do for 6-8 reps once you complete those swing your back a bit for a couple more all the while focusing on the negative for every reps I think they said to only do it for 1 or sets I'm not really sure..

Arnold wrote something similar to that in his Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. However he said to do heavy curls with strict form, and when you have failed, to cheat the weight up and do strict negatives, to "take your biceps past momentary failure, to almost complete exhaustion".