Best Plan for Building Biceps

[FormerFatty]

If you are hitting your back hard I don't think you will need to hit arms twice. My Bi-s take a beating. Stay off the machines for a bit and see if you react better. Balance engages alot of muscles and you could be robbing your self of some extra growth. i will throw some chains on the bar when benching then do pushups at the end. And alot of times I will have a pretty god bicep pump going as well. But you need to play around with things to see how you react. Thats part of body building figuring out how you work. Personally I work on compound exercise and free weights for my first sets, then switch to a machine to really burn the muscle out after words.

[chain]

Guys!! As said, there is no exacts science or technique to having big guns if there was we all be walking around with 20+ arms. You have to figure it out. Twice a week works for me but might not work for you. I train biceps with chest heavy Monday ( straight bar curls, hammers and preacher).
And again with back on thursday but I go light and concentrate on form a lot ( single dumbbell curls either sitting or decline, cables and concentration curls). It is like training for mass one day and for definition other.

Smaller muscles recover faster just don't go allout on your bics twice a week.

[Another_airon]

This will sound like a stupid question, but how do you know they aren't growing? Did you write down your starting/ending measurements? I'm always surprised when people ask me about building arms and I reply with something like "what were your measurements when you started, and what are they today?"

No one ever has any idea, you can't track progress without a baseline. I seems like many people "feel" like they're not growing, when in actually, they are, just not at the (unrealistic) pace they want. After the initial newbie burst of gains, things slow down, book keeping helps prove things are indeed moving.

Maybe not relevant to the OP, but just my opinion.

[FormerFatty]

This will sound like a stupid question, but how do you know they aren't growing? Did you write down your starting/ending measurements? I'm always surprised when people ask me about building arms and I reply with something like "what were your measurements when you started, and what are they today?"

No one ever has any idea, you can't track progress without a baseline. I seems like many people "feel" like they're not growing, when in actually, they are, just not at the (unrealistic) pace they want. After the initial newbie burst of gains, things slow down, book keeping helps prove things are indeed moving.

Maybe not relevant to the OP, but just my opinion.

This guy speaks the truth. Maybe I am just too technical but I at least write measurements down. How else do you know? Sometimes growth is to damn slow to notice. Like you ever notice how getting fat sneaks up on people? Same thing for getting big.

[69nChipmunkz]

plz don't be one of those bicep workers I see pretty much every day at the gym, wrking their bi's for hours on end every day! once a week is good, but like chain said, maybe twice if you feel the need & hit the triceps because they are 2/3rd of your upper arms and biceps are 1/3rd of the upper arms. I mainly focus on legs, back, chest, delts (mostly side & rear delts) then arms & forearms, calves, abs, neck (yes I workout my neck) lol

does it work i have extra skinny neck and neck and forearms are some thing ppl see

[barrysanders]

When I was a trainer I got this question everyday (this and the legs).
1. bad form, biceps are small muscles and you have to have great form to target them. feel them.
2. change your routine, if once a week all-out does not work for you do twice a week half hour with you back and chest
3. do more triceps, they make a larger portion of your arm and no matter how big of biceps you have with small triceps they appear smaller.
4. heavy straight bar arm curls and hammer curls can always help with mass and that fuller look. stick to bars and dumbbells, old school.

biceps are like any other muscles with proper stimulation, recuperation and nutrition it WILL GROW, prioritization always helps

I agree with this post except for the straight bar remark. If your gym has EZ bars do them instead...over straight bars the EZ will help with form and hit the muscles harder. Straight bars will put more stress on your wrists and forearms..also with more weight its harder to keep good form..EZ just makes things easier and more concentrated.

Agreed- over working Arms really do hinder any gains...Also, make sure your getting the appropriate proteins needed to grow...Sounds like your arms are very stubborn so adding the extra proteins along with the proper workouts and recovery might be the key for you.

And if your not already. Hit chest/bi's one day and back/tri's the next..mix things up...remember, bodybuilders do not need tons of weight..your not power lifting.

[losieloos]

You don't train them ass much

[vladiT]

Super sets! I have had the most success using super sets. Also, Just as everyone said, biceps need tris to look good, and i keep this in mind everytime to work my tris 3x harder. People will notice !

my current routine is like this... adjusting weight if needed for rep count

super-set:

Bar Curl 4 sets 15,12,10,8
bar Skull crushers 4 sets15,12,10,8

alternate hammer 4 sets 12,12,10,10
Tri push down 4 sets 15,12,12,10

incline curl 4 sets 12,10,10,10
kneeling tri extension 12,12,12,12

concentration curl 10,8,8,6
standing one arm dumbbell tri extension 12,12,10,10

--- two sets of bench dips weighted....

Get your Swoll on! Good luck bro


I love the dual pump i get from this workout....
usualy after all that i'll throw in my forearms hard too

wrist curls over and under, and behind back

[vladiT]

i give about 3 days rest between also,,,, rest is just important, and a killer concentrated workout is going to need 3-4 days rest between

[barrysanders]

i give about 3 days rest between also,,,, rest is just important, and a killer concentrated workout is going to need 3-4 days rest between

Bi's/Tri's take 7-10 days to fully recover.... If you hit them before recover THEY DO NOT GROW!!!! just someting to keep in mind.

[barrysanders]

Also, I'm wondering who here on this thread actually has decent size arms...lol...I hate seeing advice from kids with 15's 16's ..

[donjob]

rockin 13.5 here, i can almost stretch out a small hanes comfort fit tee!

[chain]

I agree with this post except for the straight bar remark. If your gym has EZ bars do them instead...over straight bars the EZ will help with form and hit the muscles harder. Straight bars will put more stress on your wrists and forearms..also with more weight its harder to keep good form..EZ just makes things easier and more concentrated.

Agreed- over working Arms really do hinder any gains...Also, make sure your getting the appropriate proteins needed to grow...Sounds like your arms are very stubborn so adding the extra proteins along with the proper workouts and recovery might be the key for you.

And if your not already. Hit chest/bi's one day and back/tri's the next..mix things up...remember, bodybuilders do not need tons of weight..your not power lifting.

agree and disagree with you here bro,

straight bar is more effective than EZ, this is not my opinion but a fact. experiments were done on this. plus this is what they still teach at personal training classes, mine was 6 years ago.

but I do agree if you wanna do more weight and take the stress off the wrest then EZ bar is the ideal one.
Bring your arm to a 90 degree angel and flex with your fist in EZ bar position and then in straight bar and see in which do you feel more muscle response on the biceps.

but you do have good points bro

[chain]

Bi's/Tri's take 7-10 days to fully recover.... If you hit them before recover THEY DO NOT GROW!!!! just someting to keep in mind.

it takes 72 hours for a larger muscle to recover, like quads,chest, lats then why 7-10 days for arms,
explain please !!

[chain]

19 normal, 21 cooked. off cycle readings. dont ask me when I am on dbol. will need more tape lol.

[barrysanders]

agree and disagree with you here bro,

straight bar is more effective than EZ, this is not my opinion but a fact. experiments were done on this. plus this is what they still teach at personal training classes, mine was 6 years ago.

but I do agree if you wanna do more weight and take the stress off the wrest then EZ bar is the ideal one.
Bring your arm to a 90 degree angel and flex with your fist in EZ bar position and then in straight bar and see in which do you feel more muscle response on the biceps.

but you do have good points bro

I actually agree with you as well..IF, you have the proper form and can keep your palms flat. I was more thinking about heavy weights to where your form is compromised and you start to lift your elbows and throw your back. Def. straight bar is better for the lighter of lifts to get that really good pump. However, if your wanting to go heavy and really tear some fibers and stay true to form..id say EZ is the better way to go..nonetheless, incorporate both montly and you'll get best results

[barrysanders]

it takes 72 hours for a larger muscle to recover, like quads,chest, lats then why 7-10 days for arms,
explain please !!

There's tons of opinions on this. And to be honest it depends on many factors such as; age, intensity, diet, muscle groups and what i think is most important...what type of split you are working on. Meaning, you need to think about bi/tri's as secondary movement muscles that help with all other muscles; chest, shoulders, back..etc. So, lets say your doing arms one day and then you rest for 2-3 days and then do a heavy chest workout are your arms really fully recovered enough for another full potential arm workout..prolly not...THIS IS JUST THE WAY I LOOK AT IT.

When you are just starting out, full-body workouts every other day are perfect. You hit every muscle group in every workout, or 3x/wk per muscle. That also means each muscle (in fact, your whole body) rests only about 48 hrs.

But the more experienced you are, the more youll need extra recovery days. Thats mainly because (presumably) you are learning to be more intense with each workout as you get more experienced.

Pro bodybuilders (especially the few that are all-natural) end up often resting each muscle 6 or 7 days before working it again. That;s why 3-way split routines, with lots of isolation movements, are ok for bodybuilders."

Hope this makes sense and helps a little

[chain]

Bottom line every situation, every individual is different. Like being on cycle- off cycle- dieting etc.
But what I forgot to mention in my pervious post is; measuring.
Measuring arms is a tool that can help you track your growth and size and also if you see no change then different routine and method is required. That is how it should be done to have something customizes for oneself. Because what works for me might not work for you.

[pbarby]

Lots of great techniques here..and I agree that it is all dependant on personal stats and especially diet. Keeping metrics will help.w what is.and isn't working. My question is around pinning arms (bis Tris). Any sense in researching this? There seem to b mixed opinions regarding.