iron addict
New member
For you bicep freaks out there, here are my recommendations.
1. The best bicep work is your heavy back work. What do you assume is going to provide more overload, 315 lb bent rows, and heavy weighted chin-ups, or 115 lb curls?
2. After your back work is the time to do biceps. People try to do biceps after back and after they find out they can’t move much weight then, instead of coming to the conclusion that their biceps are already worked and just need to be finished, they usually move them to a completely different day. That means a couple days later, BEFORE they are recovered, they are hammered again. Now I am not saying this method does not work well for some. Because it does. But if you are having problems getting them to grow, it’s likely because of overuse, not under use.
3. In order to maximize work done, it’s best to use lifts that hit both heads of the bicep at once. Lifts that do this are standing dumbell curl with supination, incline seated dumbell curl with supination. Incline seated dumbell curl with palms up. The moves that hit EVERYTHING HARD including the brachialis are standing barbell curls and hammer curls. Hammer curls do not hit the inner head of the bi extremely hard, but they are well activated and more importantly the brachialis is pounded. In case you are not aware the brachialis is the muscle underneath the bicep and it is a large muscle that accounts for a large portion of upper arm size. People that don’t target their bracialis are usually those with a big frown on their face when they stretch a tape around their arms.
4. OK, what is a good are program to do assuming you have already pounded them with upper back work? Well you can really get it done with just 1-2 sets each of barbell curls and hammer curls. I have known countless guys with 18-20 inch arms over the years that have done something as complicated as that. Now doing the same thing week in week out will soon lead to stagnation. You can either run both lifts until they stop working, and then rotate them, or rotate them with another lift or two at predefined periods of 3-6 weeks or so. I like the latter method. DC’s method of picking three and rotating them every week doing one set rest-pause fashion is also a great way to get the job done.
5. If you have less then great recovery just doing one or two sets of bicep isolation work after your back work will work just fine.
Yes, this is a far cry from what you see in the glossy magazines showing the routines of the “pro’s”. And it’s also a far cry from what you see all the 13-16 inch armed wonders doing in the gym with their incessant sets of curls, but it is a solid way to train bi’s that will give the average trainee all the arm size they are likely to be able to build.
Iron Addict
1. The best bicep work is your heavy back work. What do you assume is going to provide more overload, 315 lb bent rows, and heavy weighted chin-ups, or 115 lb curls?
2. After your back work is the time to do biceps. People try to do biceps after back and after they find out they can’t move much weight then, instead of coming to the conclusion that their biceps are already worked and just need to be finished, they usually move them to a completely different day. That means a couple days later, BEFORE they are recovered, they are hammered again. Now I am not saying this method does not work well for some. Because it does. But if you are having problems getting them to grow, it’s likely because of overuse, not under use.
3. In order to maximize work done, it’s best to use lifts that hit both heads of the bicep at once. Lifts that do this are standing dumbell curl with supination, incline seated dumbell curl with supination. Incline seated dumbell curl with palms up. The moves that hit EVERYTHING HARD including the brachialis are standing barbell curls and hammer curls. Hammer curls do not hit the inner head of the bi extremely hard, but they are well activated and more importantly the brachialis is pounded. In case you are not aware the brachialis is the muscle underneath the bicep and it is a large muscle that accounts for a large portion of upper arm size. People that don’t target their bracialis are usually those with a big frown on their face when they stretch a tape around their arms.
4. OK, what is a good are program to do assuming you have already pounded them with upper back work? Well you can really get it done with just 1-2 sets each of barbell curls and hammer curls. I have known countless guys with 18-20 inch arms over the years that have done something as complicated as that. Now doing the same thing week in week out will soon lead to stagnation. You can either run both lifts until they stop working, and then rotate them, or rotate them with another lift or two at predefined periods of 3-6 weeks or so. I like the latter method. DC’s method of picking three and rotating them every week doing one set rest-pause fashion is also a great way to get the job done.
5. If you have less then great recovery just doing one or two sets of bicep isolation work after your back work will work just fine.
Yes, this is a far cry from what you see in the glossy magazines showing the routines of the “pro’s”. And it’s also a far cry from what you see all the 13-16 inch armed wonders doing in the gym with their incessant sets of curls, but it is a solid way to train bi’s that will give the average trainee all the arm size they are likely to be able to build.
Iron Addict
