need help with the bi's

[WillTheThrill]

my triceps pretty much overshadow my biceps and no matter what i do for them i cant get them to stand out like my tri's. anyone know how to fix my prob?

 

[pGhi]

u are in wrong section bro.

 

[Fatality]

Don't worry about it Thrill, I'll help you out. The first thing you should maybe want to do is incorporate more sets for bi's, seeing as how they're lagging. By doing so, you can further work the bi's while increaasing the size. Try to do some more isolation movements as well to really target just the bi's. You can do barbell curls at normal grip, barbell curls at wide grip, and barbell curls at narrow grip. You can also do incline db curls and standing hammer or regular curls. Hope this helps!

 

[Big_Guns_Lance]

I'm going to disagree on that fatality mate. i think that if you have a lagging bodypart the best and most important thing you should do is less sets with higher intensity, and i mean real intensity! you could start off with barbell curls with a shoulder width grip, doing a couple of warm up sets just to get the blood flow in there, then you should make you weight heavier so that you fail between 8-10 reps! after this failure, dont stop, continue by doing partials, negatives, rest-pause! you name it. just to completly fry em out. And im sure you'll feel much better after a set of these rather than volume sets. after barbell curls id move then onto incline dumbell curls which are great for building the mass and the peak in the biceps. again, 1 warm up set and then one heavy, reps like the above and also on or two of the above techniques mentioned. One major thing not to forget is that the biceps are a small bodypart in contrast to the bigger muscles like the quads and back, so therfore less sets should be involved, and dont forget, you work your biceps with your back work anyhow.

 

[philosopher]

Peopel tend to overtrain there biceps/triceps more than other muscle groups especially when using a split like protocol. Like lance and fatality there are several ways to Rome but I would like to see your workout regime and start from there. So if you have the time post it up.

 

[BigBen]

3 sets 3 exercises full contraction control the negative and watch your arms grow bro.

i like DB curls straight bb curls w a grip at shoulders width and high cable curls like ronnie does in the BFTO 2004, u get a great pump from that exercise. 10-12 reps or 15 sometimes. go by feel as far as weight and reps go but u should always be getting a really good pump at the least from a bicep workout.

I wish hypo would respond he has good bicep developement mabye he could add a few tips here.

God bLess
Ben

 

[Ironslave]

Do some heavy negatives for your biceps, ie, on straight bar curls. Make SURE they are warmed up properly, but take a weight (ie, your 1RM curl) and do like 5 sets of 5 reps of just a partner assisted eccentric. That should eventually help a lot.

I'd also work your forearms a lot too, thicker forearms usually give the look of bigger bi's.

Though ultimately, much of it is genetic. Some people have great bi's, others don't.

 

[Braaq]

Do some heavy negatives for your biceps, ie, on straight bar curls. Make SURE they are warmed up properly, but take a weight (ie, your 1RM curl) and do like 5 sets of 5 reps of just a partner assisted eccentric. That should eventually help a lot.

I'd also work your forearms a lot too, thicker forearms usually give the look of bigger bi's.

Though ultimately, much of it is genetic. Some people have great bi's, others don't.

Agreed, heavy eccentric movements with weight where your are resisting the downward motion but cannot stop it completely recruits the most cross-bridges and thus tears the muscle down the most resulting in greater hypertrophy.
Just make sure you only do that once or twice a month.

Fatality, I disagree with your advice. That will do nothing but over train your biceps. Your arms are small muscle groups that get trained during back and chest as well. You should only be doing 4-6 sets total for your arms at 100% intensity after warmup.

 

[Fatality]

I guess we learn a little each day....

 

[Braaq]

I guess we learn a little each day....

We all do buddy

 

[Fatality]

Braaq, you are a true buddy!! :crymeariver:

 

[El Freako]

I'm going to suggest some heavy back exercises here first. Compound movements are always great bulk-builders. Heavy rows and chins are great, weighted chins are awesome. Following that heavy BB curls and maybe preacher or concentration curls to work on the peak.

 

[Braaq]

I'm going to suggest some heavy back exercises here first. Compound movements are always great bulk-builders. Heavy rows and chins are great, weighted chins are awesome. Following that heavy BB curls and maybe preacher or concentration curls to work on the peak.

Indirect work is a given, if you train your back your going to indirectly work your biceps and third (larger) head of your triceps, same with chest and working your triceps indirectly. That is why direct work should be kept to a minimum to avoid overtraining.
And yes, isolation movements that isolate the bicep brachii more will help work on the "peak", but don't rely soley on your back workout to stimulate hypertrophy in your biceps. Keep back and bi's seperated accordingly and train your biceps with only 4-6 hard sets.

 

[El Freako]

4-6 ppft! Sounds like a girly-man workout

 

[Paulie]

You should try 21's. 7 reps at the top, 7 at the bottom, then 7 full ROM reps... nonstop. Light weight, not real heavy at all. I like them, but only do them once in awhile.

 

[The Creator]

A lot of good suggestions in here but i am going to go ahead and throw mine in too! If you are only training bi's once a week I would suggest that you do them at the end of a workout (I like to do them after back). I would start of with heavy barbell curls 6-10 reps for 3 sets and vary your grip week to week. I like to do mostly narrow grip on these as I am trying to work on that stubborn brachialis. Make sure you really fight the weight down on the eccentric phase to incorporate maximum effectiveness. Then after this I would move onto a different exercise (preacher curls, incline curls, alternating dumbell curls, hammer curls etc) and work 3 more sets of a lighter weight and aim for 10-14 reps.
As stated in here, bi's are mostly genetic and the biggest mistake you can make is to overtrain them. I would not do more than 6 sets in a session and no more than 10 sets a week. Consistency will make your bi's grow.

 

[Braaq]

4-6 ppft! Sounds like a girly-man workout

You would be wrong with that assesment
Check the log nothing girly about it m8

 

[Braaq]

A lot of good suggestions in here but i am going to go ahead and throw mine in too! If you are only training bi's once a week I would suggest that you do them at the end of a workout (I like to do them after back). I would start of with heavy barbell curls 6-10 reps for 3 sets and vary your grip week to week. I like to do mostly narrow grip on these as I am trying to work on that stubborn brachialis. Make sure you really fight the weight down on the eccentric phase to incorporate maximum effectiveness. Then after this I would move onto a different exercise (preacher curls, incline curls, alternating dumbell curls, hammer curls etc) and work 3 more sets of a lighter weight and aim for 10-14 reps.
As stated in here, bi's are mostly genetic and the biggest mistake you can make is to overtrain them. I would not do more than 6 sets in a session and no more than 10 sets a week. Consistency will make your bi's grow.

Great post, and good advice. Except for the training of biceps after back. There is no way you can effectively go 100% after a full back routine, and with the indirect stimulation from back along with direct stimulation of your biceps you can run the risk of overtraining or not enough of a stimulus to induce maximum hypertrophy.

 

[The Creator]

There is no way you can effectively go 100% after a full back routine

Oh where there's a will, theres a way

 

[knight_rider]

your biceps will be smaller than you like for one or two simple reasons........

1. the amount of weight you lift
2. and how much of that weight is transfered onto your muscles.

you simply need to get stronger, often performing less working sets a week is a good idea. make sure you only perform a few working sets for biceps per week, and try to hit them maybe twice a weeks, but only for low volume. using a rep range of around 8-15 so that your form is good and the weights are being transfered to the muscle to stimulate growth.

i recommend trying drag curls instead of regular barbell curls as they allow the weight to be moved by the biceps without your body english taking the brunt of the weight.

also i recommend using indirect training to give your biceps more frequent stimulation. so do undergrip chins on back day along with reverse grip rows etc.

basically whatever you do if your not taking the weight on your biceps and your not progressing in sets and reps on the basic bicep exercises each week your not going to improve. progressive overload is king, but make sure your overload with high intense sets not lots of volume!