What Is The Best Bicep Workout Known For Building Massive Guns?

TOPIC: What Is The Best Bicep Workout Known For Building Massive Guns?

The Question:

Want an impressive set of guns? Well then you will need to put the time in to get them because they won't grow by themselves! Full body workouts are great ... however today we want to know what the best bicep workout is!

What is the best bicep workout known for building massive guns? Be specific: List set, reps, frequency, duration, etc.

What other exercises can be improved by strengthening the bicep?

What are the dangers of paying to much attention to one particular muscle group?

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Want an impressive set of guns? Well then you will need to put the time in to get them because they won't grow by themselves! Full body workouts are great ... however today we want to know what the best bicep workout is!

Workout
What Is The Best Bicep Workout Known For Building Massive Guns? Be Specific: List Set, Reps, Frequency, Duration, Etc.

First, let's quickly look at the anatomy of the biceps.

Let's divide this question into different parts, since there are many ways and methods when it comes to effectively working the biceps.

Frequency:

Since the bicep is a relatively small muscle, it is important to not to overtrain it. You've probably heard this many times so I'll just get to the point. For most people, training biceps directly twice a week is just too much.

This is because the bicep is also partly worked on other days, like the day you're training back and doing close grip exercises. Many people don't even know that back work grows biceps, or they just don't train their back hard enough; it is also important in developing big, strong biceps.

Therefore, it's a good rule of thumb to train the biceps only one time directly and one time indirectly per week. Directly and indirectly refers to when you're training them either separate (directly) or whether they are part of the back workout (indirectly).

Here's a sample 5-day workout split in which the bicep (and triceps) muscles are targeted twice; once indirectly and one directly. In this split the bicep muscle will get enough rest to recover.

• Monday Chest (+triceps indirectly)
• Tuesday Back (+biceps indirectly)
• Wednesday Legs and calves
• Thursday Shoulders, abs and forearms
• Friday Arms (biceps and triceps directly)
• Sat/Sun Rest

Sets/Repetitions/Rest Intervals:

Like mentioned before, the bicep is only a relatively small muscle, to, for example compared to the leg muscles. It is therefore important to not overtrain them by doing too many sets.

Many people agree that if you go heavy on the arms, 8-to-10 sets for the biceps and/or triceps is enough. You could do more but then you would be close to overtraining the bicep muscle. Fewer sets might not be as effective either. However, since everybody responds to different sets/repetitions, deviations are possible.

There aren't really common rules when it comes to the amount of repetitions (reps) you use for training the bicep. Like mentioned before, everybody is made up of different muscle fibers and everybody responds differently to different exercises. It is therefore best to try both high and low rep sets, or a combination of both for the bicep exercises (which we will mention later on).

The same goes for rest intervals. If you plan on having a pumping session for your biceps (performing many reps per set) then the intervals are usually different too, as is the goal of the training.

If you are really planning on working your biceps for strength or build mass or whatever your goal is when doing low reps, it's better to make your rest intervals a little longer so your muscle glycogen stores can partly refuel. Since you're not sure how long of an interval you exactly need, most people will tell you, and you will feel that 1 to 3 minutes should be enough to recover.

Training Techniques/Shock Techniques:

Whenever people reach their plateau (whenever they have stopped growing for a while for different reasons) they usually start trying different things. Some of these things are called shock techniques, and can't be performed every week. There are also other general techniques that just might work for you.

Drop Set:

First of all, there's the drop set. This is where you perform one exercise (e.g. side lateral raises) and use two (or more) different weights. Since you will not rest in between the two or three sets, the weights will be heavier than usual. In this drop set, the two sets vary in reps.

For example, you could start a dumbbell lateral raises drop set exercise off by dong 6 reps of 40 pounds, followed up by 8 reps of 30 pounds. Drop sets can also be preformed in reverse. In this case you would start off by doing e.g. 10 reps of 25 pounds, followed up by 8 reps of 30 pounds, and so on ... You get the idea, right?

Supersets:

The next thing that people usually confuse with the previously mentioned technique (name wise) is superset. Supersets can involve either one or two muscle(s) (groups) and are performed directly after each other (just like drop sets).

Now there are two basic kinds of supersets: same-muscle supersets and antagonistic supersets. The first one exists when one performs two different kinds of exercises for one and the same muscle group. This can be effective for the bicep when you are training both heads of the bicep.

Another, same-muscle superset exercise could be an isolation-compound superset. Doing a superset like this, you could first do some close-grip pull-ups followed up by a set of preacher or concentration curls, to exhaust the bicep.

The other superset mentioned, the antagonistic superset, is in my point of view more effective when it comes to training the bicep. Antagonistic supersets are done by performing two different exercises for two different muscles (two opposite ("antagonistic") muscles).

A common example of antagonistic supersets is supersetting the biceps with the triceps (e.g. performing a set of curls followed up by a set of triceps push-downs). Many people have achieved much success with this kind of training.

Reasons why antagonistic supersets seem to be successful are because if you train one muscle, the other muscle is stretched. Remember, just like with drop sets, there are no rest intervals between the sets within the superset. Supersets and drop sets can also be combined.

Another variation to the superset is the tri-set. You can probably imagine what this would look like.

German Volume Training:

The next method of training we are going to discuss is called German Volume Training. This consists of doing many sets (usually 10) for about 8-to-12 reps. Every set and rep is exactly the same, with exactly the same weight and rest interval.

A German Volume Training set often looks likes this:

10 sets x 10 reps using 25 pounds with 60 seconds of rest interval. I am not really sure why this training method works for some people, but a few have said it is because it tricks your mind. For most this is true, because at the 7th rep it gets heavy while the 10th rep is a lot easier to perform. However, it might just be [effective] because it is a pumping exercise that using strictly the same rest intervals.

Multi-Grip Training:

Next are multi-grip training methods. Just as the name implies, this method involves (two to three) different sets with all different grips. These are usually supersetted. This method has also proven to be effective for some people.

Pre-Exhausting:

Pre-exhausting is another technique that we are going to discuss. This technique is usually just to, as the name implies, exhaust the muscle that is not primarily intended to be targeted to focus on the main muscle (group). A well-known pre-exhaustion technique would be doing concentrated or preacher curls first, followed up by some pull ups.

Other Techniques:

Cluster Sets:

Next up are cluster sets, which are mostly used for strength training, however, can also add mass to your muscles. In a cluster set, the reps are usually low (4-to-6 reps) and heavy weight is used. The idea of cluster sets is to perform one heavy rep, then rest for 10 seconds, and then perform another, then rest ... and so on.

For the biceps, I found this applicable to doing heavy barbell curls in a rack. You could e.g. put one 35-pound plate on each side of the barbell and perform one strict-form rep, wait 10 seconds and do it again.

Partial Sets:

When doing partial movements, one performs one exercise, and focuses and works on the part (of that exercise) in which this muscle is most involved. An example could be hammer curls if you would focus on the top part of the movement by flexing the muscle.

Rest-Pause:

The rest-pause technique involves one set of usually 8-to-10 reps. After one heavy set, one will wait 10 seconds and try to perform 2 more reps, then wait, and do two more final reps. If you, after those two reps, are able to perform more than two reps, your set hasn't been heavy enough. I usually use this for my incline dumbbell curls and find this to be really effective.

21's:

21's is another one of those things you might have heard of. Well, the concept is really easy, so I'll keep it short. In 21's, you'll do 7reps of the lower part of the curl movement, immediately followed by 7 reps of the upper part of the curl movement, immediately followed by 7 whole reps. This is kind of like doing partials. Easy huh? It's many people's favorite.

Negatives:

Finally, you can focus on the eccentric (a.k.a. negative) part of a particular movement. Applied to a bicep exercise, this would be like doing dumbbell curls and throwing the weight purposely up, and then slowly lower them.

Misc. Stuff:

You've probably heard of micro loading before but never really thought about it. Well, this is one of the key elements in progressing in both strength and size. The concept is all about either adding a small amount of weight (like a 2.5-pound plate) on the sets of the exercise you did the previous week, or perform 1 more rep than you did for the same exercise the previous week.

Another thing I want to emphasize is good form. Cheating can sometimes be effective, especially for that last rep that makes your muscles grow. However, constantly cheating in an exercise by throwing the weight up and involving all the other muscle groups will not help your progression.

And Finally, The Exercises:

Most of the exercises we will discuss you will probably already know. This doesn't matter for most exercises though, because we are focusing how to use them by incorporating the different training techniques and methods that you've just learned.

First let's get to the exercises that you might want to start off with, since they require a lot of power and energy.

Barbell curls and EZ curls are in general, when done right with the right amount of weight and the right, strict form, heavy. A lot of people therefore also report mass gains that are suspected to be because of performing these exercises.

The exercises you do after the first exercise are still important, but don't really matter in what order they are done. Dumbbell (Hammer) curls are one of my favorite, as well as incline dumbbell curls. I usually, like many other people, alternate them every week.

I'm not a big fan of "sculpting exercises" like concentration curls, however, they seem to do their job for a lot of people.

Finally, I would like to mention the preacher curl. Now this one can be done in a lot of different ways, just like the bench press (incline, decline, flat). I find it important to focus on stretching the whole bicep and then pulling the weight toward me without involving the shoulder and/or back muscles. This is a great exercise to perform a drop set on.

Following is a copy of my bicep workout. It is part of the 5-day split that is shown on top. It can be used for beginning weightlifters as well as intermediate and advanced weightlifters.

Click Here For A Printable Log.

My favorite way to train the bicep muscles is to perform antagonistic supersets together with the triceps muscles (shown in red, since it is not relevant to this topic). As you can see, it is based on the 8-to-10 sets per muscle principle. I'm going heavy on these, so 8 sets is plenty; more sets would lead to overtraining.

I occasionally break one of these supersets up and use a shocking technique. Of course I try to keep the form strict, and I use the micro-loading concept to progress both in strength and mass. I change this routine up every 2-to-3 months.

Now here's another sample bicep workout routine. This routine includes more high repetition sets. It can be used for beginning weightlifters as well as intermediate and advanced weightlifters.

Click Here For A Printable Log.

Always warm-up and stretch both before and after workouts to reduce the risk on injuries. As you can see, more sets are allowed because the reps are a little bit higher as well.

Other Exercises
What Other Exercises Can Be Improved By Strengthening The Bicep?

Like mentioned before, the bicep muscles are also involved in many of the back exercises and a sound bicep routine can therefore help you (strength wise) improve in many of the back exercises. Many people really don't realize how much the bicep muscles are used in for example close-grip cable pulleys or in close-grip pull-ups.

Paying Attention To One Muscle Group
What Are The Dangers Of Paying Too Much Attention To One Particular Muscle Group?

Training arms and particularly biceps are for most people a lot of fun. Many people consider their biceps (usually along with their chest muscles, pectorals) the most important muscle. This is probably also due to the fact that you see these muscles the most when you are wearing a short sleeve/sleeveless tees.

While it is okay to have a favorite muscle (group) to exercise and to show off, it is also important to be careful not to become too obsessed with it and train the muscle (group) too often (or too long per training session). When this happens you are most likely to overtrain it, which will only result in smaller, weaker muscles. This is especially true for the bicep, since it is, like mentioned before, such a relatively small muscle.

So use the general rule of training your arms twice a week (once directly, once indirectly) and try out different things (low reps, high reps, different methods). Stick to this for 2-to-3 months and change up your workout a little bit to avoid reaching a plateau. And remember, the "more=better" approach is definitely not true for training the bicep muscles. Now as Milos [Sarcev] would say, "Let's go and do it!"

Forum Member: FBLEAD40

2nd Place - ManInTheBox
View This Author's BodySpace Here.

Workout
What Is The Best Bicep Workout Known For Building Massive Guns?

Want an impressive set of guns? Well then you will need to put the time in to get them because they won't grow by themselves! Full body workouts are great ... however today we want to know what the best bicep workout is!

Since day one of bodybuilding, I wanted bigger arms. I am not sure if anyone is sure why arms give such a strong impression, but it is for sure that big guns mean big ammo. Since Arnold Schwarzenegger came out as an action hero, the stakes are higher for being a powerful, immortal image.

So how do we begin building those monstrous, intimidating arms? I believe it's important to recognize the bicep and it's predecessors.

Bicep Anatomy:

I don't want to be talking in another language here, so we are going to put this in basic terms. There are two heads of the bicep, hence "bi"-cep, which is Latin means "two heads of the arm". You have the long head, which is shown from the outside flexion of the muscle. During a back double bicep pose, this is the part of the bicep that you see peaked.

Secondly, you have the short head of the bicep, which is the interior portion of the muscle, often an undertrained portion due to the fact that this area is stimulated by wider movements.

What Does It Do?

Your bicep is responsible for all flexions that take place at the elbow. The bicep helps stabilize during shoulder movements, tricep movements and rowing movements for back exercises.

Not too complicated, the bicep is an easy muscle to train, but also often an overemphasized muscle as well. Let's take a look at some exercises that are used for building massive biceps!

The Exercises:

As bodybuilding as evolved, there are tons of more exercises than just the barbell curl that have been found to build biceps. I will make a list of some basic movements that you may do with a barbell, dumbbell, machines or cables.

Barbell Exercises:

• Barbell Curl (wide or narrow grip)
• Reverse Grip Barbell Curl
• Half Rep Curls (21's)
• Preacher Curls

Dumbbell Exercises:

• Alternating Curls
• Alternating Hammer Curls
• Seated Curls (incline or regular)
• Concentration Curls
• Preacher Curls

Machine Exercises:

• Machine Preacher Curls

Cable Exercises:

• Curls w/ Straight Bar
• Curls w/ Rope
• One Arm Curls
• Lying Cable Curls w/ Straight Bar

Other:

• Pull-Ups
• Chin-Ups
• Rowing Movements

As you can see, there is a wide array of exercises that may be done for bicep development. Biceps are not just stimulated through simple isolation movements such as barbell and dumbbell curls. I have always had the greatest success by doing little for my biceps. Though that works for me, it may not work for you. I am going to construct an assortment of exercises and workouts that will be geared toward just you!

Workout
What Is The Best Bicep Workout Known For Building Massive Guns? Be Specific: List Set, Reps, Frequency, Duration, Etc.

Before I go and just make up a workout that will build your biceps, I believe it's important to take into consideration your body type and bodybuilding experience. We are going to break it down a little bit, and decide which workout you should do!

The Beginner: 1-3 Years Of Bodybuilding

I'm going to break down our workouts by beginner, intermediate and advanced. It makes a huge difference whether you are just starting out or have been training for a long time. The longer you train, you develop a feel for what works best for you and what your body can withstand.

I am going to construct a 3-week cycle for each type of individual, changing reps, sets and exercises each week. At the end of the 3-week cycle, the workout is to be repeated starting from the first week cycle again. Alright, that was a little confusing, so let's just put it down on paper!

Week 1: Stimulation and Basic Training

The first week will be dedicated to stimulating the biceps, and allowing for peak contraction and a strong pump. There is no cheating on these exercises, while cheating may be beneficial later on in this cycle, for now we need to keep good form!

Day 1 - Biceps (another muscle may be trained today as well)

• Standing Barbell Curls - 3 sets of 8 reps
• Alternating Hammer Curls - 3 sets of 10 reps

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

That's it! For day one of week one, that is all you are going to do for biceps. This is the period of time that we need to allow our biceps to get used to being trained.

Remember when doing these exercises to let the dumbbell or barbell come down slowly, and then bring the bar up with force, but do not swing your back or body to bring the weight up. Get a peak contraction, squeeze and flex while up and slowly let the weight back down.

Week 2: Endurance & Half Reps

The second week will be for endurance and half reps. When I say half reps, I am referring to exercises like 21's. This is when we bring the weight up partially, and then allow gravity to take it back down. This is a challenging exercise that sparks growth!

Day 1 - Biceps (another muscle may be trained today as well)

• Barbell Preacher Curls - 4 sets of 12 reps
• Incline Seated Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps
• Standing Barbell Curls - 2 sets of 20 reps (half reps)

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

After this workout, your biceps will be pumped! The sets have greatly increased, while reps have also increased. This is shock therapy for your biceps. At the end of the workout we will do our partial reps with a barbell standing. Here, I want one set done where you start all the way relaxed, and the bring the bar only half way up.

While for your second set, I want the barbell brought up to your face but stopped at the half position. Your ending position should be like the picture above, but the flexed position should be like you just completed a regular barbell curl. Be ready to feel the burn and have an intense pump!

Week Three: Hypertrophy Specific Training

Now we have entered the final week of training. This workout will be intense, and finally give you the chance to use some heavy weight!

Day 1- Biceps (another muscle may be trained today as well)

• Lying Cable Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps
• Standing Barbell Curls - 3 sets of 8 reps
• Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets of 6 reps

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

The final week's workout is going to specifically for achieving a great pump and sparking huge growth. I like to start out with an exercise such as lying cable curls, higher reps to get a huge pump and warm up for the heavier sets.

Afterward, we will go into barbell and dumbbell curls. It's important to note that these reps will be lower, therefore you will be using lower weight. Choose a weight that you can do half of the set with perfect form. Afterward, for the remaining reps, if you NEED to, you may choose to swing a little.

You must be careful though when doing this, not to strain your back. Just pick up a little momentum to allow your biceps to contract with the heavier weight.

There you have it. A workout specifically designed for the young bodybuilder with minimal experience. At the end of the cycle you may choose to not do biceps for a week and begin the cycle again for three weeks, or begin the workout again by starting with week one again.

The Intermediate: 3-5 Years Of Bodybuilding

Here we are, after a couple of years of bodybuilding, and we are ready for a new and improved workout for biceps. We've been mixing up reps and sets and exercises and we are not seeing the growth that we want. Well I will construct a workout specifically for this purpose, and give you the results you want to see!

Our workouts are going to be different than the beginner, because we are not going to be working too much off of a weekly cycle, rather we are going to focus on new training techniques. Let's get it started!

Example Workout One: Hypertrophy Day

Day 1- Biceps (another muscle may be trained today as well)

• Standing Barbell Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets of 8 reps
  *Superset With*
• Reverse Barbell Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

This is an example of our workout. Something new I have added in is the idea of super setting. Many overlook this training method and think it's just for endurance enthusiasts. Well, it's not just for endurance, this can be a great method for pressing more nutrients into your tissues and accelerating new growth!

As I said I'm not creating a weekly cycle for you to do, but I am giving three example workouts for you to mix and match, that all have specific purposes in bodybuilding (i.e. endurance, strength).

Example Workout Two: Strength Zone

Here we enter the zone of bicep strength! Strengthening the biceps will allow for many lifts to increase! We will get more to this factor later on.

Day 1 - Biceps (another muscle may be trained today as well)

• Standing Barbell Curls - 4 sets of 6 reps
• Lying Cable Curls - 4 sets of 8 reps

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

That's all we are going to do for this workout. For strengthening the biceps, you have to allow a lot of rest, with minimal training. Overtraining is a dangerous aspect of bodybuilding that will hurt you in the long run! I mention doing barbell curls a lot.

I would like to emphasize that I feel that barbell curls are the key to building mass on a bicep. You can use a lot of weight, and when done with good form, the bicep is stimulated very much. I do and will continue to mention this exercise throughout our workouts because it's a keystone for anyone wanting massive biceps!

Example Workout Three: Endurance

Today will be hellacious for those of you who do not like high reps. When I say high reps, I mean 20 plus reps. It's tough, but it's important to note that doing high reps has many great benefits. You have to think of muscle tissue as a sponge. The more reps you do, you increase the size of that sponge. Therefore, more glycogen can be stored in the muscle, thus creating a bigger muscle. Let's get to it!

Day 1 - Biceps (another muscle may be trained today as well)

• Rope Cable Curls - 2 sets of 30 reps
• Standing Barbell Curls - 2 sets of 20 reps
• Alternating Hammer Curls - 2 sets of 20 reps

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

This is a truly enduring workout. Your biceps will be burning and pumped after this! The increase in reps will push a lot of nutrients into your tissues and give your biceps the feeling of fire. Enjoy and destroy because after this workout you will be ready to rest!

Now we have completed the workouts that an intermediate bodybuilder will greatly appreciate and benefit from. These workouts are tough, but yield great results. Like I said, I didn't compile a complicated array of weekly cycles, but you may do them in the order I listed to keep your body guessing. Remember to throw in some additional exercises, and switch them up from time to time to keep your tissues guessing and growing!

The Advanced: 5+ Years Of Bodybuilding

By this time we all know what needs to be done. But some of us hit plateaus, barriers, and simply are not happy with the results we get. It wouldn't be fair to list the novice and intermediate bodybuilders and not construct a few workouts for the advanced bodybuilder.

I am not going to focus on specifically making up workouts here, rather I feel it's important to take a look at some specific exercises that would be great for the advanced bodybuilder to try and use again! Let's take a look at what the advanced bodybuilder wants from workouts!

The Standing Barbell Curl

Now, of course I am sure you are familiar with this powerful exercise. A few key things about this is it puts so much mass on your bicep. You may use a wide or narrow grip to hit different areas of the bicep as well. An example set for barbell curls would be:

• Standing Barbell Curls - 3 sets of 8 reps - 1 set of 12 reps

Dumbbell Curls

So many different variations with dumbbells. There are seated variations, hammer grip variations, and a combination of both. Just like barbell curls, dumbbells are possibly the second most useful tool to use when building massive biceps. There is such a great amount of stress placed on the bicep during the movement, it won't do anything but grow! An example dumbbell set would be:

• Alternating Dumbbell Curls - 2 sets of 12 reps - 2 sets of 10 reps - 2 sets of 8 reps

The beauty of using dumbbells is you can quickly drop weight and switch up easily!

Cable Exercises

Here we enter an entirely different realm of bicep building. A lot of guys completely ignore cables because they think they're for girls. Anyone who buys into this are complete morons.

Cables have many benefits for building massive muscles all of the way around. They keep constant tension on the muscle, making it much different than barbells and dumbbells that tend to lighten up at the end of the contraction. An example of a cable bicep workout could look like this:

• Lying Cable Curls - 3 sets of 15
• Incline Seated Cable Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps
• Standing Cable Curls w/ Straight Bar - 3 sets of 8 reps

The great thing about cables is that they promote a great pump too. With the continuous tension, this enables you to have a superior pump that is great for either starting or ending your bicep workout!

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Advanced Workout.

Overview For Everyone Wanting Big Biceps:

We can all agree that big biceps equal power. People associate powerful individuals as having massive arms, and bulging bicep peaks. It's funny because the biceps may be the least strong muscle that your body possesses, but they are seen as what a powerful man should have.

I have arranged many different workout variations that are meant to specifically suit your needs. I hope you can benefit from the workouts and exercises I have laid out for you. Now let's take a look at what benefits come along with strengthening your biceps!

Other Exercises
What Other Exercises Can Be Improved By Strengthening The Bicep?

While the biceps are not the strongest muscle in the body, it is important to note that there are many exercises we do that depend on much bicep strength.

Back exercises are the primary exercises that depend on a lot of bicep strength. When you are doing a rowing movement especially, the bicep is contracted to a great degree. This is when the overtraining factor comes into play as well.

Also, when doing other exercises such as the bench press, your bicep is utilized as a huge stabilizer. During any pressing movement, the bicep is responsible for much stabilization.

Many people devise their workouts with back and biceps on the same day. I am not a big advocate of doing so because if you start with back, when you go to do biceps your biceps will already be weakened.

On the other side of the coin, if you choose to do biceps first, your back exercises will be weakened due to already tired biceps. Also, you should allow at least two days of rest between back and biceps if you choose to do them on separate days.

Furthermore, training biceps more than once per week is not necessary. Especially for beginners, until you are familiar with your body, you should always allow 5-7 days of rest for each muscle to completely recuperate before training it again. Now that we have come to talking about overtraining, let's talk about the dangers of doing just this!

Paying Attention To One Muscle Group
What Are The Dangers Of Paying To Much Attention To One Particular Muscle Group?

No matter how early or how late in your bodybuilding career, everyone has at least heard of overtraining. Paying too much attention to one muscle group poses many different problems.

The first problem that I would like to address is the overtraining factor. Overtraining a muscle group will not make it grow to its full potential. For young teenage bodybuilders, we can get away with mild overtraining.

As the age group progresses, bodies are not able to catch up to the extreme stress and workouts that they are put through. No matter what age you are, you should be concerned with overtraining. In this case, if you want your biceps to grow, you need to realize that less is more.

Biceps are a small muscle group that make up a small part of your arm, there is no need to dedicate one whole day to just pounding out 10 exercises and high sets to make it grow. As a matter of fact, doing so will slow growth and ultimately cause atrophy. If you follow my workouts, you will not overtrain, and you will find that you will grow quickly! Let's take a look at the next danger.

Anyone who is into bodybuilding should be concerned with proportion and symmetry. There are too many guys who workout and they only work one or two muscle groups. There are guys I see who have huge arms or even a huge upper body and then they have bird legs. Emphasizing too much on your biceps will do nothing but make you look like a weirdo.

Bodybuilding is the sport of molding our bodies to be proportionate and strive to appear perfect in size and shape. It is difficult to do, and there are a lot of so called quick alternatives such as steroids and even some supplements that promise quick muscle growth.

What you need to realize is that the only way you will grow is through exercise, diet, and rest. Supplementation is good but not necessary. The basics such as protein and a good multivitamin do so much more for you than spending hundreds of dollars on miracle powders and pills.

I hope, through these workouts I have displayed, you may find one that works best for you. Just because I listed some as being beginner, does not mean that someone who has been bodybuilding for 10 years cannot use it.

One of the most important aspects of bodybuilding is swallowing your pride and not being insecure about a certain weight that you may be using or program. You have to do what works best for you and not what always works for the "other" guy.

For Training Tips and Questions Feel Free To Email Me At:
BKevin89@aol.com

Best Of Luck,
Kevin B.

3rd Place - BurningHeart

Introduction

Did someone say biceps? The word is all over bodybuilding magazines, websites, supplement labels and workout equipment. Why is the biceps such a great marketing tool and the greatest thing sought for in the weightlifting world?

The main reason is because it's one of the hardest muscles to develop. It's uncommon to run across someone with well developed biceps, thus it's somewhat of a trophy to have. Humans want things that positively set them apart from others, and large biceps are one of these things.

Another reason why large biceps are so wanted is because they convey power. Similar to the chest and shoulders, developed biceps have been a sign of dominance through evolution.

Stemming off this fact, the biceps are the easiest way for the opposite sex to touch another without getting 'too intimate.' Humans show feelings of attraction and love through touching yet are limited in such by the rules of society.

If a man and woman meet for the first time and the woman feels attraction for the man, rubbing his chest will be seen as 'too forward. However by rubbing the man's arm it lessens the chance he'll shy away or she'd be labeled as perverse. The arms are one of the least intimate muscles on the body.

So where does all of this go? It all leads to the fact that we naturally want big arms. The next step is getting these big arms. It takes two muscles to make big arms, the biceps and triceps. This article will focus on the bicep muscles.

The Biceps Brachii:

The bicep muscles you see and call 'the biceps' are the Biceps Brachii. They are the primary muscles used to flex your elbows inward. The Biceps Brachii is composed of a short bicep head and a long bicep head, the long being on the outside of the arm and the short being on the inside.

The Biceps Brachii is worked most with the movement of your palms facing up and curling your elbows upward. These exercises consist of curls and pull-ups, both which will be discussed later.

Although the Biceps Brachii is the larger of the muscles in the bicep, it is not the only. The other part of the biceps is called the Brachialis which lies below the Biceps Brachii. In bodybuilding interest, although you can barely see this muscle it has a great role in pushing the Biceps Brachii up when flexing. This means your biceps look bigger, something that we all want.

How do you work this muscle? Movements that have the hands facing inward are best to work the Brachialis. Some of these exercises include preacher and hammer curls, both which will be discussed later.

Part 1
What Is The Best Bicep Workout Known For Building Massive Guns? Be Specific: List Set, Reps, Frequency, Duration, etc.

To create the best bicep workout you must first include a set of exercises which work each part of the biceps. It's key to note that it's not necessary to pull out every bicep exercise ever invented to build massive arms. We only need exercises which work the short and long heads of the Brachii and exercises which work the Brachialis.

Some exercises are not optimal for bicep growth, such as chin-ups and some forms of cable curls. The reason being is the efficiency of these workouts depends on the strength of other muscles in your body. Your forearms may tire before your biceps in chin-ups, forcing you to stop a set before your biceps were stressed. Some exercises do not have a full range of motion, namely lying cable curls on a high pulley.

These are types of exercises you should avoid when designing a bicep routine, or any other routine for that matter. I've chosen my favorite bicep exercises and created the best bicep workout for you. These exercises are those which I feel place the greatest stress on your biceps.

The workout is as follows:

Best Bicep Routine For Growth:

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.
Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 2.
Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 3.

This workout is designed to be the end-all-be-all for bicep growth; every different angle is covered for major arm growth.

Muscle growth comes from stimulating the muscle fibers and stressing them to a degree where they must grow in order to adapt to the intensity of your workout. This is the reason such high reps are done in Day 1.

Day 1:

Day 1 is focused on high reps with the maximum weight possible. This forces a large amount of blood into your biceps and places intense strain on your biceps. Alternate dumbbell curls allow you to focus on lifting with only one arm at a time; this means you will be able to lift more weight for more reps. Preacher curls follow, to steady your body and work the Brachialis.

Day 3:

Day 3 cuts down on the reps, allowing you to use more weight. Lying cable curls are a great bicep exercise because it is easy to get a full range of motion with them and it is near impossible to 'cheat.' This means you cannot use momentum or lean your back in order to get the weight up; your biceps are isolated in this exercise. Dumbbell hammer curls are done to work the Brachialis, a good exercise for them.

Day 5:

Day 5 consists of the lowest amount of reps in the workout, however staying in a medium rep range (8-10). This helps build bicep strength without ignoring size gains. Alternate incline dumbbell curls are done to work the long head of the biceps and to help prevent cheating. The hammer curls are also done on an incline for a full range of motion to work the Brachialis.

Rest in this workout is like any other, 90 seconds between sets and three minutes between exercises. This gives your body enough time to replenish energy stores yet is not too long as to where you muscles go in a relaxed state.

Also, as you can see this workout is divided into three days. It does not matter which days of the week you place this workout, just as long as the days are separated accordingly. Training your biceps back-to-back, or any other muscle, will result in overtraining and negative progress. Luckily your biceps are one of the fastest recovering muscles in your body, meaning they do not need as much rest as some of the larger ones.

Overall this workout should last 25 minutes at the most. This is because more training is not better. Your biceps will only benefit from a certain amount of training, and devoting up to 25 minutes of exercises is plenty. Also this lets you fit in another workout routine on top of this one, since you don't want to solely train biceps.

As for nutrition and supplement intake, they do not differ from any other bulking routine. Since you are looking to grow your biceps, follow a bulking diet and supplement plan.

Part 2
What Other Exercises Can Be Improved By Strengthening The Bicep?

As you continue to train and your biceps become more developed, you'll notice some exercises are easier to do. Your biceps are used as secondary muscles or stabilizers in many exercises.

Possibly the greatest improvement you'll notice is when doing pullups. Pull-ups mainly are a Latissimus Dorsi (back - lats) exercise; however they use your biceps to a great extent. With stronger biceps you will be able to move yourself up on the bar for more reps. This allows your back to do more work and helps prevent prematurely stopping the set because your biceps are fatigued.

Similar to pull-ups, your biceps also aid in rowing motions that work the back. Exercises such as barbell rows and cable rows will be easier to do, also allowing you to use more back work in them than bicep.

So intensively training your biceps will have an indirect advantage to your back growth, both for the lats and rhomboids (middle back)

Part 3
What Are The Dangers Of Paying Too Much Attention To One Particular Muscle Group?

While this article is devoted to an all-bicep routine, too much is never good in weightlifting. When focusing on a certain muscle such as biceps, it's important not to neglect your other body parts. Your body works in unison with itself. While it'll try to maintain a state of homeostasis (balance), it's still possible to hinder your progress or even injure yourself by neglecting other muscles.

On the less critical side, paying too much attention to a particular muscle group could slow your progress down. Your body is made to adapt to its environment, this is why your muscles grow in the first place. However it also tries to stay in proportion, and when faced with lopsided stress on a muscle your body could sacrifice growth in sakes of keeping your body somewhat balanced.

Also another small danger of neglecting other body parts is the aesthetic quality of your body. Many people think their biceps look small compared to their body, yet most of the time it's their preconceived notion of what they want their arms to look like. This causes some people to go overboard on the bicep training and let other muscles lag behind.

Although your body tries to maintain homeostasis, only training one body part will eventually lead to lopsided growth. The result is unproportioned arms to the rest of your body, which does not look good.

Now those were small reasons to not neglect your other body parts. What are the most serious consequences? Well one is an increased chance of injury. Overtraining any body part will wear down your muscles and central nervous system to the point of lethargy, illness and even depression. Continuing to overtrain can lead to pulled muscles which can put you out for weeks.

On the same note, imbalanced body parts can lead to pulled muscles in a different fashion besides overtraining. If your biceps are 10 times stronger than what they are supposed to be in regard to your other muscles' strength, you'll end up doing exercises that are imbalanced.

For instance if you decide to do chin-ups your biceps may be able to handle the weight of your body, however your chest and back may not. The result of this would be either a pulled back or chest muscle due to overworking them, or a pulled bicep because they are overcompensating for your chest and back.

Devoting more time to biceps is fine if it's needed. Just don't be someone who wants only biceps and doesn't care about other muscles. You'll look better in proportion and most of all you'll be safe. Now go have some fun building those lagging bi's!

References:

1. https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm
2. http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html