What's better for bicep growth?

Jim Mills

Jim Mills

Active member
Using the ez-bar or straight bar?.... I have always been using the ez-bar, today I switched over to the straight bar.... I also use DB .... I thought I would throw this out for some opinions.
 
I hear food is pretty good for muscle growth :)

I don't use any one specific exercise to create hypertrophy. I use a variety of exercises, reps, tempo and intensity to stimulate and fatigue the muscle.
 
21s are a b*tch and a half. Hate working biceps, even more so when doing 21s. F*ck symmetry, my tris are huge.
 
hawkeyes56 said:
21's with the easy curl bar
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And what would that be if you don't mind me asking?

Grunt76 said:
I say: train them twice a week.
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I have been for the last few weeks.

I'm not saying my biceps are lagging behind, I was just wondering if the ez bar was better than the straight bar?
 
7 full curls
7 half curls (from all the way down to half way up)
7 half curls (from half way to all the way up)

I use a full size bar and do four sets. They are brutal.
 
Straight bar is great,but when you start going real heavy you put a lot of strain on your elbows. Tendenitis is an MF and thats how mine started... the Dr recommends ez curl bar or if you like preachers use a dumbell instead of a bar. Good luck
 
Jim Mills said:
Using the ez-bar or straight bar?.... I have always been using the ez-bar, today I switched over to the straight bar.... I also use DB .... I thought I would throw this out for some opinions.
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Technically whatever puts the most progressive tension on them. Technically the more suppinated the forearm is the more tension will fall on the biceps, but that doesn't mean the straight bar is necessarily better. It's just that particular movement.
 
Kish said:
Straight bar is great,but when you start going real heavy you put a lot of strain on your elbows. Tendenitis is an MF and thats how mine started... the Dr recommends ez curl bar or if you like preachers use a dumbell instead of a bar. Good luck
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I get a little tendinitis every now and then, but it's the preacher curls that hurt my elbows the most. For some reason having my elbow resting on the pad is very painful.

One of my favorites for the bicep is incline bench curls. You can't cheat. Usually finish off with this, and the burn is is nothing short of phenomenal. Makes it hard to wash all the places that need washing in the shower..........
 
delta314 said:
One of my favorites for the bicep is incline bench curls. You can't cheat. Usually finish off with this, and the burn is is nothing short of phenomenal. Makes it hard to wash all the places that need washing in the shower..........
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I love db incline curls.... Ohhhhh the pain!....... I'm going to give the 21's a shot Wednesday.:woohoo:
 
The 21's will kill ya...they are very good for pumpin your arms past the normal workout, the first time i did them i think i got to about 18 and had to do a little cheatin the rest of the way...good luck...
 
Well it is well known that the fibers more responsible for size are your type II fibers. Type II fibers come in three varieties: a (1-4 reps), b (5-10 reps), and c (11-15 reps) or something very similar to that with those rep ranges. The best plans in my opinion for people looking for pure hypertrophy on lagging muscles is to hit all three of these rep ranges with low volume on lagging muscles. Everyone always wants to hit lagging parts with more volume but it is very counterproductive, hell even I have a problem with it a lot of times.

I am not sure of your measurements or current weight but I would try doing a drop set on your last set of biceps and maybe only do 2-3 sets of actual isolation bicep exercises. Train your biceps on lat day, they will get PLENTY of work on lat day. Heck I know some people who don't train biceps because they were lagging and just the lat work they did made them grow. Drop sets though will allow you to hit each rep range. Put enough weight on there to get 4 reps to positive failure (not negative), then drop weight IMMEDIATELY (helps to have a partner) and do enough for 5 more reps, then drop enough weight to get 5 more to positive failure.

Another problem with lagging body parts is the androgen:cortisol receptor ratio in the area. This explains why some people just have 1 or 2 freakish body parts and a lot of others lag bad, the cortisol receptors are too much for the androgen receptors in some cases. PTOR or protein turnover rate is another big proble m.
 
Biceps have always grown fairly easily for me, but I've noticed and I'm not knocking the guy who posted above me, because I've trained biceps with back and got great results too...but for me I found that working bi's and tri's together on a separate day did me best to maximize bicep growth, recovery, and strength. For example say I did chest/mon and back/tues, I would hit bi's and tri's on fri.

I've hit them twice a week like Grunt said and found that to be very effective to break through plateaus. You can use friday to hit them hard and heavy, then do tri's mon after chest and bi's tues (like LakeMountD mentioned) after back going more for the higher range. Whatever you decide just stick with it long enough to see if it works. Good luck.
 
I used to do the Bi's on back day and recently changed to Bi's and Tri's on the same day. It seems to have spurred on a little more growth. I do however like it better on back day. I'm only 5'7" and my arms get pumped to quick and feel like their going to pop...great advice with the drop sets they are brutal.
 
Larry Scott has alot of unique bicep exercise's. Try using a e-z curl bar and place your pinky finger's higher on the bar, with your thumbs lower on the bar. your wrists and forarms will be in a fixed supinated position. Your elbows will kind of be pressed into your lower rib cage, and you will lean foward a little bit. This is the most isolation your biceps will ever feel. Oh yeah, forget going very heavy, you won't be able to.
 
LakeMountD said:
Well it is well known that the fibers more responsible for size are your type II fibers. Type II fibers come in three varieties: a (1-4 reps), b (5-10 reps), and c (11-15 reps) or something very similar to that with those rep ranges. The best plans in my opinion for people looking for pure hypertrophy on lagging muscles is to hit all three of these rep ranges with low volume on lagging muscles. Everyone always wants to hit lagging parts with more volume but it is very counterproductive, hell even I have a problem with it a lot of times.

I am not sure of your measurements or current weight but I would try doing a drop set on your last set of biceps and maybe only do 2-3 sets of actual isolation bicep exercises. Train your biceps on lat day, they will get PLENTY of work on lat day. Heck I know some people who don't train biceps because they were lagging and just the lat work they did made them grow. Drop sets though will allow you to hit each rep range. Put enough weight on there to get 4 reps to positive failure (not negative), then drop weight IMMEDIATELY (helps to have a partner) and do enough for 5 more reps, then drop enough weight to get 5 more to positive failure.

Another problem with lagging body parts is the androgen:cortisol receptor ratio in the area. This explains why some people just have 1 or 2 freakish body parts and a lot of others lag bad, the cortisol receptors are too much for the androgen receptors in some cases. PTOR or protein turnover rate is another big proble m.
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Great post, I didnt see anything about frequency though, once I started fullboy routine 3x per week is when my arms really beagan to grow, and I only do 1-2 sets for bis/tris at the end of my workout which far less than I used to do. My workout consists of almost all freeweight compound exercises.

I think the best thing for bis is close-grip (palms facing you) pullups.
 
I like to use a variety of grips going wide (hitting the inner head a little more) and then narrow (hitting the outer head a little more ) on either straight or ez bar- I also LOVE incline
DB curls!!:woohoo:
 
The Best bicep work for me is a heavy back day with lots of pulling. Follow this with 3 sets of your favorite bicep exercise, and you have some major growth, at least for me.

Remember, the bicep is a small muscle.
 
doggzj said:
The Best bicep work for me is a heavy back day with lots of pulling. Follow this with 3 sets of your favorite bicep exercise, and you have some major growth, at least for me.

Remember, the bicep is a small muscle.
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Hey I already said that punk! haha :)


But it is true guys. Biceps are wierd muscles and like any other muscle respond differently in every person. Most people don't unlock the potential in their arms though because they overtrain it. It is one of the smallest main muscle groups in the body and most people want to hit it with a ****load of volume after a lat day where they were just hit hard as it was. Lower the volume and lift heavy and your arms will grow.
 
it doesn't matter .. don't overtrain them, eat a lot, and work your back hard and heavy .. they'll grow
 
Bi's are not my best bodypart but I think incline curls isolated them the most. I think bi's are another muscle like calves that are very genetic but with hard work and the right diet then will grow.
 
As far as the ez vs. straight, I believe the only diff. is comfort. Some people say that the ez bar lays off stress on the wrists and forearms, while some not. Either way, they are both curls. Try incorporating more dumbell movements. Sitting down will generate harder and stricter form.
 
One exercise I've come to love is supinated preacher DB curl. Basically, as someone stated above about Larry Scott, this movement is done with the pinky finger higher than the index, all through the range of motion. I use slow motion eccentric and explosive concentric these days and this does seem to isolate the bicep pretty thoroughly.

Interestingly, I cannot for the life of me do curls with the straight bar, but EZ bar or supinated (DB) are both fine for me.
 
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