Bicep Mass

[avalenzi]

Hey guys i was wondering what would be the best way to train biceps for more mass..would you train them like everyother muscle group for mass like 5 sets 5 reps heavy weight? Also are negatives effective for making the biceps grow? or the best exercises for building mass for biceps..im currently at 15 inches unflexed and cant seem to get them bigger? thanks for the help!

[Newtonselite]

Try doing some Heavy Deadlifts, Pull Ups/Chins Ups

[JThaR3ason]

What is your current biceps training routine? Personally my biceps dont respond to the heavy lifting. Generally i use 8-12 reps w/ biceps, mainly focusing on peak contraction and maximizing the pump. The same holds true for my triceps. Also dont strictly look at the biceps as your arm size, the triceps take up the majority of your arms. So make sure you dont neglect them.

[drinkyboy]

Food is what makes your biceps grow...not so much any particular exercise. Do bb and db curls. Dont think about the exercises so much as it takes time. Focus on eatting alot of healthy food and get plenty of rest.

[thegodfather]

I think heavy but slow and concentrated movements work best for me. Go as heavy as you can while still maintaining proper form. I also have to mix up my bicep routine frequently to keep shocking my arms. Of course proper diet and rest goes without saying as your question is directed towards training.

[SouthernCharm]

proper diet, compound movements and plenty of rest. oh yeah and there's a little thing called genetics too

[2k1s]

What does your current routine look like?

[pero]

ensure proper form; full ROM, proper rep tempo, no cheating
train in all rep ranges
combine dumbbell, cable and machine exercises
use rest-pause and bottom half/stretch reps

+what others suggested (nutrition, rest, etc)

[cvs766]

mine have grown from heavy weight. I don't cheat per se, but I don't believe in going through the full range of motion; it's the weight that makes the muscle grow, not the extra one or two inches down. Obviously, don't just throw the weight up with momentum, but I've found heavier weight and less strict form to work.

best = standing barbell curls...have your elbows against your hips for more strength

another favorite is pulley curls

[Rosie Chee]

Hey guys i was wondering what would be the best way to train biceps for more mass..would you train them like everyother muscle group for mass like 5 sets 5 reps heavy weight? Also are negatives effective for making the biceps grow? or the best exercises for building mass for biceps..im currently at 15 inches unflexed and cant seem to get them bigger? thanks for the help!

Make sure you're training hard and heavy for squats and deadlifts. Then make sure you are doing compound back exercises like barbell bent over rows, reverse rows, and pull-ups. Then add in some heavy large biceps' exercises, like barbell bicep curls.

My biceps only grow when I'm doing heavy leg-work - specifically squats - as well as supinated pull-ups.

Make sure you're also EATING for mass - otherwise you won't grow, period!

~Rosie~

[Type O Hero]

I posted this in another thread so I'll just copy and paste:

While staying about the same body weight, my biceps have gotten larger in the past year or so since I've been doing biceps after back routinely. After a back workout your biceps are very warmed up, but still do one acclimation set before you hit them hard just to get them warmed up through a full range of motion.

I think the trick is to do low volume, high intensity stuff. I usually work back/biceps twice per week but as far as total volume for biceps, I do about 5-6 exercises a week for them. Sometimes as low as 4-5 total sets per week. Technique is extremely important here. Your biceps undergo a lot of positive stress from heavy back work, but where you get that quality biceps training is all in the technique. Form is way more important than poundage, especially with biceps. I'm not saying don't train heavy, but never trade form for more weight.

Here are some of my favorite biceps exercises -

Barbell biceps curls: Pick a weight that will allow you to do at least 6-8 full, quality reps. Grip the bar a little wider than shoulder width so that when you curl the bar, your forearms should be perpindicular to the floor or maybe a bit wider. Keep your wrists straight when you start the curl so that the biceps do as much work as possible; When you curl the wrist at the beginning of a barbell curl, the extra forearms work will be taking away from the biceps.. Curl the bar through a wide arc while keeping the elbow movement to a minimum. At the top of the curl, sqeeze your biceps just so you never let up on that tension in the muscle. Then lower the weight slowly and under control. At the end of my regular set I may do a couple reps of cheat curls where I use a little extra umph to get the bar up (just enough, not a lot), then lower the weight slowly. By doing this, you're using extra muscle to get the bar up but your biceps are still having to work as hard as they can (so even though it's "cheating," you're making the exercise harder for the biceps). That's how you get the most bang for your buck with barbell curls!

Any curl with dumbbells: Start with the wrists facing forward and as you curl the weight up, rotate the wrists so that at the top of the movement you're pinky is trying to go higher than your thumb. With DBs, it's all in that wrist supination. Still keep a wide arc to the curl, squeeze at the top and lower slowly and under control. I espeically like incline DB curls and seated alternating DB curls (with DBs, keep it strict.. Good biceps "isolation.").

Preacher curls: This is a good exercise where you can't really cheat and your biceps are doing a lot of work. But what I really like is one-arm DB preacher curls. This way you work each arm in complete isolation so you can give your full concentration. Also at the end when you can't do any more reps, you can use your free hand to give just a little help to get 1 or 2 more reps. Lower the weight very slowly.


Occassionally throw in some hammer curls, reverse curls or concentration curls as a biceps exercises or maybe some extra forearm work (behind the back barbell wrist curls and DB wrist exentions mostly).


After a biceps (short, intense) biceps workout, supinate/pronate your wrist back and forth until you get a crazy pump in the biceps, then flex them for a little bit. Then stretch them out really well. If you're lean enough, you'll be able to tell a difference in definition from doing this. Flexing some between sets helps as well.


Doing this, I've added about 1/2 inches to my arm in a year while keeping about the same bodyweight (+/- 2-3lbs). And my goal really isn't to bulk up either.

Before this I thought poundage mattered more than it did (for biceps anyway). The only biceps exercise where I really think about poundage is heavy barbell curls.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing and it really works.

[lepiricus]

Thanks a alot for that post Type O, I've been working on my biceps too and seem to be stuck around 15.5" I've not tried what you described yet but imagining it I can see some validity. I'm going to give tweak my routine as you described and give it a whack.

[Type O Hero]

When it comes to biceps, technique is very important. Sure, you have to lift heavy weight to make your muscles grow, but the thing is that I see so many people lifting heavy weight at the sacrifice of good form. During back training, your biceps are doing a lot of work but they're not getting worked through a full range of motion. This is what you have to concentrate on when you're specifically targeting the biceps. Concentrate on full range of motion so that the muscle gets worked through it's natural range. Anything less and you'll just be selling yourself short.

Now, there will be a limit on how big your biceps will become before you'd have to concentrate on adding overall mass. The key is to keep everything in proportion. If your biceps are proportionatley big to your frame, then people will see "big arms" when they look at you. I know people who have physically larger arms than me, but because mine look bigger in relation to my body, I'm the guy with big arms to all my friends, not the other people. Make sense?

Peace!