Bigger biceps?

bobobob said:
Do you have any tips for building bigger biceps as possible? exercises, repetitions and sets
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What are you already doing... Exercises, nutrition, etc?
... That might help recommendations.
 
My best advice without more info...
1) you need to eat to grow, so be in a surplus
2) do whatever is most novel to you. If you've been do high reps try low reps for a month. If you always do dumbbell try barbbell or EZ bar. If you always have arms at your side try spider curls or seated incline.
3) stick to a plan for 4 weeks then change it up again to something different.
4) Train them 2-3 times per week

Bonus) Train triceps too, it makes your arms look way bigger and better
 
I use to hit bi’s 1 or 2 times a week. Never saw them grow much. Since Jan I have been hitting them 3 times a week but only a couple exercises. Example: Mon, Wed, and fri
Mon 3 sets of db curls 12 rep minimum
Wed ez bar curl narrow grip 3 sets, min 12 reps
Fri cable curls 3 sets 15 reps min and incline db curls 3 sets 12 rep minimum

I had always hit bi’s real hard w heavy weight and went wide grip, narrow grip, db, and preacher. Sometimes throw 21’s in. Made half the progress I do now. Tho s works for me but it may not work for you. Bi’s heal quickly. So I think frequency might help
 
Typically speaking, you need to gain about 10lbs to add a half inch to your arms. Also your tricep is more then double the size of your bicep.

So my question is do you have a good physique but lagging biceps? Or are you just looking for bigger arms for attractiveness. Theres nothing wrong with that but if your the latter and just looking for bigger arms I would prioritize gaining 10lbs "the right way" while also prioritizing triceps over biceps, with close grip bench, skull krushers and a press down variation, and I'd hit biceps after with a hammer curl, a barbell curl and a db preacher or some kind of isolation move.

Weighted pull ups will make your arms big too. Narrow to medium grip, neutral or curl grip.

If you just have lagging g biceps, that could be much trickier, I'd like to Know what you've currently been doing and how much have you progressed in the last x amount of time
 
PolishHamm3r77 said:
I use to hit bi’s 1 or 2 times a week. Never saw them grow much. Since Jan I have been hitting them 3 times a week but only a couple exercises. Example: Mon, Wed, and fri
Mon 3 sets of db curls 12 rep minimum
Wed ez bar curl narrow grip 3 sets, min 12 reps
Fri cable curls 3 sets 15 reps min and incline db curls 3 sets 12 rep minimum

I had always hit bi’s real hard w heavy weight and went wide grip, narrow grip, db, and preacher. Sometimes throw 21’s in. Made half the progress I do now. Tho s works for me but it may not work for you. Bi’s heal quickly. So I think frequency might help
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I've always felt that throwing in 21's for a finisher helped break through sticking points
I use to do them a lot but over the years I've stopped, not sure why.
 
I do mine end of my back routine and this has helped me.

Standing hammer curls with the current db you can handle to failure
Drop set using a lighter db to failure

Do lots of those until the max db can't be lifted

Use what you can standing to failure. Drop set using the incline bench and do seated incline curls. That angle makes lighter db's feel much heavier. Do all this to failure.

You will know when you are done. (y)
 
bobobob said:
Do you have any tips for building bigger biceps as possible? exercises, repetitions and sets
Click to expand...

You’re going to want exercises that hit the biceps, brachialis, and forearms effectively and like others said good nutrition and not neglecting triceps is important.

These are my go to:
1. Cross body dumbbell hammer curls - works the front bicep very well
2. Standard supinated dumbbell curl and zottman curls
3. Standard dumbbell hammer curls
4. Close grip and wide grip ez bar

You can mix up weight, reps, sets etc. but I prefer moderate weight 25-30lb DBs for the exercises above focusing on good form, squeeze, and slow reps. 70-90lb for the ez bar. 20 years of experience, flexed size is between 17-18in. Mostly maintaining muscle from my 20s
 
Without knowing more here are few things based on the current research available:

First:

Make sure the stimulus per movement is high. Meaning, make sure technique for the chosen movements hits your biceps well. If you need to, find movements or a technique with a better stimulus profile for you.

Second:

Make sure you are training within 1-2 reps of failure or to failure to ensure the stimulus per set high.

Third:

Try a frequency of 2-3 times per week, so take you current volume, in terms of hard sets near failure, and spread out over several days.

Forth:

Increase volume, in the form of hard sets near failure, from what you have been doing by about 20%.

Fifth:

Include a stretch biased movement in your routine like the preacher curl or Bayesian curls.

Sixth:

Try a different rep range, while research on the whole suggests that around 5-30 reps per set at or near failure can all cause a similar stimulus for growth, not every participant in these studies responded equally well to all rep ranges. This means you may do better with sets in the 5-10, 10-20, or 20-30 rep ranges as examples. If you have been doing one type of rep range for a while, try going lower or higher for some time.
 
lots of good points in this thread. I too have lagging biceps with high insertions, so the peak looks good but straigth arm they feel noodley.

This year I have been focusing on weighted dips, weighted pull-ups & chin ups with a focus on slow negatives, dumbbell skull crushers and incline dumbbell curls

the above + caloric surplus i have seen my arms grows this year and fill out
 
KlausCoin said:
lots of good points in this thread. I too have lagging biceps with high insertions, so the peak looks good but straigth arm they feel noodley.

This year I have been focusing on weighted dips, weighted pull-ups & chin ups with a focus on slow negatives, dumbbell skull crushers and incline dumbbell curls

the above + caloric surplus i have seen my arms grows this year and fill out
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So you training biceps shorthead more becuse you got longerhead(peak more? ☺️ what exercise training it more?
 
bobobob said:
Do you have any tips for building bigger biceps as possible? exercises, repetitions and sets
Click to expand...
Well for 1 genetics play the biggest part , if you don’t have the genetics no matter what you do , let’s say naturally, your arms are going to be what they will be. Also be aware your arm is made up of more triceps then biceps. So are you sure it’s your biceps that are lagging? Is it the bicep peak that is lacking ?

as for tips building bigger biceps. I’ll tell you what worked for me
1- TUT ( time under tension ) ( slow negatives ) & ( what I’d do is last rep on every set I’d hold the weight at the top as long as I can til I can’t hold anymore , then on negative just go down slow and controlled)
2- 21’s ( great for pumping blood into the muscle , great burn use a good moderate weight to make sure you get 21 but it should get harder rep by rep )
3- Barbell curls / ez bar curls
4- Hammer curls.

Concentration curls are nice to add in focus in the movement good strict form. Again what works for me may not work for you. No body here can tell you what will work cause no body knows your body. But what people can do is give you tips on what worked for them as I’m doing.
 
I didn't have biceps until I started doing drag curls. Taking my shoulders out of the movement really seems to focus everything on the biceps. Very light weight recommended.
 
Screwtape said:
I didn't have biceps until I started doing drag curls. Taking my shoulders out of the movement really seems to focus everything on the biceps. Very light weight recommended.
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I haven’t done drag curls in like 10 years. I always felt awkward doing them but u can see them being a great exercise.
Also what do you mean taking shoulders out of the movement? Your shoulders should never be involved and if they are it’s cause you are swininging the weights or lifting to much more than you should and you are using the swing and shoulders to compete reps. My shoulders are never ever involved when doing biceps. Maybe consider lowering the weights so you can focus on the proper form
 
Resolve10 said:
FWIW the biceps do assist in shoulder flexion. I’ve at times enjoyed one of the RP tips of slightly lifting up as I curl so that end the curl more at my nose/eyes. The contraction with this is pretty intense when done right.
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that's solid. even sitting at my desk with nothing in my hands I can feel the difference.

everyone knows the cliche but this last strength cycle grew my triceps noticeably. My wife says my biceps look great, but what she's actually noticing is my upper arm. I'm not sure my biceps have grown THAT much, but the triceps are the workhorse for the illusion of size, for me.
 
Dustin07 said:
that's solid. even sitting at my desk with nothing in my hands I can feel the difference.

everyone knows the cliche but this last strength cycle grew my triceps noticeably. My wife says my biceps look great, but what she's actually noticing is my upper arm. I'm not sure my biceps have grown THAT much, but the triceps are the workhorse for the illusion of size, for me.
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Biceps are for show…triceps are for dough!!!
 
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