1. Best Bicep Building

How to Maximize the Size of your Arms One of the first body parts that gets noticed is your arms. While arms are just a small part of the whole picture, there’s no way around wanting to have a set of guns that attracts positive attention. For most guys, the name of the game. Without, reaching your full mountain peak potential will always be just out of reach. Let’s review the basic anatomy of your arm muscles followed by the best exercises that have been proven to maximize muscle growth. We’ll even throw in a comprehensive workout program so you can get started right away.

Page 1 This month-long arm workout, complete with bicep exercise tips, will help you learn how to build muscle and keep it. Training the biceps is a must. This article will provide an overview of the best exercises available and a full training program and tips!

THE ANATOMY OF THE MUSCLE Everyone knows what “biceps” and “triceps” are but it’s important to understand how they each function so that you can put them under the right amount of stress for growth. Biceps Biceps Brachii. Tendons connect the biceps muscle to the bone of the arm. The biceps brachii has two sections, or heads: a long head and a short head. The long head is found on the outside of the arm and makes up most the biceps brachii. The short head is found on the inside of the arm.

Forms the overall size of what is considered the bicep muscle. Most exercises are geared toward causing hypertrophy in this muscle. Biceps-Brachialis. This is a muscle that can be found deeper than the Biceps Brachii. It does play an important role in functional movements as it helps the Biceps Brachii with flexion at the elbow joint. In flexing at the elbow.

While the Biceps-Brachialis does not make up a large portion of the arm, it is still important for balance in muscle size. You will achieve a rounder, fuller look in your arms by incorporating exercises that target this muscle in your workout program. Your arms will have that “peaked” look that professional bodybuilders have. Triceps Triceps Brachii. Has three sections, or heads, that form the famous horseshoe shape and make up the entire back of your arm. Important for stabilization of the shoulder joint. The triceps muscle makes up one third the size of your arm.

If your goal is to dramatically increase arm size, you would want to focus on causing maximum hypertrophy in the triceps muscle. Under training the triceps muscle can result in over compensation from other muscles, increasing your chances for strains and tears. It’s important to work on your triceps muscle just as much as the biceps muscle. Forearms. Made up of several smaller muscles including:.

Flexor Carpi Ulnaris (outside of the forearm). Palmaris Longus (not everyone has this muscle – if you do, it’s in the middle of your forearm). Flexor Carpi Radialis (middle of the forearm). Pronator Teres (inside of the forearm). And a few more even smaller muscles. Forearms are important for wrist and elbow flexion.

They also help to balance out the look of your arms. Large biceps and triceps with underdeveloped forearms are aesthetically unpleasing but also a possible risk for strain or injury. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ARM MUSCLES As simple as it may seem to lift up a gallon of water or throw a basketball, each movement requires a complex set of actions and reactions from your arm muscles. They must work together in order to execute a movement properly.

During pushing movements, your triceps muscles must activate while your biceps muscles relax. During pulling movements, the opposite is true. Your biceps will react and activate while your triceps deactivate and relax. It is important to understand this concept as you go through your workout program. Pay close attention to how your own muscles are reacting during a movement.

Focus your tension on the action muscle, this will help to. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ARM MUSCLE GROWTH There are as many theories and methodologies on how to build your arms as there are muscles, tendons, and ligaments within. The two major trains of thought boil down to high repetitions with lower volume and lower repetitions with higher volume. Which one is right?

Both of them are actually. In order to achieve a high level of maximum growth, you need to f during your regular workouts and dedicating a day to really hitting your arm muscles (or even a day every couple of weeks). Let’s breakdown the acute variables you should be incorporating into your workout program. The Important Variables of The Best Arm Workouts Sets. 4 to 6.

As demonstrated in a study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the repetition range for muscular hypertrophy you want to strive to hit is 40 to 60 per muscle per workout. 4 to 6 sets is an ideal amount that will allow you to reach the 40 to 60 repetition range. Rep Scheme. 6 to 10. As mentioned above, achieving a total of 40 to 60 repetitions per workout has been shown to generate the most growth activation. You can hit this range by using the repetition count of 5 to 10 per set of the exercise.

For instance, performing 4 heavy sets of 5 reps, and then 4 sets of 10 repetitions will result in 60 total repetitions. Volume.

75% to 85% of your one repetition maximum, or 1RM (the maximum amount of weight you can perform in one repetition). While it may seem contrary to what you have been taught, utilizing a large amount of volume to cause the most muscular hypertrophy during arm training. Variety is important when it comes to staying motivated and keeping your training interesting.

So you can break up your workout routines by performing a day of high repetition, lower volume sets every now and again. This will help to change things up while providing your arms a much needed break. Arm Exercise Selection.

When it comes to maximizing growth, it is important to select the appropriate exercises. There’s no need to get fancy. Many of the classic bicep and triceps exercises work best for initiating hypertrophy. We will expand on this below. The important thing is that you make sure to switch up exercises every 6 to 10 weeks, depending on your experience level.

This will help you to avoid a plateau and sheer boredom. Training Frequency. To expand on a study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the greatest results came from training one body part every 5 to 7 days. It is important to note that compound movements such as the bench press and pull-up will activate your arm muscles and give them lots of volume, so there’s no real need to have 2+ arm days per week.

Even one arm-specific day every two weeks would be sufficient. THE BEST ARM EXERCISES YOU NEED FOR GROWTH Not all arm exercises are the same. Some activate different portions of the arm while others may just be for show, having no real value. We have compiled the best and most effective arm exercises that have been shown to maximize muscle growth. All of the following exercises are free weight based as free weights allow for a greater range of motion without forcing your body into a locked position as many machines do.

Machines for the most part just suck, period. The Best Exercises For The Biceps Barbell Bicep Curl –. Holding a straight-arm barbell with an under handgrip, stand with a tight core and flat back. Keep your upper arm in place and bend from the elbow with a straight wrist.

Curl the barbell up towards your shoulders. Pause at the top of the movement. Slowly, lower the weight. E-Z Bar Bicep Curl –.

Holding an E-Z Curl barbell with an under handgrip, stand with a tight core and flat back. Keep your upper arm in place and bend from the elbow with a straight wrist. Curl the barbell up towards your shoulders.

Pause at the top of the movement. Slowly, lower the weight. Alternating Dumbbell Curl –. Grab a pair of dumbbells, holding with an underhand grip, and stand up tall with a tight core. Your palms should be facing forward. Keeping your upper arm at your side, bend from the elbow and lift the bar upward. Focus the tension in your bicep and pause at the top of the shoulder.

Slowly lower the weight to the starting position. Hammer Dumbbell Curl –. Hold a pair of dumbbells with an underhand grip and make sure your core is tight and lower back is flat. Your palms will be facing inward to the sides of your body.

Bend from the elbow as you lift the dumbbell up and towards your shoulders. The motion will resemble swinging a hammer. Pause at the top and slowly lower the dumbbell back to the starting position. Chin-Up –. Grab a pull-up bar with an underhand grip.

Your hands should be roughly shoulder-width apart. Keep your core tight and your elbows slightly bent throughout the movement. Pull yourself up, stopping when your chin reaches the height of the bar. Slowly lower yourself and repeat. The Best Exercises For The Triceps Close-Grip Bench Press –. Lying on a flat bench, place your hands on the barbell close than shoulder width.

Push the bar up, pausing above your chest. Slowly lower the bar, focusing the tension in your triceps. Keeping the elbows bent, push the barbell up to the starting position and repeat. Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Press –. Standing with a tight core or sitting on a flat bench, raise a dumbbell above your head with both hands.

Your elbows will be pointing skyward and the movement will come from the forearms. Minimal movement will come from your elbows.

Lower the dumbbell behind your head, pause, then slowly lift it to the starting position. Lying Triceps Press –.

Hold an E-Z Curl bar with an overhand grip while standing. Sit on a flat bench then slowly lay back. Push the barbell above your head. Your elbows will be skyward for the entire movement. Slowly, lower the barbell towards your face, pause, and return to the starting position. Triceps Pushdown –. Standing at a cable machine, make sure the rope attachment is in place.

Grab the rope and make sure to keep your upper arms at your sides during the movement. Push down on the rope, focusing all the tension in your triceps. Pause at the bottom and slowly bring the rope to the starting position.

Dip –. Secure an overhand grip on the dip bars. Lift yourself up and make sure your core is tight. Bend at the elbows and slowly lower yourself, focusing the tension in the triceps. Raise yourself back up by pushing against the dip bars. Make sure to keep proper form. You can also perform this movement with a bench.

The Best Exercises for The Forearms Reverse Curls –. Stand tall, holding an E-Z Curl bar with an overhand grip. Keeping your upper arms at your sides, bend at the elbow, lifting the barbell up. Pause at the top of the shoulders and slowly lower the barbell to the starting position.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: THE BEST ARM WORKOUT Close-Grip Bench Press:. 2 warm up sets of 10 to 12 reps. 3-4 sets of 4-6 reps Barbell Curl:. 2 warm up sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. 3 to 4 working sets of 4 to 8 reps Dips (Optional: Add weights via a weight belt):. 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps Dumbbell Hammer Curl:.

3-4 sets of 4-8 reps Alternating Dumbbell Curl:. 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAXIMUM ARM SIZE GAINS It is not enough to perform the exercises listed above, you have to constantly push yourself, shooting for higher volume, increased sets, and amplified intensity. Doing the same exercises with no change results in a plateau, where size or strength stop showing up. Try to increase the weight you are using every workout by 1 to 5 pounds. At the same time, make sure you are able to maintain near-perfect form. Decrease your rest breaks between sets on your higher volume end sets.

This will force your body to become more efficient at utilizing fuel sources while increasing your endurance capacity. Incorporate failure sets into your workout. It is recommended to save a failure set for the last set of an exercise. Simply do as many repa as you possibly can with good form. Make sure you mix up your workout after 6 to 10 weeks, utilizing the other exercises, higher volume, or increased sets.

Be sure to focus on the muscle you are working. Review the anatomy section to understand the workings of that muscle to help you visualize the stress being placed upon it. This mind to muscle connection will help increase tension and hypertrophy. Bonus Tip: Nothing feels better on arm day than a solid muscle pump.

Check out which has clinically effective doses of and, ingredients backed by science to boost pumps, and muscle growth. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA More Reading: References.

The Question What's your single best tip for building bigger biceps? Paul Carter – Strength and Bodybuilding Coach Do 100 reps of empty barbell curls. Most guys that struggle with biceps growth use really heavy weights and a lot of momentum to curl. Then they do reps in the low ranges and, ultimately, the biceps really don't end up doing a lot of work or getting a lot of tension. The upper back helps with the initial cheat to start the concentric and then the eccentric or negative portion of the rep is basically just the barbell dropping back down.

But even if you get sloppy with 100 empty-bar reps, just making it to the 100 rep mark will have your biceps screaming. If you can't do the 100 reps nonstop then work towards that goal. Doing this twice a week, with no other biceps work, caused my biceps to grow a lot in only two months.

But like any training stimulus, it's going to have its effective time limit. Once I could do 200 reps nonstop I didn't see the same type of growth that I did over the first 8 weeks. But if your biceps growth has been stuck, try it. Chris Shugart – T Nation CCO Time your curls. There are many ways to build biceps.

And sometimes the 'best' method of triggering fresh muscle gains is to simply do something new. Something you haven't done before or haven't done in a long time. For biceps, here's something to try.

The next time you do a set of curls of any type, keep an eye on the clock or have a buddy time your set. How long did that set of curls take?

If you typically go heavy so you don't have to go home (as mandated by bro code) your set probably fell below 60 seconds. Let's say you did a fairly heavy 8-rep set, and it took roughly 1 second to lift the weight and you lowered it under control for 2 seconds each rep. That's 24 seconds per set. Add a 1 second squeeze at the top of each rep and you get 32 seconds. That's fine, heavy weights, lower reps, and therefore a shorter time under tension (TUT) builds muscle too. But you could be 'missing' some muscle fibers and missing out on hypertrophy if you always use short sets. Now do another set and make it last at least 60 seconds, maybe even up to 90 seconds.

Yep, you'll have to reduce the weight, and yes, this will hurt in a whole new way. In fact, it's tougher in many ways than doing fewer reps with a heavier weight, which is why many people avoid it. But you'll also be tapping into different muscle fibers and triggering a host of fresh biological responses that tell your body to 'put some new muscle here.' Keep the timer handy or watch a nearby clock the next time you hit biceps. You may be surprised that you never even approach the 1 minute mark. Add some 60-90 second sets to your heavy work, or spend a whole training block in that longer TUT range. Your biceps will grow like the national debt.

Mark Dugdale – IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Chase the pump. I compete in the IFBB and we don't care all that much about strength.

'How much does the competitor curl?' This is a question you won't find on the judges scorecard.

Interesting enough, 20-plus years of training also taught me that lifting big numbers, particularly in regards to arm training, does very little for gains in size. Sure, it might impress other dudes in the gym while inflaming your elbows and wrists, but sleeve stretching results won't ensue. Therefore the single best tip for building bigger biceps is to train for the pump. This is best accomplished with lighter weight and intensity techniques. My preferred intensity techniques include: eccentric-focused reps, drop sets, rest-pause sets, banded tension, and iso-holds.

Turn up the volume, pair the exercise with an intensity technique, pound some and leave the heavy weight for leg day. Your skin-splitting pump will do more for size increases than the over-inflamed joints which follow on the heels of training with excessive weight. John Rusin – Doctor of Physical Therapy, Performance Expert Use moderate loads, higher reps, and more cumulative metabolic stress. Some lifters get carried away trying to train the arms with pure strength. But the arms really don't respond that well to heavy loading.

Yeah, that's right, the days of swinging around the 60s with ugly compensation patterns that look more like a back extension than a curl are over. What's in (among smart lifters) is chasing a painful skin-tearing pump to achieve not only strength and muscle, but also resilience through the upper arms, which protects the joints. Once you nail the programming, it's all about the execution. Contract the biceps as slow and hard as humanly possible on every rep in order to maximize tension and increase total time under tension.

But even more importantly, this strategy will turn up your mind-muscle connection. Working at a slow and deliberate tempo with a peak squeeze at the top of each rep while moving through extended ranges of motion in and out of a stretch is the recipe for massive biceps. Put your ego down, move light weights slowly for more reps, and challenge your form to maximize every rep. This is how you get gains (without pain and injury) that you can show off in a tank. Eric Bach – Strength Coach Focus on total-body strength first, then use iso-dynamic contrast. Without first building a foundation, you'll never have the base to specialize and maximize isolation work. But if you're already a strong lifting junky you'll need isolation work to build bigger and stronger biceps.

One of the biggest obstacles lifters have when trying to build lagging areas is a poor mind-muscle connection. Once you're past newbie gains, you'll have one hell of a time building your biceps until you 'feel' the muscle working. This is where the method comes in. Iso-Dynamic Contrast Curl. Pick a weight you could curl for 15 reps. Curl the weight to the common sticking point, right around 90 degrees of flexion. Squeeze the dumbbells as hard as possible to create an irradiation stimulus and improve muscle fiber recruitment.

Hold that squeeze for 15-20 seconds. After the hold, perform curls for 8-12 reps, or to technical failure. This creates tons of metabolic stress, mechanical tension, and improves the mind-muscle connection to build bigger, stronger biceps. Do three to four sets twice a week.

Bret Contreras – Strength Coach Want your biceps to grow? Think effort. Ten years ago, I would've recommended a pyramid scheme involving barbell curls. Five years ago, I would've recommended heavy weighted chin-ups. Today my opinion is different. A recent by Brittany Counts and colleagues turned out some intriguing results. The subjects trained three sessions per week for six weeks.

Each did two protocols: one arm was used for no-load and the other arm was used for high load. The no-load condition had the subjects moving their arms into elbow flexion and extension while attempting to maximally contract their biceps throughout the range of motion. They experienced EMG biofeedback which encouraged them to flex as hard as possible throughout the workout. They performed 4 sets of 20 reps with 30 seconds rest time between sets.

The high load condition used a dumbbell curl with 70% of 1RM for 4 sets of 8-12 reps with 90 seconds rest in between sets. Loads were increased over the 6-week period. Unsurprisingly, the dumbbell group increased strength to a greater degree than the no-weight group. But here's crazy thing – the dumbbell and no-weight groups saw the same gains in biceps hypertrophy. This should tell you that load doesn't matter as much in building biceps as long as you're contracting the muscle as hard as possible. For biceps growth, you could choose a barbell curl, a dumbbell curl, a preacher curl, or a concentration curl, with heavy load for moderate reps, light load for high reps, or a combination thereof, and see similar results as long as effort is high and volume is sufficient. But when it comes to biceps strength, specificity is king.

One by Scott Dankel and colleagues found that performing 1RM biceps curls every day for 21 straight sessions gained the same strength as a group that did the same thing with 1RMs but also included additional curling volume. Therefore, if you want to maximize strength, do plenty of heavy low-rep work on whatever exercise task you're striving to improve. For example, if you believe that the best way to test your biceps strength is a 1RM EZ-bar strict curl where your back is placed against the wall, then do lots of that in your training and you'll be good to go.

Christian Thibaudeau – Strength Coach Improve your ability to recruit and contract them. When it comes to biceps, focusing on getting them strong often makes it more difficult to get them bigger because it can shift the tension away from the biceps themselves.

Practicing intense contraction of the target muscle is much harder to do when using heavy weights. So when you're trying to fix lagging biceps, the first thing to do is work on constant tension to maximize the mind-muscle connection. The time spent doing it will be an investment in all the future biceps training you'll do. So my recommendation isn't so much a special exercise, but rather a specific way to do your reps. For four weeks do every rep of your bicep work like this:. Before even lifting the weights, tense the biceps as hard as you can, as if you were trying to flex it. That is the 'principle of first tension' – the muscle firing hardest first is the one that'll receive the most stimulation in the set.

Then when you lift and lower the weight, use a slower tempo. About 3 seconds up and down. This allows you to tense and flex the biceps as hard as humanly possible during every inch of every rep (during both the lifting and lowering portions).

If you go faster it's harder to keep the muscle maximally tensed. During the lowering portion you should actually flex and tense your triceps too. Sounds weird, but it makes the eccentric (lowering) even harder, accentuating the eccentric. The benefits:.

It's the best way to become really good at recruiting and contracting the biceps and you'll program your nervous system to do it, which will make the future heavier biceps work more effective. It stimulates muscle growth via an accumulation of growth factors and mTOR activation, but there's very little, if any, muscle damage. So you can (and should) do this type of biceps work multiple times during the week. Think 3-4 days a week. This will allow you to become even better at recruiting the biceps. Remember, frequency of practice is the key to motor learning.

Once you've spent some time training the biceps like this, you'll be able to switch to heavy lifting, but now the tension won't shift away from the biceps because you improved your capacity to recruit the muscle and keep it tensed. Amit Sapir – IFBB Pro, World Record Holder Powerlifter Do at least one heavy standing curl exercise, then manipulate it. Choose EZ or straight bar curls because they tend to be the most efficient, then try any or all of these:. Use different ranges of motion, including partial reps.

Try adding fat grips which help the bicep contract better and as a bonus increase forearm size. Add tempo manipulation, like a 2-3 second pause at peak contraction. Michael Warren – Strength Coach Develop a mind-muscle connection. Focus on flexing the muscle throughout the movement and maximally contracting the muscle at the peak point of contraction on every rep of every set.

The conscious effort to activate the target muscle before and between every set while visualizing its action and desired appearance during a movement will help to develop this powerful connection. This is an extremely powerful method, and it's a real phenomenon that influences neuromuscular dynamics during resistance training. When curling, make it a goal to feel every inch of the range of motion from the stretched (lowered) position to the contraction and back. The profound connection between your nervous system and muscles will help you recruit as many muscle fibers as possible with each rep.

Try incline dumbbell curls, seated alternating curls, and spider curls. On every variation, supinate your forearm (like you're turning a doorknob) and drive the little finger side of your hands into the weight to target your biceps.

Lee Boyce – Strength Coach Do more pulling. Lifters often treat the biceps as prime movers doing curl variations and chin-ups, and they don't respect their roles as stabilizers in movements like rows, loaded carries, deadlifts, and the like.

Sure, increased volume in biceps exercises is important, but overall pulling volume will make a cumulative difference that results in upper arm thickness. Speaking of thickness, doing lifts with irregular objects that go beyond a classic dumbbell (think fat rope pulls, fat bars, kettlebells, etc.) can make the biceps work harder and grow. To start, try wrapping towels or fat grips around your pull-up bar or farmer's walk implements. Add more weekly volume by throwing in a finisher including any of the above after each workout of your week.

Best Bicep Building

You'll notice a change.