Need some bicep tips from the wise ones...

[BlueCorsair]

'ello ladies and gents, it's been awhile since I've posted.

I've got a couple of pics in my profile, and while they don't look too bad - they were taken nearly 6 months ago. Since then, I've only managed to put on about eight pounds, some of which is certainly fat, as my waist has gone from about 32/32.5 inches to 33/33.5.

Regardless, my main concern is my biceps - nothing is happening here. I used to do preacher curls, but they did nothing. Standing curls hurt my tiny wrists too much (if you look at my photos, you'll see I'm an ecto with a very tiny bone structure). Recently I've mostly done three drop-sets of incline curls. First 40 pound weights, then 35's, then 30's. To "finish off" I do two sets of cables.

No progress however. My biceps are ridiculously small I believe, particularly my left one, and have gained no strength...

so - any tips? Is there a good combo of bicep exercises I should try? Should I over-emphasize a particular portion of the movement?

Thank you sincerely in advance...

 

[shutupntra1n]

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=38403

 

[wtfzor]

I'll bet the problem is in your form rather than the selection of exercise.

 

[Cold Iron]

Post your whole routine. Then post your diet.

The two most common reasons for Bi's not growing or any muscle for that matter, is overtraining and under-eating.

They say(Gods of IM) that it takes roughly 10 lbs of LBM to put an inch on your arms.

 

[Mudge]

2-3 sets of hammers and 2 sets of standing alternates for me.

 

[Randy]

3 sets Medium grip BB curls
3 sets of DB concentration curls
3 sets of hammers
upper/lower wrists just for good measure

Diet: Steak and potatoes and a corndog

 

[CowPimp]

Try toying with the volume. I think arms are very sensitive to volume because of their use in a wide variety of other lifts and daily activities.

 

[Randy]

I've been workin Gopros routine -- It seems to be a great routine for any body part.
If your interested, check out my links. It has proven to work well for many people.

 

[CowPimp]

I know this is going to sound weird, but you may want to consider doing no direct bicep work if you do a lot of compound back exercises that incorporate them.

 

[Randy]

Yeah, that sounds wierd cowpimp

 

[CowPimp]

Yeah, that sounds wierd cowpimp

To be honest, my biceps seem to respond best to very low volume. I don't think I'll ever be doing more than 5 direct sets for my biceps again. It just doesn't seem to work well for me.

 

[Randy]

I've gone from 15's to 18's within just the last few years. I originally worked the hell out of them for the first year doing like 5 sets of biceps and 5 sets of triceps at least twice a week. I seemed to be having some pretty rapid growth with that routine. I did lots of hammers by running the rack, well not the entire rack . And did lots of concentration curls and preachers.. I have pretty much always done bulk lifting usually following a 10-6 rep range. I follow the pyramid style usually where I start with 10 reps, then add weight and do 9, then add more weight, and do 8 reps etc. Then after that year I dropped down to 3 sets per muscle group. So I do 3 sets of biceps and 3 for triceps. My workouts now take about 1.5 hours, where before I was doing like 2 plus. Most thought I was overtraining, and I did think it was a bit to long of workout. I think my 1.5 hour now is just right. It seems to be working well. And now I am incorporating gopros routine. I'm doing P/P/RR/RR/S/S I'm doing each variation for 1 week.

I'm sure you will hear different recommendations from most anyone hear though. You just have to find what works best for you and stick with it.
But I believe as everyone preaches, the best way to gain is to maintain the proper diet, as well as protein intake, nutrition, and alternate the variations of lifting. This is why the P/RR/S idea works well .

I just have to stop eatin tacos man..It's my new years resolution believe me I want to focus on cardio and diet this new year. It's the hardest thing though with a love for tacos

 

[BlueCorsair]

Thanks for the opinions guys...

I know diet's an issue, and my form I am VERY careful of. That's why I use almost exclusively the incline curls - they are very hard to cheat on I believe.

It's mostly a case of needing a new bicep routine, if you guys have any you know of that are well rounded.

Thanks

 

[Duncans Donuts]

What is the rest of your routine like?

 

[sabre81]

i do back and biceps on the same day. After back, i do 6-7 sets of biceps. Last week was 3 sets of seated bicep curls, and 3 sets of hammer curls on the incline bench at 45 deg angle.

This week was 3 sets of preacher curls with ez grip bar using close grip, and 2 sets of seated dumbbell curls, and then without rest, 1 set of reverse grip barbell curls until failure.

 

[Jeanie]

i do back and biceps on the same day. After back, i do 6-7 sets of biceps. Last week was 3 sets of seated bicep curls, and 3 sets of hammer curls on the incline bench at 45 deg angle.

This week was 3 sets of preacher curls with ez grip bar using close grip, and 2 sets of seated dumbbell curls, and then without rest, 1 set of reverse grip barbell curls until failure.

I do a very close routine to this. I think before you take anyones advice you may want to look at their pics to see their actual biceps...proofs in the pudding!

 

[Duncans Donuts]

People can give sound advice without having what one may consider nice biceps.

 

[Jeanie]

People can give sound advice without having what one may consider nice biceps.

Okay, but for example, when bragging about increasing size by 3 inches you may want to see that result first.

 

[Randy]

I suppose that was jeanie again with her insults... I can't read em cause she's been on ignore. She's mad cause I made a comment that I think women with muscles like a man is a big turn off. I was just being honest, and not directing that comment toward her, but I guess she took it that way Anyway, I'm not hear to insult anyone, just trying to be helpful.

Thanks Duncan.

 

[BlueCorsair]

My thread has been hijacked!!!

At any rate, my overall routine is pretty basic.

Monday - Chest + biceps. Chest is three sets of flat bench, or flat dumbell press, plus either two sets of decline, or two sets of incline press. I usually finish off with pec flys, either by machine, or free weight. Biceps are three dropsets of incline curls - 40's, then 35's, then 30's. I use cables to finish off, or concentration curls with a low weight - like 20 or 25's.

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - Back and Triceps. Back is three sets of bent rows using 75 pound dumbells, then two or three sets of seated rows, then two or three lat pull downs or wide grip pull ups. Triceps is either three drop sets of close-grip bench, starting out at about 185 pounds, then going down. I then finish with cables usually. Otherwise, I sometimes go for ridiculously heavy skull crushers.

Thursday - rest

Friday - legs and shoulders. For legs, it's three sets of squats of up to 200 pounds. Then I generally work the glutes a bit, and do some hamstring work. Shoulders are three dropsets of military presses, then three upright rows.

Sat/sun is recovery time.

As an ecto, this has proven effective in the past. Before I lifted weights, I was no taller or bulkier in terms of bone structure than I am now, and I weighed 128 pounds. I'm now about 164. Around 15 to 16% BF. Maybe a touch more, maybe a touch less.

At any rate, I need a new bicep routine! But someone wanted to see my routine, so there it is!

 

[wtfzor]

I think before you take anyones advice you may want to look at their pics to see their actual biceps...proofs in the pudding!

Arnold

 

[Jeanie]

My thread has been hijacked!!!

At any rate, my overall routine is pretty basic.

Monday - Chest + biceps. Chest is three sets of flat bench, or flat dumbell press, plus either two sets of decline, or two sets of incline press. I usually finish off with pec flys, either by machine, or free weight. Biceps are three dropsets of incline curls - 40's, then 35's, then 30's. I use cables to finish off, or concentration curls with a low weight - like 20 or 25's.

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - Back and Triceps. Back is three sets of bent rows using 75 pound dumbells, then two or three sets of seated rows, then two or three lat pull downs or wide grip pull ups. Triceps is either three drop sets of close-grip bench, starting out at about 185 pounds, then going down. I then finish with cables usually. Otherwise, I sometimes go for ridiculously heavy skull crushers.

Thursday - rest

Friday - legs and shoulders. For legs, it's three sets of squats of up to 200 pounds. Then I generally work the glutes a bit, and do some hamstring work. Shoulders are three dropsets of military presses, then three upright rows.

Sat/sun is recovery time.

As an ecto, this has proven effective in the past. Before I lifted weights, I was no taller or bulkier in terms of bone structure than I am now, and I weighed 128 pounds. I'm now about 164. Around 15 to 16% BF. Maybe a touch more, maybe a touch less.

At any rate, I need a new bicep routine! But someone wanted to see my routine, so there it is!

I think your routine looks great. How long have you been doing it? Could it be that you just need a change? Do you twist you wrist at the end of each curl? This is very helpful for me to accentuate the peak. Oh, you may also consider adding another bicep exercise like hammer curls or using a rope at the bottom of the pulley.

 

[Randy]

Blue,

You stated that you're not noticing gain, but describe that when you do stand up curls your wrists hurt. You might want to try varying your grip. It is possible that the grip your using is putting more stress on a certain area of your wrist. I'm not sure what grip your using now, but medium grip would probably give you less stress. I usually vary my grips anyway. I myself used to have wrist problems and overcame most of it by adding simple wrist excercises in my program. It did wonders for me. Especially so on my bench. I used to feel pain in my wrists at around 275 pounds, then after strengthening my wrists all pain vanished. My point is that in my opinion if you want growth you need to lift heavy thereby doing a bulk routine. Squeezing at the top I believe does place emphasis on the bicep. Some people never develop a true peak though, it is genetics that dictate that I'm affraid. But this doesn't mean you can't build big biceps. Lastly make sure you are feeding your body with lots of nutrients and getting the proper amount of protein. Protein with the proper amino acids helps develop your muscles. Without this, you could be also limiting your muscle growth.

 

[AlbertBurga]

you're overanalyzing you bicep training. make sure your training is order (heavy compound mostly, through in some isolation work where needed), and that your diet is hypercaloric (eat over maintainence, with a decent ratio of carbs, fats, protein) and you will grow all over (your bi's will follow). Ever seen a guy with huge arms (18''+) and nothing else?

 

[Egoatdoor]

you're overanalyzing you bicep training. make sure your training is order (heavy compound mostly, through in some isolation work where needed), and that your diet is hypercaloric (eat over maintainence, with a decent ratio of carbs, fats, protein) and you will grow all over (your bi's will follow). Ever seen a guy with huge arms (18''+) and nothing else?

Along some of the same lines AB above is saying, I suggest you get the pick up the January issue of Muscle Mag( it may still be on the newstands for a couple more days) and read the article on page 244, "A Different Approach to Building Big Arms". It is one of the best articles I've seen in awhile and will enlighten you as I think your mindset and approach need to be adjusted.

If you can't find it, contact their website www.emusclemag.com. They may even send you a free issue.

 

[BulkMeUp]

Blue,

You stated that you're not noticing gain, but describe that when you do stand up curls your wrists hurt. You might want to try varying your grip. It is possible that the grip your using is putting more stress on a certain area of your wrist. I'm not sure what grip your using now, but medium grip would probably give you less stress. I usually vary my grips anyway. I myself used to have wrist problems and overcame most of it by adding simple wrist excercises in my program. It did wonders for me.

Randy, do you have any suggestions/links to those wrist exercises? i seem to have developed a problem with my wrists a few weeks ago (at the joint directly below my pinky) which i feel during db curls only.

 

[BlueCorsair]

Thanks for all the advice ladies and gents, it's been great reading as always

 

[CowPimp]

Randy, do you have any suggestions/links to those wrist exercises? i seem to have developed a problem with my wrists a few weeks ago (at the joint directly below my pinky) which i feel during db curls only.

I like static holds, gorilla hangs, and plate pinches.

 

[Randy]

Randy, do you have any suggestions/links to those wrist exercises? i seem to have developed a problem with my wrists a few weeks ago (at the joint directly below my pinky) which i feel during db curls only.

The ones I do are the short straight bar cable curls. I sit on the end of a bench facing the cable pulley. Using the bottom pulley, I attach a straight short bar (close grip). I rest my wrists on the end of my knees with my palms face up and curl the bar keeping my wrists against my knees. I try to incorporate as much motion as possible. Wrists all the way down then slowly curl upward. These are for the inner wrists.

For the outer I do the similar process only I use the upper pulley. I lay down on the flat bench. With my wrists resting on the very end of the flat bench I do the reverse curls in the same fashion. I do 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps on both of these exercises. I will tell you just by working these into my bi-weekly bicep/tricep routine has done wonders for me. I'll tell you, not many people could have had wrists in worse shape then mine. Now they are much stronger. Can now see a lot of strings in my wrists too I'll tell you it really helps you in all your other exercises where you lift heavy weights. If you have weak wrists, they will greatly limit your lifting capability. I don't have to tell anyone that has weak wrists that though....

*** If you don't have access to a cable pulley stack, you can do the same thing with dumbells or a barbell..

Another good one is taking a short piece of 3/4 inch pvc and cut it off about 12-16 inches or so. Then drill a hole in the center.. Get some of that small nylon rope (can buy it at the hardware store) and thread it through the hole and tie a knot. Then on the other end just wrap it around some weight plates .. Whalla...you have yourself a wrist roller. That really helps out a lot too.

 

[Randy]

I like gorilla hangs and plate pinches.

Cow, were not asking you to describe your sexual fantasies

Oh man! I'm laughing to hard on this one