BICEPS Growth Secrets
When I was 14, my Mom was always telling me that my arms look very small and thin, and the worst thing was, that she was right.
During that time I was a basketball player for our local team. Our condition training was only cardio based, running and a lot of it. My body was like a pyramid; heavy lower body mass, a little bit smaller waist, thin shoulder area and neck.
One day I just decided to get stronger or to be more accurate, I decided to build some muscles and to look like Jean Claude Van Damme as I saw him in Blood Sport 1. More specifically I wanted to have biceps like his or as it turns out as good or even better.
BICEPS Growth Plan 1
So, obviously the first thing that I needed to do was to start lifting weights. We weren’t as well informed as we are now about how to train and what to eat. We were just looking at the more developed and imitating them by whatever means we could.
After 8 months of training I was significantly more developed than my fellows at gym. Especially my chest and biceps! Yay!! Not right arm, but bicep! The reason for this is that I was training it every day or at least every other day.
However, here is what I realize from my knowledgeable perspective today.
The training volume is one of the most important variables when it comes to sarcoplasm hypertrophy. So, we can conclude that if someone has a lack of development is some particular muscle group, they should train this group more often, with more volume and more density.
How often and with what volume? Well it varies from person to person and from muscle group to muscle group but we can generally separate the muscles in two main categories: larger and smaller muscles groups
Larger muscles are:
Lower body: Quads, Gluteus, Hamstrings
Upper body: Traps, Latissums, Pecs
Small muscles are:
biceps, triceps, calves, forearms, shoulders, neck, serratus, neck, abs
I learned through the years that even with my poor genetics, that there is no muscle group on my body that cannot be developed and grown when I direct attention to them. However, today I am addressing biceps development and how to force your weak biceps to grow and to grow fast.
This is what I did 20 years ago:
– I was training arms three times a week (with shoulders)
– I was eating basically everything
– I was playing basketball, sometimes twice a day
– I had no idea what I was doing
– I was using barbels and dumbbells with countless sets and reps
The result was that my biceps were looking like tennis balls just for few weeks.
BICEPS Growth Plan 2
Intuitively I realized that the two main bodybuilding principles are priority and overloading.
If you want to use these principles, include your biceps first after rest day in your training split. Then if you want to make them look massive use barbell curls with cheating on form. If your goal is to add more symmetry and thickness then use more dumbbells and isolation work. It’s different now that I have learned the dynamics and intricacies of how the musculature responds to stimulation for fast growth.
Sample design for beginner biceps training:
A. Barbell bicep curls 3 x 6-8 rest 90sec
B. Dumbbell bicep curls 3 x 10 rest 90 sec
Sample design for intermediate:
A. Close grip pull ups 4 x 8-10 rest 90 sec
B. Biceps curls 5 x 5 rest 90 sec
C. Scott curls 3 x 10 rest 60 sec
D. Cable curls 3 x 15 rest<60 sec
Sample design for advance biceps training:
A. Dumbbell bicep curls 5 x 5 rest: 90 sec
B. Scott bench curls 4 x 8 rest: 60 sec
C. Hammer curls 5 x 5 rest: 90 sec
D. Cable bicep curls 3 x 15 rest: 30-60 sec
E. Concentric curls 3 x 15 rest: none
Secret weapon 1: Start every training session with one basic exercise for biceps like barbell curls and finish the training with another 4 sets of it. Try this 2 weeks if you are advanced, 6 weeks if intermediate and don’t try this if you are a rookie 🙂
Secret weapon 2: Train your biceps everyday for a week. This is shocking technique so should be done carefully and with priority. For all other muscle groups perform only one basic exercises during your week or none.
Secret weapon 3: This is obviously for people with plenty of free time but anyway here is the deal. Set one day and perform 3 sets of 10 reps every two hours for one day.
I believe part of my biceps shape comes from my friends. When I was younger I used every possible situation to show my biceps when somebody ask me to. Soon they start asking me more often because the biceps were looking better and better from all the isokinetic contractions. This may sound like a joke, but is something that works pretty well. My advice will be once or twice a day to dedicate few sets of posing in the mirror at home. You may think that’s ego feeding exercise but I think of this like a weak working method for overall body look.
There is one more very important element. The full range of motion is a “must” do element if you want full biceps development. Be sure that at the bottom and at the top of the motion your muscle is activated, contracted and with each rep you’ll feel it better and better and better, beyond pain and “I can’t”.
So what do you think? Please comment below.
Yours in strength,
Stan
P.S. As you can see there are countless techniques that you can use to develop your biceps, but our role is to exercise patience and be determined enough to try them all. So keep looking and trying. It will take time, but it is all worth it.
Thanks to my editor Daniel Pia