Help...my biceps are terrible.

[justinf22]

My biceps wont grow for shit, everything else is up to par . I currently train them 1x per week, 3 exercieses, 4 sets each. I have tried more sets with the same results. What should i do now, my options are 1.) supersets 2.) high rep workouts (i.e 20 reps/set) 3. or train them 2x per week. What do you recommend?

 

[I'D RATHER BE DEADLIFTING]

How about option #4- cut your volume in half.


I personally wouldn't do more than 4 work sets for biceps, especially if you are natural.

 

[The mann]

he's right ,also...do barbell curls for your main exercise.it's like the squats for biceps..........

 

[justinf22]

1.) im not natural, 2.) i said 12 sets, three are warmups , so i only do 9 sets, Im not a gentic wonder like some guys, my biceps wont grow for shit with 4 sets.

 

[WarriorPL]

hit the barbell curls hard, 8 reps, 4 sets is fine.


~WizKid

 

[bigmag]

You should always keep your sets between 12-15. Never do more then 15 sets on one body part.

 

[jbw55]

>>>1.) im not natural, 2.) i said 12 sets, three are warmups , so i only do 9 sets, Im not a gentic wonder like some guys, my biceps wont grow for shit with 4 sets.



Why do three warm-ups? Waste of time IMHO. I do biceps after I do chest (my overall body is warmed up and sweating good by then), and I do ONE set of warm-up curls before I do my straight bar curls, after that I do Preacher and then Curls using this hammer strength machine (much like standing dumbbell curls).

My recommendation, do lower volume, hit them harder and heavier, and do straight bar curls first with as much weight as you can for good form.

Here is my workout for reference:

warmup straight bar curl (10 reps)

Straight bar curl, 3 sets 10-8-6 reps, pyramid weight up

Preacher, 3 sets 10-8-6 reps, pyrmaid weight up (go to failure)

Standing curls (machine), 3 sets 10-8-6, pyramid weight up (go to failure)

That's 10 total, 9 without the warmup, and I think I'm on the high side, no gear, all natural

 

[Robboe]

Back routines hit biceps pretty hard [in case you do them after back] so 2 sets BB curls and then 1 set DB curls will make them grow like motherfookers providing you're eating right.

P.S. Once a week.

 

[curling]

Dude curling is my thing. I don't feel right leaving the gym on bicep day unless my biceps are pumped and a little sore. The excercise I have found to be the best(can't do straitbar curls they are very good though) is doing dumbbell curls on a incline bench. Go slow up and slow down. Buy the end of the set your biceps are in pain and pumped. Give it a shot.

 

[macDbol]

if your not natural bro then i would do this when im on a cycle(b.c. of the recovery and corisol levels are decreased):

murder your fucken arms..use a combo of strong compound movements liek striaght bar curl and throw in cheats once and a while...finish up with concentration curls(with the arms blaster) this will cause the lower part of your bi to get worked...also look at your bi's if they are lagging peaks then hit the cable curls where u are standing and brining the handles to your ears..its all about form so make sure each rep is done with a sqeeze on top of your movement...fuck i think my stacker 2 i took just kicked in i feel like tony fucken little

 

[MonStar1023]

I am different in that way too. My bodyparts wont grow AT ALL from HIT type training with only a few sets per bodypart. I just agree with everyone else though standard barbell curls are GREAT for building up your biceps I think. Heavy, with perfect form. Also hammer curls for your brachialis, I like to do them in front of my body bringing each dumbbell to my opposite pec. If your confused I can explain better. After hitting my brachialis real hard my biceps REALLY grew along with the size of my upper arms.

 

[justinf22]

thanks alot guys , good info. I dont like to work biceps with back cuz i feel i might be overtraining. I usually work them with chest. I think my new routine will be the following:



Standing Barbell curls - 1 warmup 3 sets x (8-10 reps till failure)

Incline bench dumbell curls - 3 sets 10-12 reps

cable preacher curls - 3 sets 10-12 reps

Im not gonna worry about hammer curls cuz my brachialis and forearms are huge compared to my biceps.

 

[DEI]

1)I do warm up and pump in my first excercise:
3 sets of 21

2) then one heavy excercise like standing barbell curl with heavy weight 3 sets 8 reps

3) one excercise of technique and precission like incline bench dumbell curls 3 sets of 10 reps.

that works for me

pump
strength
technique

 

[GenetiKing]

If you are training hardcore...to complete failure on each set, then 6 sets is plenty for biceps which are relatively a small bodypart.

Try this:

Standing straight or EZ bar curls, 2 x 6-8 (not including a light warmup set)

Preacher curls 2 x 6-8

Seated incline bench DB curls (hammer style) 2 x 10-12

The rep ranges indicate a weight. You should be achieving concentric failure within the given ranges, if not adjust the weight. This also incorporates points-of-flexion (POF) training so that the biceps (which happen to be multi-joint muscles) are hit from every angle. Once a week will be plenty.

Make sure your diet is in order first. I see lots of people asking training questions when the problem lies with diet. Sometimes people don't eat as much or as good as they need to be in order to grow even when they think they are. If your body is receiving the nutritional support it needs, 9 times out of 10, you will grow.

Good luck.

 

[Robboe]

Geneticking is dead on, but i still personally think tht 6 sets for such a small muscle may hamper optimum growth.