Is my bicep training approach good?

[Beachbum1546]

I train biceps on chest/bi day. The exercise I do is straight barbell curl. What I do is have a set number of repetitions I must complete, no matter how many sets I do. The number I use is 50. Every week I add 5lbs total to the bar (95lbs to 100lbs). What I have noticed is that I usally end up doing 6 works sets like this usally broken up like 10 reps for the first set then 5 sets @ 8 reps.

I also do 3 sets of alternating dumbell curls to finish it up.

What I'm conerned with is if I end up going too heavy and doing too many sets to get to 50 reps will I overtrain? I say this but I'm actually kind of excited because I've been doing this for 5 weeks and every week I have been able to handle the increased weight. But this leads me to the idea that I'm getting newbie gains from it and quickly approaching overtraining once I start going real heavy. Question, even I can do like 4-6 reps per set should I still shoot for 50 reps or just stick with 6 sets? Which one would you believe to be more beneficial.

 

[bettyboop]

I would suggest doing 3 exercises for Bi`s 1 warm up set then 3 sets heavy weight 6-8 reps. You need to make your weight choice were it wil be hard to do your last 2 reps. Why dont you add in concentration curl, this focuses on just the bicep doing all the work since you have your arm in a restricted position. Hope this helps.

 

[blut wump]

I tend to thnk that less is more for biceps. I do mostly the heavy compound exercises like squats, bench, Pendlay rows, deadlifts, OHP and rarely have much left over to throw at biceps.

Every couple of months or so, I'll make some time for biceps for a couple of weeks just to buff them up with curls for maybe 3x8 but I think they get adequate work from rowing movements and acting as stabilizers in other exercises.

 

[Beachbum1546]

I tend to thnk that less is more for biceps. I do mostly the heavy compound exercises like squats, bench, Pendlay rows, deadlifts, OHP and rarely have much left over to throw at biceps.

Every couple of months or so, I'll make some time for biceps for a couple of weeks just to buff them up with curls for maybe 3x8 but I think they get adequate work from rowing movements and acting as stabilizers in other exercises.

I hear ya. You're the advocate of secondary growth. My problem is that my arms suck (bis and tris) yet my chest and back far supercede in growth which makes me conclude that I'm not priotizing enough to those muscles. I say this because I used to barely if at all train bis/tris. I used to be the exact same as you. Kind of makes you think when I'm perfect BB rowing 245lbs for 5 sets and cant even curl 115lb decent form. And for the chest/tri deal, I could bench super heavy weight on the bottom half of the rep yet couldn't lockout to save my life.

 

[Beachbum1546]

I would suggest doing 3 exercises for Bi`s 1 warm up set then 3 sets heavy weight 6-8 reps. You need to make your weight choice were it wil be hard to do your last 2 reps. Why dont you add in concentration curl, this focuses on just the bicep doing all the work since you have your arm in a restricted position. Hope this helps.

I appreciate any thought or advice. But why is three exercises that equal 9 sets better than my two exercises that equal 9 sets? My BB curl would be the "compund" movement and the Db curls would be the bi specific movement.

CCs are good, I throw them in every 3rd week instead of DB curls. I just feel heavy BB curls should be a staple of every bi routine, so I need advice as to whether my set/rep scheme is a good idea or should I just stick with the typical 3 sets with 6-8 rep idea. Btw, when doing my 50 reps I can barely finish 5 reps before failing and what I do is just holding it at the bottom and force a curl out when I feel rested enough till I get 8 reps. Kills the forearms holding the weight at the bottom like that, ouch!

 

[blut wump]

I hear ya. You're the advocate of secondary growth. My problem is that my arms suck (bis and tris) yet my chest and back far supercede in growth which makes me conclude that I'm not priotizing enough to those muscles. I say this because I used to barely if at all train bis/tris. I used to be the exact same as you. Kind of makes you think when I'm perfect BB rowing 245lbs for 5 sets and cant even curl 115lb decent form. And for the chest/tri deal, I could bench super heavy weight on the bottom half of the rep yet couldn't lockout to save my life.

In that case I'd suggest you treat it like any other progressive overload. Decide on a volume range and keep increasing the weight.

They are a very small muscle group and easy to overwork since you don't have that fatigue feedback that you get from overworking a large muscle group so I'd still suggest keeping the volume fairly low in terms of sets. If you're after strength then you have to keep increasing the weight.

 

[Lonsdale]

Hi dude,

every individual is different, but barbell curls are universally accepted as being one of, if not THE best bicep mass builder that there is.

your approach seems ok to me - i've done similar stuff to you and made gains. in my case, i was doing heavy incline db curls, adding weight and one set per week, and grew an inch in seven weeks. then again, i'm fairly new to it all (i've been an armchair enthusiast for years, however).

as long as you're using progressive overload (which you are), then it seems all is well. just watch your protein and cals intake and see where you are in four weeks.

if you're worried about the shape of your biceps from just using one exercise, you could either add an exercise or you could vary the grip for one or two sets - ie. close grip followed by wide grip curls.

best of luck. a similar approach worked for my arms, and i used the same principle for pull ups, and can now do twice as many as i was able to six weeks ago!

 

[bettyboop]

I appreciate any thought or advice. But why is three exercises that equal 9 sets better than my two exercises that equal 9 sets? My BB curl would be the "compund" movement and the Db curls would be the bi specific movement.

CCs are good, I throw them in every 3rd week instead of DB curls. I just feel heavy BB curls should be a staple of every bi routine, so I need advice as to whether my set/rep scheme is a good idea or should I just stick with the typical 3 sets with 6-8 rep idea. Btw, when doing my 50 reps I can barely finish 5 reps before failing and what I do is just holding it at the bottom and force a curl out when I feel rested enough till I get 8 reps. Kills the forearms holding the weight at the bottom like that, ouch!

There is primarily just one "motion" for the bicep, introducing other "secondary-exercises" on top of the primary exercise is ideal because your muscles "respond" to DIVERSITY!!
The basic barbell/dumbell curl is the "primary exercise" for the bicep because it responds to motions of pulling. But you will not get the muscles to repond to "diversity" if you are concentrating on 1 exercise with 50 reps.... Each exercise hits your muscle in a different way and that is why there are many variations for each body part.
My suggestion was to give you "diversity" in your bicep training, and maintain the heavy weight , low reps you were already doing.

 

[cwc73]

I hear ya. You're the advocate of secondary growth. My problem is that my arms suck (bis and tris) yet my chest and back far supercede in growth which makes me conclude that I'm not priotizing enough to those muscles. I say this because I used to barely if at all train bis/tris. I used to be the exact same as you. Kind of makes you think when I'm perfect BB rowing 245lbs for 5 sets and cant even curl 115lb decent form. And for the chest/tri deal, I could bench super heavy weight on the bottom half of the rep yet couldn't lockout to save my life.

I'm the exact same way. For my size and weight, I have a fairly large chest and a great back. I used to never train my bi's directly. I have been hitting them somewhat hard with HST right now, and I started adding an extra set of an alternate bicep excercise tonight. Hopefully the diversity and extra sets will really help them exploid.

EAT BIG and GROW!

 

[Beachbum1546]

I'm the exact same way. For my size and weight, I have a fairly large chest and a great back. I used to never train my bi's directly. I have been hitting them somewhat hard with HST right now, and I started adding an extra set of an alternate bicep excercise tonight. Hopefully the diversity and extra sets will really help them exploid.

EAT BIG and GROW!

There seems to be three types of guys in the gym.

1.) Big shoulders and arms, small back and chest.
2.) Big back and chest, small arms
3.) Proportioned perfectly, the guy we hate.

I can't wait till monday to train bis again. I'm just so curious as to whether I will be able to increase the weight AGAIN. If so, that would be 6 weeks in a row that I have added 5lbs to 50 reps curls. 30lbs in 6wks, I like it.

 

[cwc73]

Yea. I know what you mean. I have decently sized arms, but I think they are lagging a bit. I have been using the progressive weight scheme (HST) and they are getting bigger. I do 2 sets of thick EZ bar curls at 10 reps, and I started adding in Inclince Curls for 1-2 sets of 10 reps. I would really just like my arms to be bigger when cold and not flexed because when they are flexed, they are really nice looking

 

[Micker]

If you want big arms, triceps are what you should be focusing on. Biceps look nice, but triceps make up 2/3's of your arm. I used to work the hell out of my arms, and looking back I was overtraining them. I don't think i'll ever go back to doing a day for just arms, like I used to do.

I think a few sets of heavy BB curls(less then 10 reps), some preacher curls or concentration curls should be good for developing bi's. Do some rows or pullups which will work the bi's also and seem to be decent mass builders.

 

[Beachbum1546]

Update: Looks like my gains have slowed down. The past two weeks have been hard! Last week I did 105lbs for 50 reps and I couldn't even finish. I got to around 40-42 and my arms about died so I just called it quits. This week I went for 110lbs and barely made 40 reps.

My conclusion is that I should keep 110lbs for next week and hope that my growth from this week will let me do 50 reps. Then the weeks after that I'll up the weight again.

Muscle growth? Yep, my arms look fuller and the bicep looks rounder, in a good way. I guess that means overall growth of the arm. I don't measure my arms but when I do a front double bi pose they look bigger. So, I feel like I'm on the right track.