For most guys biceps can be very stubborn muscles that no matter how hard you seem to exercise them – they just don’t seem to grow as much as they should. It becomes even worse when all the common workout techniques fail to break the plateau and you seem to get stuck hopelessly.
Negatives
Bicep curls like most exercises consist of the positive part (lifting the barbell up) and the negative part (lowering it down). Focusing more on the negative part of the curl will increase the time under tension the muscles get, and it will break them down more. So adjust your tempo so the negative part takes at least 3 seconds, while the positive contraction movement is explosive and takes about 1 second.
Cheat Curls
Besides doing negatives and partials, I'm a big fan of doing forced reps and dropsets. With barbell curls, I also did a lot of cheat curls. Most people don't understand the concept of a cheat curl and how it can actually help. With cheat curls, you do as many crisp reps as you can, but rather than setting the bar down when you reach a sticking point, you generate just a little bit of momentum through your knees and hips to keep the set going. This will enable you to complete a few extra reps than you ordinarily would've been able to do.
I also like to supinate my wrists as far as I can and turn my pinkies up. This emphasizes the outside biceps head. I'll also do my hammer curls with a rope instead of dumbbells, which also allows me that slight supination at the top as I turn out my wrists. I squeeze and hold for a second at the top for extra peak contraction.
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Incline Curls to Build Huge BicepsThe incline dumbbell curl is another one of Arnold’s favorite bicep mass builders.
The way to do them is on a 45 degree incline bench.
Fully extend at the bottom portion of the movement and maintain the contraction all the way upwards.
The great thing about incline dumbbell curls is that your arms are behind your body and you can feel an elongation of the bicep at the bottom portion of the movement. This results in extended time under tension.
Strive for full contraction and extension to recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers in your bicep.
One and a Half Reps
One and a half rep technique works well to increase the performance in any exercise, bicep curl included. By doing that extra half rep at the end of a curl, you’re increasing muscle time under tension and that will stimulate growth. So curl the bar just halfway after you complete a rep for much higher intensity.
The Importance of Shoulders
This may come as a surprise to you but biceps and shoulder muscles are related in that both of these groups flex the shoulder joint. The fact that the long head of the biceps crosses the shoulder joint means you need some shoulder movement to fully activate all the muscle fibers. Adding chin ups to your workout routine will do that. Also you can modify the bicep curl by lifting the barbell just a little towards the ceiling at the top. This will activate the muscle fibers that you’ve probably not been activating in your bicep workouts before.
Train Your Forearms
Train your forearms. No matter what your goal is, a set of big beefy forearms is always impressive and it completes your arms. It doesn’t matter how big your biceps or triceps are, if you have stick forearms you will still have small arms – that’s a fact.
The most effective way to build your forearms is to train with thick-handled barbells and dumbbells.
Top 5 Guidelines For Building Bigger Biceps
1- Never let your biceps get used to the type of training. Vary your methods by using barbells, dumbbells, and cables.
2- Don’t let other muscles get involved when training your biceps.
3- Proper technique. Focus on getting that full range of motion so you target the maximum amount of muscle fibers in your biceps.
4- Practice the movements until they become second nature so that you can perform them without much conscious thought.
5- Develop a mind-muscle connection with your biceps and concentrate on feeling the full contraction with each rep.