Biceps Ideas

[quote]GermanPower wrote:
SkyzykS wrote:
Wanna try something neat?

Do a 10x3 for curls between sets of deadlifts.

Hit them as hard and fast as you possibly can.
(just watch your chin though, cracking it with the bar hurts)

awesome dude this is a good advice to fuck your bicep up!!! i would like to know where you all get that crap of infos from!!!

unreal
[/quote]

From the back of a cereal box, of course.

Given that I’ve done this and it works realy well, I’d like to know where you get the idea that it would fuck your biceps up, and what you would recomend instead.

Or did you just pull that comment out of your ass?

I guess cheating it up with emphasis on a slow negative would be “unreal” too, huh?
Ya fuckin window licker.

Professor X,

I don’t think that he is saying that body part splits don’t work. He actually stated that he got good results from doing one for many years. But, everyone reacts to different training parameters differently. Some people really thrive on body part splits. Others thrive on whole body routines. I think what’s important is to find what works for you and then use it.

To the OP,

There have been some good suggestions made so far in regards to possible exercises and training methodologies that may help you.

But, one thing that many people have seemed to overlook is that the biceps brachii actually crosses the elbow and shoulder joints (it is a biarticulate muscle). This means that it not only assists in elbow flexion, but it also plays a part in shoulder flexion and horizontal shoulder adduction. Also, take into consideration that the biceps is a major elbow stabilizer.

Take a look at the biceps on olympic gymnasts. These guys do no direct biceps work (at least the majority of them don’t), in fact, according to some well known gymnastics coaches, the bicep development that they recieve doesn’t come from movements that involve elbow flexion. Instead, their development comes from straight arm movements such as Iron Crosses, Planches, Maltese, Inverted Crosses, and the connecting movements between these holds.

So, to go against the grain a little here, I’d suggest that you include some straight arm movements into your routine. Oh, and by straight arm, I mean elbows locked out straight. I know that there are plenty of people out there who will tell you this is potentially dangerous, but if you carefully and systematicaly approach these exercises, you are no more likely to get hurt than you would with an exercise like bench pressing.

Here are a couple of straight arm exercises that you can try:

Supinated straight arm dumbell raises- Stand with a dumbell in each hand, palms turned up (supinated) and while keeping the arms locked out straight and really trying to keep your palms supinated raise the dumbells up until your arms are over head.

Straight arm flys- These can be done either with dumbells, cables, or even rings if you have access to them. Basically the idea is to do a fly, but instead of keeping your arms slightly bent like most people do them, keep them completely locked out. You won’t have the range of motion that you normally would, but you’ll definetely feel them in your biceps.

Those are just a couple of exercises, but they will at least help you to realize the benefits of straight arm work.

Some other exercises that I might suggest would be:

Rope/rock climbing
Sled/car/train (if you had access to it and were into strong man competitions) pulling

Good luck and good training,

Sentoguy

[quote]Kratos wrote:
Yeah, anybody who does body splits is an idiot(whatever). Definitely do chins and pull-up, and rows, but you don’t have to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Do you ever superset?

What about giant sets?

There is one I do sometimes, where I pick 4 exercises, do them one right after the other, rest one minute, and repeat three times. It’s usually a pretty good shock, and it will hurt.[/quote]

I think this guy and most of the guys responding are in fact suggesting that body splits suck. Because they read it, they now know that the only way to train is full body, compound exercises.

It is the same bs answer you get here when anyone poses a question re:biceps. Squat, deadlift, and row. It’s so this year to full body, most have forgotten that changing your routine, shocking your muscles in numerous ways is actually a system in and of itself. Every now and then I dedicate a full day to arms–I must be an idiot

I agree with Prof.X

I mean what sense does it make to [bold]NOT[/bold] train your biceps if you want them bigger/stronger/more defined?My arms are “big” but I have gotten a lot of definition on them as of late by adding isolation work,same for my tris.Telling this guy that dls work your biceps isn’t good,if you’re pulling the bar so much that you feel it in your arms…I’d check your form.

Preacher curls
db hammer curls
db incline curls
reverse curls

I do those with something heavy,then I grab some 20lb dbs and do a “running” motion with my arms(pm me if you want the exact details)and it works wonders for me.I train them once a week.

Sento-guy talks about the arms of olympic gymnasts and such. I would encourage you not to train like them, unless you are planning on being an olympic gymnast. You are not going to develop very much in the way of biceps by doing straight arm excercises. Just my opinion, which is no more valuable then sento’s.

what you need to remeber is that the bicep isn’t the only part to the arm muscle. The bicep and the forearm are fairly heavily connected. That is why reverse curls are a good way to help build your biceps. Also, if you do seated curls, hold the dumbell at the top, instead of the middle. That will help develop the bicep more, as part of the bicep is responsible for supinating the forearm. (use a screwdriver, and watch your bicep as your forearm twists, you get the idea.) Also, make entirely sure that your not using your from delt. Many people, including myself, have a nasty habit of using the front delt to power the weight up in curling motions. If you elbow travels very far forward during a curling movement, you are using your front delt. If that is the case, use less weight, and focus on form.

Does anyone know where to get one of those old fashioned “arm blaster” things? I have seen pictures of arnold using one, and I think that it would be incredibly useful to keep the front delts out of the movement.

Personally, I didn’t care for the ‘arm blaster.’ To me it left the elbow in a potentially poor position. Besides, while you are right that you may bring the front delt in–so what. That allows you to lift more weight. There are advantages to cheating.

If you want to isolate more, just focus. Put your ass and middle back on a wall and use an ez bar. Or, sit on a preacher backwards and make the back of your arms remain in contact with the chair back… Believe me, you can not cheat on those.

[quote]BarneyFife wrote:

Does anyone know where to get one of those old fashioned “arm blaster” things? I have seen pictures of arnold using one, and I think that it would be incredibly useful to keep the front delts out of the movement.[/quote]

I have one made by Bollinger. I got it at a regular sporting goods store in Florida. It works nicely for strict curls. It really helps eliminate that front delt pull Barney, and a little back as well. Keeping your elbows planyed in the pads help your form and your growth. I’d recommend everyone pick one up, they’re great and fairly inexpensive.

As far as the DL argument and the straight-arm exercises are concearned… all that shit works. It doesn’t really matter what you do that is the best, its different for everyone. My best friend had a long bicep and he could never get it to peak like mine… so he figured he would do my routines and get them to look like mine. WRONG! He fucked up his progress, he was used to doing barbells and hammers and not crazy dumbbell isolations that I would come up with. He finally realized that he had a different body type than mine and his body responded to completely different type routines than mine. He didn’t have the pain threshold I has either… to make some of my lighter more detailed routines effective for him. For him a haavy barbell and hammer cyrl with a little Megadeth on the stero were his best bet.

This is why I like the professor’s point of viwe. Don’t limit yourself to progress because some popular thought is being twisted into a philosophy. Find out for yourself. If Chad Waterbury; which I respect alot for his great knowledge and experience and scientific explainations, came out tomorrow and said all you have to do for full body development and perfect symmetry is to do deadlifts 6 times a day for 2 sets of 8 reps each and stop 1 rep before failure… I would say “interesting” and experiment with the idea. I’m skeptical as hell and will find out for myself whether or not something works. Especially to see if it will work for ME, the individual.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
I did a typical body part split for many many years and my body grew. But once I switched to mostly multijoint excercises using the Westside approach, I blew up. I still do direct bicep work but it’s light and mostly circuit style stuff

In my opinion, nothing can beat heavy rows and pulldowns. I feel that my biceps get much more stimulation through heavy bent over rows than regular curls.

I’ll typically pick four different bicep exercises do them in a circuit to failure on an accesory day for two sets. That’s it. Anymore than that my arms ache throughout the week.

meat

I’m confused. I do a body part split and always have. I have grown well from it. I also do heavy rows and pulldowns. How is it you think those would be excluded from a body part split? My biceps get stimulated from that AND direct work. Why do some of you seem to think it is “either or”?[/quote]

I always preface everything with saying “in my opinion”. I don’t know what works for other people. I only know what works for me. I used to compete in bodybuilding before powerlifting and now I have more mass from two years of Westside than over ten years of body part split routines.

I was lucky to finally find what works for me. I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer. Everyone has to experiment until they find what makes them grow.

meat

[quote]sasquatch wrote:
Personally, I didn’t care for the ‘arm blaster.’ To me it left the elbow in a potentially poor position. Besides, while you are right that you may bring the front delt in–so what. That allows you to lift more weight. There are advantages to cheating.

If you want to isolate more, just focus. Put your ass and middle back on a wall and use an ez bar. Or, sit on a preacher backwards and make the back of your arms remain in contact with the chair back… Believe me, you can not cheat on those.[/quote]

Definitely. I either get against a wall or pole, or I put one foot back, and that helps keep me from leaning back, while allowing me to put all I’ve got into the curl.

I appreciate your info guys. I do alot more seated work outs to try to avoid cheating as much as possible. Also, yea sometimes my forarms and more so my wrist hurt alot on the inside preacher curls.

Its mainly my wrists/lowere forarm that hurt. Once again thanks for the info so far. I did bi’s today and skipped preaher all together. Did more hammer/curls/isolation/flat bar. Wish I read this before I did my bi work out

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Professor X,

I don’t think that he is saying that body part splits don’t work. He actually stated that he got good results from doing one for many years. But, everyone reacts to different training parameters differently. [/quote]

I was responding to exactly what he TYPED and my goal is not to speak for anyone else.

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
Professor X wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
I did a typical body part split for many many years and my body grew. But once I switched to mostly multijoint excercises using the Westside approach, I blew up. I still do direct bicep work but it’s light and mostly circuit style stuff

In my opinion, nothing can beat heavy rows and pulldowns. I feel that my biceps get much more stimulation through heavy bent over rows than regular curls.

I’ll typically pick four different bicep exercises do them in a circuit to failure on an accesory day for two sets. That’s it. Anymore than that my arms ache throughout the week.

meat

I’m confused. I do a body part split and always have. I have grown well from it. I also do heavy rows and pulldowns. How is it you think those would be excluded from a body part split? My biceps get stimulated from that AND direct work. Why do some of you seem to think it is “either or”?

I always preface everything with saying “in my opinion”. I don’t know what works for other people. I only know what works for me. I used to compete in bodybuilding before powerlifting and now I have more mass from two years of Westside than over ten years of body part split routines.

I was lucky to finally find what works for me. I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer. Everyone has to experiment until they find what makes them grow.

meat[/quote]

That isn’t what I asked you. Why did you write what you did as if you could NOT do heavy rows and pulldowns in a body part split? Who would train using a “body part split” without doing heavy rows for back training? If you were l;eaving out core exercises like that, NO WONDER YOU STARTED GAINING MORE WHEN YOU ADDED THEM BACK IN.

That would have NOTHING to woth training “fullbody” in and of itself. I have seen many people who have competed who really aren’t carrying much muscle. Competing, especially lately, doesn’t mean much.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
The problem is people take basic concepts to an extreme. Your body grows as a whole. I would think the guy who trains EVERYTHING is going to make more overall progress than the guy who starts out like most dummies and only does bench press and curls. People have now taken that to the extreme and now think that avoiding all isolation work is the best way to grow. That’s retarded. They also have smaller arms most of the time.[/quote]

TRUTH.

[quote]alownage wrote:
Professor X wrote:
The problem is people take basic concepts to an extreme. Your body grows as a whole. I would think the guy who trains EVERYTHING is going to make more overall progress than the guy who starts out like most dummies and only does bench press and curls. People have now taken that to the extreme and now think that avoiding all isolation work is the best way to grow. That’s retarded. They also have smaller arms most of the time.

TRUTH.[/quote]

Absolute truth!

Who wouldn’t want to try out a few pair of shoes first to see which ones you like the best and are your best fit. How many times did I have to take back a pair of shoes because they didn’t exactly fit as good as I though they did? A lot.

I agree with the “more is better” for overall development.

If I’m doing Ex 1,2,&3 for biceps development. and you’re only using Ex 1, chances are I probably have a better chance for success with more resources.

[quote]Go heavy fool wrote:
alownage wrote:
Professor X wrote:
The problem is people take basic concepts to an extreme. Your body grows as a whole. I would think the guy who trains EVERYTHING is going to make more overall progress than the guy who starts out like most dummies and only does bench press and curls. People have now taken that to the extreme and now think that avoiding all isolation work is the best way to grow. That’s retarded. They also have smaller arms most of the time.

TRUTH.

Absolute truth!

Who wouldn’t want to try out a few pair of shoes first to see which ones you like the best and are your best fit. How many times did I have to take back a pair of shoes because they didn’t exactly fit as good as I though they did? A lot.

I agree with the “more is better” for overall development.

If I’m doing Ex 1,2,&3 for biceps development. and you’re only using Ex 1, chances are I probably have a better chance for success with more resources.
[/quote]

Back to my shoe analagy. “One size does not fit all.”

Who wouldn’t want to have a few more pairs of shoes in your arsenal than just one pair. What if am dirt bike riding? I can use that same pair of shoes to go on a dinner date with?

From my experience its better to have something and not need it, than to need something and not have it. Maybe all I’ll ever need for mass on my bi’s is heavy curls or deads or even chins… pick one. but how about detail or accentuating. how the hell can I possibly stress certain areas of the muscle using only one exercise?

Get some more shoes guys. It will pay off when you need them.

I wish they would design an “arm blaster” that simply let the elbows sit farther back. All the one’s I used push your elbows so far forward that it almost mimicks a preacher curl.

Of course you can lean forward a bit too to compensate. But I do like to have my elbows farther back for the biceps stretch.

At least the arm blaster spares your front delts.

[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
I wish they would design an “arm blaster” that simply let the elbows sit farther back. All the one’s I used push your elbows so far forward that it almost mimicks a preacher curl.

Of course you can lean forward a bit too to compensate. But I do like to have my elbows farther back for the biceps stretch.

At least the arm blaster spares your front delts.[/quote]

It has alot to do with your waist size too… bigger the waist, then the furthur foward that bar is. I have no waist so I don’t have that problem.
Just bend the fucker. I bent mine so it was more comfortable. I know what you guys are saying about the positioning… It can be uncomfortable and awkward. Buts its a strict movement and not free swinging… so there’s going to be a certain amount of discomfort.

The main problem I have with it is when I have a boatload of weight on there… I can barely breath. It doesnt aloow for much room for lung expansion. I really have to pay attention to my breathing.

Dumbbells probably work a little better than barbells with more freedom of movement, but then again they usually always give you better range with any movement.

Hey mate,
My suggestion is this:
1.EZ barbell curls - get as much weight going as possible
2.Incline 45 degree dumbbell curls (for biceps stretch)
3.Preacher currls (brachialis)
4. Reverse curls (introduces more forearm work)

Finishing move
Cable curls super set with Push downs

[quote]Professor X wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
Professor X wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
I did a typical body part split for many many years and my body grew. But once I switched to mostly multijoint excercises using the Westside approach, I blew up. I still do direct bicep work but it’s light and mostly circuit style stuff

In my opinion, nothing can beat heavy rows and pulldowns. I feel that my biceps get much more stimulation through heavy bent over rows than regular curls.

I’ll typically pick four different bicep exercises do them in a circuit to failure on an accesory day for two sets. That’s it. Anymore than that my arms ache throughout the week.

meat

I’m confused. I do a body part split and always have. I have grown well from it. I also do heavy rows and pulldowns. How is it you think those would be excluded from a body part split? My biceps get stimulated from that AND direct work. Why do some of you seem to think it is “either or”?

I always preface everything with saying “in my opinion”. I don’t know what works for other people. I only know what works for me. I used to compete in bodybuilding before powerlifting and now I have more mass from two years of Westside than over ten years of body part split routines.

I was lucky to finally find what works for me. I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer. Everyone has to experiment until they find what makes them grow.

meat

That isn’t what I asked you. Why did you write what you did as if you could NOT do heavy rows and pulldowns in a body part split? Who would train using a “body part split” without doing heavy rows for back training? If you were l;eaving out core exercises like that, NO WONDER YOU STARTED GAINING MORE WHEN YOU ADDED THEM BACK IN.

That would have NOTHING to woth training “fullbody” in and of itself. I have seen many people who have competed who really aren’t carrying much muscle. Competing, especially lately, doesn’t mean much.[/quote]

Let me try to make it more clear to you. I have nothing against body split training and of course rows and pulldowns are a part of split training. I have found for me that doing ME days and some DE work with an accessory day works better for me. I just don’t do a traditional body split anymore. My goals have changed.

I don’t know if that was supposed to be a dig on me when you said many people who compete don’t have much mass. When I competed in bodybuilding I won the Mr. Va AAU at my height class and the overall. I’ve also won many other overall titles.

But I’m not here to get into a pissing contest with anyone. I’ve read a lot of your posts and you come across as if you have some good ideas but have you put them to any use? Have you competed in anything?

meat

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

I don’t know if that was supposed to be a dig on me when you said many people who compete don’t have much mass. When I competed in bodybuilding I won the Mr. Va AAU at my height class and the overall. I’ve also won many other overall titles.

But I’m not here to get into a pissing contest with anyone. I’ve read a lot of your posts and you come across as if you have some good ideas but have you put them to any use? Have you competed in anything?

meat[/quote]

Once again you didn’t answer the question. Why?

For the THIRD time copy and pasted from above:

Why did you write what you did as if you could NOT do heavy rows and pulldowns in a body part split? Who would train using a “body part split” without doing heavy rows for back training? If you were leaving out core exercises like that, NO WONDER YOU STARTED GAINING MORE WHEN YOU ADDED THEM BACK IN.

No, I have not competed in bodybuilding. I have done some VERY minor local strength comps associated with a school I was attending. That has nothing to do with the question above asked of you AGAIN.