The biceps (biceps brachii) is a relatively small but most noticeable muscle. Since it is only indirectly involved in the work when performing basic exercises, for a symmetrically developed athletic body, the biceps must be pumped separately.
Fortunately, you can pump up the biceps quickly enough – the effect of doing the exercises will appear in a few weeks. However, the key emphasis of the training should be on the ability to raise and lower the weight precisely due to the muscles of the biceps – and not on performing repetitions due to the force of inertia.
How to make your biceps grow?
Since the main function of the biceps is to bend the arm at the elbow joint, any effective exercises for pumping it will consist of this movement. As soon as you involve other joints in the work, the load from the biceps will begin to decrease and go to other muscles.
As for the appearance of the muscle, the shape of the biceps is laid genetically – for some it is present in the form of a dense ball with a peak, and for others it looks like an elongated oval. Any variant of the shape of the biceps can be made attractive with regular physical training.
It is also important that performing biceps exercises requires an adequately selected weight, not too heavy and not too light. Start to hone the technique with minimal weights, gradually increasing the weight of the shells without compromising the execution technique.
Top Tips to Make Your Biceps Grow
- Train your biceps regularly, but allow time for recovery. There is no need to pump the biceps more than twice a week, since this is a small muscle that gets tired quickly enough. Excessively frequent training of the biceps only inhibits muscle growth.
- Make a training program in such a way that biceps exercises do not overlap with back training. During the pumping of the back, the biceps of the shoulder is already actively involved in the work, so there is no need to add exercises beyond the norm after training the back.
- Train triceps and biceps together. Make the workout so that the exercises for these muscles go in pairs without rest. For example, you did a curved barbell curl on the Scott bench – after that, you immediately perform a french press with a barbell for triceps.
Biceps exercises with dumbbells
The biceps consists of two parts – a short and a long head, each of which has its own movement mechanics. The long part is located on the outside of the arm, the short part is on the inside. Knowing the features of biomechanics, you can redistribute the load on that part of the biceps that you want to pump more strongly.
It will depend on the location of the elbows which part of the biceps muscle is included more. The wider the arms are apart, the more the inside works. The narrower, the more the outer part is included.
Hammer Curls
- Stand up straight and grab the dumbbells so that your fists look in different directions.
- The back is straight. Bring the chest forward, and lower the shoulder blades down and fix them in this position throughout the exercise. This is necessary in order to avoid unnecessary movements in the shoulder blades, shoulders and back.
- As you exhale, simultaneously bend your elbows, lifting the dumbbells to an angle of 90°. It is important to avoid jerks.
- Press your elbows to the body, and fix them in this position throughout the exercise.
- On a slow inhale, lower the dumbbells to the starting position. You don’t need to completely relax your arms.
Do three to four sets of 15 reps. Rest between sets for one to two minutes. The time required depends primarily on the level of training.
Standing Dumbbell Curls
- Take the dumbbells so that the fists look in different directions.
- Stand up straight. Bring the chest forward, and lower the shoulder blades down and fix them in this position throughout the exercise. This is necessary to avoid unnecessary movements in the shoulder blades, shoulders and back.
- As you exhale, with a powerful movement without jerking, alternately bend your elbows, lifting the dumbbells to an angle of 90°. Turn your fingers towards you with your fingers.
- Press your elbows firmly against your body, and fix them in this position throughout the exercise.
- On a slow inhale, lower the dumbbells to the starting position, turning your fists outward.
Do three to four sets of 15 reps. Rest between sets for one to three minutes. It depends on your recovery speed and fitness level.
How to pump up your biceps as a beginner?
Train your biceps once or twice a week. If you train the biceps separately, then the optimal workout will consist of two exercises of four sets of 10-12 repetitions. Weight with 70-80% of your max for one rep.
Also, biceps training goes well with training the pectoral muscles, leg muscles or triceps training. If you are just starting out, then pay attention to the different options for pull-ups. You use more muscles in the body, respectively, you will get a greater increase in muscle mass.
Remember that muscles grow during rest, not during training. If they recovered, then there will be growth; This is the basic rule to remember. Overtraining is the main enemy of an athlete.
The foundation of lean and powerful biceps is proper exercise technique, adequate weight, slow rep speed, feeling tense during the exercise, and not overtraining the muscles due to too much training.