bicep trouble

tied searching for a thread, but didnt seem to find one. Have been training for a couple of years, and have decided to go into comp next year, problem is this: my biceps wont get bigger, no matter how hard i train them! they sitting at 43cm - flexed - and that it, they wont get bigger... so besides actually sitting there till they rip - which if thats the only way to get them to grow i will - is there any tips on training them, and i know, what works for someone else, may not work for me, but any advice will help. - this is what i used to do: BB curls, hammer curls, preacher curls, incline DB curls, then went into triceps workout. - all biceps were 4 sets of 10 or failure on heavier weights.

Try chin-ups with your palms facing you.

thanks, will try that, never thought about that.

I think you should not train you biceps and triceps together that might be your problem. Change your routine so that you train biceps with calves or abs. But then again its my 2 cent.

I got mine to 50 with incline curls and bicep pullups as mentioned b4. Remember to add weight with bicep pullups.

thanks guys, will try the bicep pull ups - with regards to the training bi/tri's separate days, i already do a split routine, may need me to put in an extra day, but then dont have enough recovery days... hard choice, but if the bicep pull ups dont work, will have to try that. thanks for the help... 60cm... here i come!

Have you tried: partial reps, drop sets, sevens aka 21's, cheat reps...
If not give these techniques a try on some days.

Also try alternating many reps one week,
then lower reps heavier weight another week.

If it still fails, try exercising them once more in the same week, heavy weight only 1 exercise with usual 4 sets.

Hope it helps, best of luck, wish mine was 43cm...

There's an old saying "If you cant do at least 10 chinups/pullups in a set then you have no business doing bicep curls"

Too many guys concentrate too much on isolation work and go way too easy on the big compound movements.The compound movements like deads/squats/bench/chinups if done correctly already place a huge amount of strain on your biceps,triceps and forearms.And they force your body to synthesise the maximum amount of protein.So there is no need to curl,unless you are a pro bodybuilder getting paid to train and you already have big guns.Im not saying dont do isolation work at all,just that its far less important than most people think.

Think about this...When you do free-standing curls,your lower back and core are keeping your body rigid while you curl,therefore they take alot of the weight off your arms(cheating).So if you increase your deadlift strength you are increasing your lower back and core strength,with greater lower back and core strength you can curl heavier weights,hence bigger arms.If you dont believe it,then take the maximum weight barbell you can curl free-standing,then stand with your back resting against a wall,curl the barbell and see how many reps you will push.

Moral of the story: "Play with the big boys toys"

Nice info tiny, have some Karma

I often have to remind myself to revert back to the most basic principles.

Progression

Always try to add a rep or two as often as possible , or cut down time between sets . And the obvious is to add weight as often as possible . If you continue to do 1 (or more)of the above you can only grow .

hmmm, 43cm... just measured mine and they the exact same

Im battling more with getting them to peak nicely :huh:

Here's one you could try: Do LESS! It doesnt take much to get a decent pump in either your Tri's or Bi's.

agree with jackrabbit, I honestly think guys focus on there arms WAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY too much.

I agree.

If you cant do the major exercises like bench/sqaut/deadlift/pull-upps properly you are wasting your time and will get frustrated.

I treat arms almost as a rest day of a quick 30min (max) session. Guys that spend 70min doing all kinds of idiotic angle bicep training needs to smarten up.

ok i have a suggestion,drop or barbell work,at the end of the day guys use everything but their arm when doing arms.i think barbell work guys swing alot more,get their back involved spring up with the legs etc...not perfect form. i suggest doing only dumbells,start with the weaker arm and once the weaker arm fails stop with the stronger arm....that way u wont have abnormal growth. do the same with triceps so in other words do dumbell kick backs,single arm extensions and single arm reverse grip extensions,i promise u right now that your arms will grow cos the stronger wont dominate over the weaker one,try that for a month and see the results...

hey guys... thank you so much! really appreciate the advice, will be training more wisely! was also told something interesting by a buddy that is a personal trainer, he says that at the end, take the max wight that you were training, half it, or even take a third of it, and curl it DB or BB, till you fail, he says you should try that with everything that you work out, like a "cool down" - will leave you pumped and feel like you done a workout, and not left your muscle in "shock" from a heavy weight.

Spike - this worked nicely for a peak for me, but was after more size than peak - try overhead cable curls (cross over machine) - like you would be doing a front double bicep pose - no need to go too heavy, do it more like concentration curls, and hold for 1 or 2 seconds at the top. - dont know if i am the best to give advise as i'm having problems getting them bigger... but dont have a problem getting a peak

Flexing the worked muscle after a set is always a good idea. It really flushes the muscle with blood and you get all the benifits that go with that.

If its size you want stick to the basics. Dumbell curls etc. a Peak is only a peak when its on top of a mountain. No mountain? call it a hill.

BTW. You grow when you do reps after you failed. Forced reps. When the pain hits dont stop; It marks the beginning of growth.

I tried ignoring pain and got myslef injured yesterday, my elbow is fucked cannot even lift my own arm, and after my session in the gym I felt great. Be carefull not to overtrain a muscle, this could cause the lack of growth, give it some rest, I have learned that after some rest I have graeter strength and size gains, went from Stock standartd 36 when I started to a 42 within 4 weeks.

Just a thought :silly:

You need to know the difference between muscle tension pain,joint pain and over-stressing muscle tension pain.The 1st one is ok,the other 2 can be disastrous.Overall,pain is your body signalling you to stop whatever you're doing because you're going beyond its limit.

Beastie wrote:

I tried ignoring pain and got myslef injured yesterday, my elbow is fucked cannot even lift my own arm, ......went from Stock standartd 36 when I started to a 42 within 4 weeks.

This might be the problem then. Your tendons arent keeping up.

I had a visit to the the Physio today , and it is not good news, I have damaged my tendons due to over use, I am receiving Sonar treatment but he recons I should rest for 3 weeks. This is not an option, I am thinking of lowering the weight I use and upping my reps, what about using HGH will this have a dramatic effect on the recovery?


Please help I connot stop my hard work now?? :S

beastie what u gotta realise is that u have damaged your elbow from over use,too much too fast and or too heavy,now what the rest is what u need...honestly listen to the physio,i have elbow tendonitis and the first time it took 6 weeks to get rid of,dont stop training,u can concentrate on legs abs cardio to keep u lean and healthy and then once u have gotten your body recovered then look at starting upper body exercises,i find i can do back and biceps with no elbow pain so i did that but left the tri's chest and shoulders for a while whilst my elbow recovered... add 10g of gelatine into your diet and some arthroguard to help rebuild the collegen in the tendon and ice ice ice ice ice.... it will come right,rather save your body for 6 weeks then have a life times worth of elbow pain and issues...just because its pain free doesnt mean its injury free just remember that...

Yep... Rest it.. No more workie workie

I dont see in mentioned here, keep a few days gap between your arms and back routine.

When you train back you used you arms a hell of alot.

acidkidsa wrote:

I dont see in mentioned here, keep a few days gap between your arms and back routine.

When you train back you used you arms a hell of alot.

Very true,i always do back and arms on same day,1st i train my back then i finish off the workout training biceps and triceps,then i have 1 day break.