5 Easy Ways to Increase the Size of Your Biceps
1. Warm up! There is nothing worse than going straight into a heavy weight bicep building session without using lighter weights to warm up first. I know somebody who hadn’t used a gym for a while and went straight onto the heavy weights. They ended up with their right arm in a sling because they tore a ligament. So please warm up.
2. Use good quality protein. Chicken and lean beef are good starters. Using a good whey protein helps too. Wild Salmon is by far the best if you are going down the fish route. Quality tuna is excellent also. Getting the organic meat and fish is by far the best. Manufactured processed meats and fish are not that good for building muscle.
3. Use deliberate movements with heavy weights. You can do a few reps with light weights but as the weights get heavier and you improve your strength and stamina, your reps should become slower and more deliberate. Remember as well that your warm up routine is exactly that. Your warm ups should not be part of your measured reps. They are warm ups, that’s all.
4. Technique, technique. Your movements should be slow and controlled. You arms should be not be flailing all over. Keep them to elbows to your side when doing the barbell curl.That way you get maximum stability and effect. If sitting down with weights, start off with the weight near the floor. Bring the weight up and twist your wrist as you bring your arm up
If you are doing individual curls sitting on a bench or a chair, then lean forward spreading your legs wide. If you are doing curls with your left arm, let the back or the elbow your bicep arm rest on the inside of your left thigh, using your thigh as a support. Pick up the barbell and twist your wrist slightly as you bring the barbell up to you shoulder. Eight reps should be enough and 3 sets of 8 reps on each arm is fine.
With the preacher curl you are sitting behind a plinth which is angled downwards away from you. Using a ‘z’ barbell you are simply again raising your arms right up to your shoulder, both at the same time. The plinth (very much like a preacher’s own) is there for you to rest your arms on as you bring your arms up and stretch them out again.
5. Look for ‘the pump’. The idea when working any muscle is to flush it with blood making it increase in size.The fibres in the muscle break down and that is what makes it bigger too. In order to breed fast biceps, the downward or negative action is as important or more than the upwards action. That action needs to be done slowly in a controlled way. Secondly, big guns mean big weights. If you want to build those biceps you have got to use weights that are going to challenge you. When they are no longer a challenge, move on to the next weight you can handle.
