Build Big Biceps

An impressive set of guns is paramount for anyone looking to improve their physique. Large, vascular arms are impossible to hide; they are an advertisement for the whole world, which says, "yeah, I'm kind of a big deal". Every man wants bigger biceps. But for how much hype there is around the countless different programs offering the solution, bigger arms are surprisingly easy to attain. Follow these 3 easy steps and watch your shirt sleeves stretch as you outgrow your current wardrobe.

Step 1 might surprise some people because it is counter-intuitive; you must center your training around compound movements. You would think a program designed to increase your arm size would center around arm exercises, right? Wrong. You must work the 'basics' if you wish to see substantial improvements in size anywhere in your body. This means presses, rows, squats, and deadlifts done with substantial effort. The amount of size and strength that some lifters have built in their arms with minimal isolation work is amazing. Even arm-wrestlers will tell you that direct bicep work is so far away from the most important aspect of developing a big pull that some won't even bother with it. It is rumored that former Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates simply performed his upper back movements with a supinated (palms-up) grip so as to eliminate direct bicep work by killing two birds with one stone. The bottom line is that big lifts develop big muscles, and improving your pressing and rowing capabilities will add on more slabs of muscle onto your frame than any amount of cable curls ever could by themselves.

Step 2 involves the realization that less is more. Fight the urge to spend hours doing endless 'pump sets' that drive blood into the muscle without causing a substantial enough stress to spur new muscle growth. If a set is done to failure, and I mean absolute, vomit-inducing failure, then one to two sets is all you need; choose a different exercise and move on. If you are choosing 5 exercises and performing 5 sets of each, then each set is clearly being performed well below capacity. While improving volume (i.e. the total number of sets and reps) is a valid way to make gains in the gym, it is not optimal. Every time you perform a movement, you are causing wear and tear on your joints. This increases the possibility of tendonitis or other inflammatory issues that are nearly impossible to shake once they set in. High intensity sets taken to and beyond failure, on the other hand, are more effective at producing physiological changes without the endless wear on joints and connective tissues. Pick an exercise and a weight that allows you to perform 10-12 reps. Let's say I start off with a preacher curl with 85lbs. and perform 11 reps with good technique and tempo until I fail on the 12th repetition. I rest for 10-20 seconds and begin again, this time reaching 5 repetitions. At this point my arms are so tight I can barely bend them. Now I rest another 20 seconds and grab the bar, this time with a partner to help me out. He assists me to the top of the movement and I lower the bar as slowly as possible, where he assists me to the top again. 5 more reps like this and I'm nauseous and incapacitated. This whole set took less than 2 minutes and left me annihilated; is there any reason to stick around doing endless sets of curls? 

Step 3 is simply the choosing of quality exercises. Remember in step 1 how we determined that compound movements were the way to go? Well, the same principle applies for secondary accessory movements. What is the difference between a standing barbell curl and a one-arm dumbbell preacher curl? The preacher curl is true isolation; the purpose of a preacher bench is to take every other muscle group out of the equation so that all of your effort can be focused on your bicep. While this may sound reasonable, don't be fooled. A small muscle like the bicep will fail in a set relatively fast, thereby limiting the amount of work which can be done in a set. With a compound movement, however, the stress of the weight is distributed among all of the working parts. This allows all of the muscle groups to experience a heavier load for longer periods of time and is the primary reason that compound movements are superior. A standing barbell curl can be modified so that the sets go well beyond failure, thus taxing all of the relevant musculature with enough of a systemic stress so that your body responds with more muscle growth. Curl with strict form until failure, then use a slight hip swing. When this technique fails you, employ a greater hip swing followed by an intense negative. This cannot be done so easily with a concentration curl.

An example program would follow a four day split with 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days. I prefer to make the upper body days all-encompassing. I begin with my basic pressing movement (bench press or overhead press) and move into bent rows, skull crushers, pressdowns, barbell curls, dumbbell curls, and shrugs. This appears to be a lot of work, but should take less than 45 minutes if done with proper effort. Keep the intensity high, move quick between sets, and repeat again in 4 days. If you are consistent it won't be long before everyone is buying tickets...... to the gun show.