Build Monstrous Biceps by JP Rose

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If you're someone like me, then you are sick of looking in the mirror and seeing thin, scrawny biceps. Every morning I wake up and see these toothpicks dangling from my shoulders. The biceps are definitely one of the “show” muscles; one of the first places that peoples eyes go to. It shouldn't be, but it is. In this article, I will explain how I managed to put on two and a half inches to my arms in less than a year‘s time. These are the workouts and exercises that worked for me and I am sure that they can work for you as well.

At first, I did what any inexperienced weightlifter does: I trained biceps every other day. At first this worked, as I added a half-inch, but my growth leveled off shortly after.The only reason that training every other day worked was because at first anything and everything is better than nothing. After your body adjusts however, you need to as well. What I realized first was that my over-training was creating a catabolic environment.

Yeah, it worked at first - but once my muscles were adjusted to lifting, change was needed. I realized that I also needed to change up exercises and how I lifted. I always worked towards the higher end of the rep range (12-15 reps). After researching, I discovered that muscle groups need at least 48 to 72 hours to recover and most people only need to work muscle groups once per week. I created my new training splits based on this knowledge and some experimentation.

If you want to prioritize a body part, put it towards the beginning of your weekly training split. For example, I lift back and biceps on Monday, my first day of training for the week. Since I want to build impressive arms, I train biceps twice per week, but I do two different routines, and only after adequate (3-4 days) rest.

On Monday, I lift heavy. I stay within a low rep range (6-8 reps) after a warm-up set of 12 reps. I like to complete compound, mass building exercises first when my energy to lift heavy is the highest.

I include two mass builders at the beginning of my workout. Barbell curls are the king of mass building exercises for biceps. The barbell curl hits both heads of the biceps and as a result it stimulates the greatest amount of growth in the biceps. I do these every mass building biceps workout. The only downside to barbell curls are the stress that they place on the wrists. If you find that you are having sore wrists, switch to a cambered or curl bar until the pain subsides.

I start my first heavy set at 10 reps to get the blood flowing. After 10 reps I load 20 or so more pounds on the bar and complete a set of 8 reps. I then proceed to add 10 to 20 pounds (depending on how I feel) and complete a set of 6. Then I finish the exercise by taking off 10 pounds and completing a final set of 8 reps.

Once I complete my 3 or 4 sets of barbell curls, I then go to the preacher bench for preacher curls. I like to do 3 sets of these as well. Since my biceps are warmed up from the barbell curls, I do 8 reps for my first 2 sets and then increase the weight and aim for 6 reps on the final set.

After the preacher curl, I grab some dumbbells and start my next exercise: Dumbbell Concentration Curls. I jump right into a set of 8 reps followed by a set of 8 and a final set of 6.

I then wait 3 to 4 days until I directly train biceps again. On Thursday (the next biceps workout) I train legs and biceps. On this day I focus not on mass building, but shaping. I use a higher rep range (10-12) but do not go higher than 12. Every rep after 12 is for calorie burning and has no effect on muscle building. I only go higher than 12 reps if I am trying to cut-up and need to burn the extra calories. For Thursday's shaping focus, the three exercises that I like to use are:
Cable Curls
Alternating Dumbbell Curls
Hammer Curls

I complete 3 sets of 12 repetitions for each exercise. Remember to supinate your wrists on every lift on this day except for the Hammer Curls. This will ensure that you hit both of the heads of the biceps muscle and doing so will help create separation between the two heads of the biceps.

The last thing to remember when attempting to build huge biceps is nutrition.

Bodybuilding is a long process that takes time, effort and dedication. Keep with it and you will see the results that you desire. Train hard, eat right and keep up the great work.