Let’s admit it. Guys with big arm muscles look good. Women lust after them and so do we, just in a different way. We WANT them for ourselves. Instead of coveting your brother’s bulging biceps, I’m going to teach you 4 exercises to get you the guns you’ve been dreaming about.
TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE.
Biceps are muscles with two heads – hence, the “bi” part of the word. As they say, two heads are better than one. Have you ever seen a guy with biceps that look impressive from one side, but then the size vanishes when viewed from the front? Conversely, have you seen biceps that appear thick and meaty from the front, but viewed from the side, they’re flat and shapeless? This is when you know that one of the biceps heads has developed while its brother has lagged behind.
I’m taking here about the good ole’ biceps brachii. The biceps brochii has two heads running parallel to one another along your upper arm. The short head runs on the inside of the arm, closest to the chest, and adds to the thickness when viewed from the front. The long head runs along the outside of the arm and forms the peak when flexed. If you’re genetically lucky, you may have been gifted with an obvious split between the two heads.
Here’s my list of 6 biceps exercises to bulk you up:
1. Pushup-position hammer curl
HOW TO DO IT:
Grab a pair of dumbbells and assume a pushup position with your palms facing each other. Without moving your upper arm, curl the weight in your right hand toward your right shoulder. Lower it, and repeat with your left arm. Continue alternating right and left curls for 30-60 seconds. Add weight in subsequent workouts, but don’t try to speed up the movement.
HOW IT WORKS:
If you’ve done rows from a pushup position, this exercise will seem familiar. But, by doing a curl instead of a row, you move the load farther from your center of gravity and base of support. Your core muscles, in turn, need to work harder to stabilize your spine, making this one of the best ab exercises you’ve probably never done.
2. Kneeling single-arm curl
HOW TO DO IT:
Select a dumbbell you can curl for no more than 5 reps or 15 seconds. Hold it in your nondominant hand, palm in, and kneel. Keeping your elbow against your ribs, curl the weight, twisting your palm so it faces your shoulder at the top of the move. Do 3 reps a side as many times as you can in 5 minutes. Once you can go back and forth 10 times (30 total reps on each side), increase the weight.
HOW IT WORKS:
Your biceps have two functions: to bend your elbows and supinate your forearms. Doing both with heavy weights and low reps leads to fast results. When you do these curls from a kneeling position, with the weight on one side, your obliques work overtime to keep you upright, giving you another way to target your core and biceps simultaneously.
3. Split-jack curl
HOW TO DO IT:
Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms in, feet hip-width apart. Jump into a split stance—left leg forward—while curling the weights to your shoulders. Return to the starting position and repeat, landing with your right leg forward. Continue for 20 seconds or 10 reps. To make it harder, drop into a lunge as you land. For a fast, 4-minute cardio workout, rest 10 seconds after each set and do 8 sets.
HOW IT WORKS:
With lighter weights, it’s a good cardio drill that works your biceps. With heavier weights, it’s a killer power-training exercise. The deeper you sink into a lunge and the faster you jump out of it, the more you target your fast-twitch muscle fibers. They’re the biggest and strongest, and they have the greatest potential for growth.
4. Resistance band jumping-jack hammer curl
HOW TO DO IT:
Stand with your feet together and centered on a looped resistance band, holding the top of the band with your palms facing each other. Curl the band toward your shoulders and jump out with both feet. Reverse the move to return to the starting position. Repeat for 20 seconds or 10 total reps. Do 8 sets, resting for 10 seconds between them. You can mix it up by alternating sets of curls and overhead presses (4 sets of each).
HOW IT WORKS:
Jumping out against the band targets the hip muscles that provide stability during lunges and squats but that are rarely worked directly. Strengthening these muscles can improve the appearance of your lower body while also protecting your knees. Oh, and your biceps will get some work as well.
5. Squat concentration curl
HOW TO DO IT:
Hold a pair of light dumbbells (10 to 15 pounds) and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed out slightly. Push your hips back and squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keeping your weight on your heels, your elbows pressed against your inner thighs, and your palms facing each other, curl and lower the weights for 30 to 60 seconds. Do it one arm at a time to add an element of instability and increase the challenge to your core.
HOW IT WORKS:
Sitting at a desk most of the day closes your hips, which can strain muscles in your thighs and lower back. This move forces your thighs out and opens up your hips. Pressing your upper arms against your thighs keeps the movement at your elbows, preventing other muscles from assisting.
6. Eccentric curl
HOW TO DO IT:
Select a pair of dumbbells that are 5 to 10 pounds heavier than what you’d typically use for 5-rep sets. Hold them at your sides and assume an athletic stance, your feet hip-width apart and your ankles, knees, and hips slightly bent. “Cheat” the dumbbells to the top position with a dumbbell clean: Explosively stand up straight while bending your elbows to draw the weights to your shoulders. Take 5 seconds to lower the weights. Do 3 sets of 5 reps, resting 90 seconds between sets.
HOW IT WORKS:
Your muscles can lower more weight than they can lift. That’s why eccentric (or negative) reps, which lengthen muscles, can spark new growth. Plus, the dumbbell clean improves total-body power. Of all the exercises in this article, this one may be the best all-around biceps builder.
Written by: Tristan “Lucky”
www.ripped-science.com
