Do Your Biceps Fail to Grow? Maybe This is Why

Face it you have just as big of an ego as the next guy if not bigger. One of the biggest ego boosters in the weight lifting world is to possess a set of biceps that burst the sleeves off your shirt when you pose and flex. However a lot of us chase the big guns of the upper arm with little success. You have reviewed your workout plan time and time again. You research on methodology of arm exercises and try all the new gimmicks and tricks. And still not enough gain to wow the ladies. Maybe, just maybe you are doing a few (or more) things wrong in your program.

Always get back to basics. A constant in body building is nutrition. Absolutely no way to get around the fact that you cannot build anything without a good foundation. Foundation for body muscle has been, is, and will continue to be good food. You want it to grow then you MUST feed it. Current thought is between one and one half (1 /2) to two (2) grams of quality protein per pound of body weight. If you have an interest in rapid growth of the bicep group you just might want to research adding to the protein to keep feeding that hungry bicep.

We got the food out of the way so it is time to take a hard look at quality of workout. Take a walk through the gym and watch the bicep guys at work. See that guy in the corner with the curl bar loaded to the gills. He stands with feet planted a good deal apart and lifts the bar. Watch as he curls, you could see him rock the upper body back and forth allowing him leverage to lift the bar to his chest. Is this the method you use? In a word–WRONG. Rocking back and forth might give him a massive weight lift but it will do little for the bicep. Modify this. Back up to the wall of the gym and plant your body against it. NOW curl that bar. Concentrate and keep your elbows tucked in to your waist area and CURL! that bar. Notice the difference in the way it feels deep within the arm? A few workouts and you will also notice the difference it looks in the flexed arm.

Time to take the action when you use a set of dumb bells. Now dissect the majority of lifting techniques you see. Probably a prevalent one is getting a mighty “swing” in the arm as it lifts the weight to the chest. What does that accomplish? I guess it will loosen up the shoulder joint and keep arthritis at bay for a few more years. HOWEVER if you want to see size increase in that beautiful bicep you need to stop this. Tuck your elbow up against your body. Now you will be using the arm as a lever rather than a swinging wrecking ball at a construction site. You will feel the work in the arm as you do the curl in a proper way. Once again in a few workouts you will notice the difference.

Your goal is to gain inches in the upper arm. Gain is equivalent to stresses the muscle. Time to pack on weight platters. If you stick to lighter weights and give it the old increased repetition method you will see gains. Pump again and again through a lengthy workout and you succeed in a “pump” to momentarily increase the girth of your arm. This is quite commonly an increase in blood flowing through the muscle and will dissipate when you cease the work. So pump lighter weights for more and more reps and you will look fantastic in the workout mirror. Then when you cool off and the blood returns to your brain so you can think and you will notice the deflation (not a good word on any part of the male body!).

Overload the muscle for proper gain. Your goal should be to outdo your last session. Stress the muscle just about to exhaustion. Push your body to achieve greater results than your last workout. Once again, you do not need to spend an hour with light weight reps. Increase the poundage over last time and push for an extra set —extra weight: extra set. Then move on to another station and let this muscle group recoup and give you an increase.

So we have seen mistakes in high reps, low weights, swinging arms and arching backs. All to no avail. Well a good exercise to learn proper bicep workouts is the preacher curl. With this bench you are bent over and just cannot possibly arch your back to get that bar up and away. If your elbows are planted correctly on the platform you cannot possible swing those arms around. And this position allows you to implement the another proper technique of lifting.

Flexion—we all know this to be the work horse of the exercise. As you bring the arm up you are tensed and ready to increase. Yet you may be ignoring a great arm builder when you relax and lower the weight. Extension is the action of lowering or releasing the weight. Well in both of these actions “power” is the key to growth. Keep the tension up throughout the cycle. Tight muscles on upswing and tight muscles during the release portion. The accomplished stress throughout the exercise and allows the muscle the fatigue that will result in growth.

So get rid of the back arch, the arm swing and the loose arm in the lowering phase. We have introduced the preacher curl as a building block as well as as learning block. When you get the proper body position and control you can introduce all the other upper arm developing methods and watch out!! Growth–growth—growth will be followed by admiring eyes and great compliments.

Write by phanmemgoc