We all want to show off some big guns this summer. No matter what the focus of your training is, it never hurts to throw in some direct biceps training, so you can fill out those sleeves. Make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes if you want to build some serious size on your biceps!
1. ELBOW FLARE
When training your biceps, many lifters tend to let their elbows flare out from their side when they do various types of curls. This is especially important to be aware of during the bottom half of the movement, when you are moving the weight from your arms fully extended to the halfway point where your elbow is at a 90-degree angle. Flaring out your elbows takes stress off of the biceps and activates your front deltoid (shoulder) muscles to do some of the work. Try lowering the weight and being more strict keeping your elbows tucked in to better isolate the biceps.
2. NOT CHANGING GRIP WIDTH
Many lifters rarely change the width of the grip they use when doing the king of biceps exercises, the standing barbell curl. Typically, a shoulder-width grip is used for this movement, and most lifters rarely deviate from it. By changing your grip, you isolate different heads of the biceps muscle, which can stimulate new growth in the area! Switch between extra-wide grip and narrow curls to add some variation and new growth to your biceps training.
3. USING THE SAME REP SCHEME
Biceps are usually trained in the 10–12 rep range. And for the most part, this is rightly so, the reason being that training the biceps with very heavy weight can really beat up your elbows and wrists over time. However, don’t be scared to get a few sets of heavy biceps work in while continuing to use good form. Try doing 5 sets of 5 reps with barbell curls, and to make it easier on your wrists, try using an EZ-curl bar.
4. NOT DOING HEAVY CHIN-UPS
Chin-ups are to your biceps what the bench press is to your chest! It is a compound movement that allows you to move a large amount of weight with your upper body while still placing a significant strain on the biceps muscles. If you’re having trouble getting your biceps to grow, try adding in more heavy chin-up sets in the 3–8 rep range. You can add weight by using a weight belt or simply holding a dumbbell between your feet.
5. USING THE SAME GRIP
Most people only train the biceps with a supinated (underhand) grip. By using a pronated grip (palms facing down) or neutral grip (palms facing each other), you are able to hit the different heads of the bicep muscles in order to stimulate growth in new areas. Each biceps workout should hit the muscle from every angle, so make sure you are using a variety of grips if you want increase your biceps size!
6. NOT ENOUGH FREQUENCY
The biceps are a small muscle group and tend to respond well to a high frequency of training. Instead of having only one day a week dedicated to biceps training, try adding in a few sets of biceps isolation work, like dumbbell or barbell curls, at the end of every workout you do for a period of time in order increase the frequency of your biceps training and stimulate new growth!
