Nov 29 2009

A Few Ideas to Improve your Biceps Training

Have you been working your biceps more than the rest of your body but are still not seeing results?  It may not be the routine but how you perform it. 

Biceps are a compact muscle group so they are easy to work for growth.  It is not uncommon for a body builder to not actually know how to build biceps, but some essential biceps training techniques will help you see results.  This article is specifically about a biceps routine, if you want to know about building all the muscle groups, see the article on this page

Concentrate on correcting the frequency of your workout and do not overtrain.  You actually diminish the effectiveness of your workout if you overtrain your biceps.  You can avoid this if you use only one targeted workout consisting of six or more sets isolating the biceps only once a week.  Using your biceps when doing other exercises during the week is fine, as long as you only isolate the biceps once a week. 

When isolating the biceps, be sure to use your full range of motion.  People who work their biceps using very heavy weights tend to use a small range of motion – they do not put their arm all the way down nor do they lift it all the way up.  This shortened motion keeps the arm from growing because all the muscles of the bicep are not taxed.  To use all the muscle fibers in the bicep, begin with your arm fully extended.  If your bicep is fully extended, you should be able to briefly flex your tricep..

With your arm fully extended check the position of your wrist.  Your wrist should not be bent toward your forearm at this stage of the curl.  Bending your wrist like this at the bottom of the curl actually takes stress off the biceps and puts it onto the forearm.  If you want a big forearm you can do the wrist curl as a separate exercise – but if you want giant biceps, you need to make sure your wrist is locked so that your knuckles are facing the ground.

When you get to the top of the curlyou can tilt your wrist toward your forearm to give the biceps some extra burn – squeeze the muscle for 1 – 2 seconds.  Doing this will force blood, water and lactic acid to the muscle.  These will be used during rest to repair muscles and increase muscle size.

To get the best supination and improve your range of motion, there is one more technique you can use if you use a straight bar.  This technique won’t work with dumbbells or the EZ Curl bar.  With a straight bar, use a thumbless grip.  Put your thumb on the same side of the bar as your fingers.  This puts your pinky somewhat higher and pointing more toward your shoulder than it would be if your thumb was on the opposite side.  Your contraction will be better at the top of the curl if you use this grip.  You have to grip the bar tighter to keep it in your hands, so you use [your forearm more.

For some tips on how to improve your entire workout, see the tips in this article or for a routine that gets you in and out of the gym in 45 minutes see Learn About the Best Way to Build Muscle.


Sep 23 2009

3 Easy Ways To Make Eye Popping Muscle Gains

Most people are aware nowadays of the most common guidelines to build muscle up fast so here we are going to focus on a few of the more overlooked pieces of advice that are gauranteed to put you on the fast track to muscle mass.

1) Don’t pump iron for more than 45 minutes per session. This is because training for long periods of time causes the body to release a hormone called cortisol. This hormone basically makes the body use muscle as a form of energy rather than the bodys supplies of carbohydrate or fat. Of course this is far from what you are wanting to achieve. Also the testosterone level which aids muscle growth drops at around the 45 minute mark also. This double combination will stop muscle growth in its tracks. So hit the gym train hard and intensely and then leave and rest. Corisol levels are also considerably lower when you are at rest sleeping so getting plenty of sleep will aid you in muscle growth.

2) Perform squats. This is the king of all exercises but how often do you actually see people doing these in the gym? Not very often. This exercise is truly a total body movement that needs maximum effort from the entire leg muscles, back and also the upper body muscles in terms of maintaining balance of the body, holding the bar and maintiaining correct posture throughout. It obviously creates huge quad muscles but also your back muscles are stressed a great deal and it is also a great response to the how to get big biceps question too as they also work hard to help keep the bar steady, if you don’t believe me, then try it at least. You can also really use a lot of weight on this exercise which is great for packing on mass. What is more it has a unique and powerful systemic effect and uses the aerobic system a lot. If you have probelms doing this exercise then the only exercise that comes anywhere near close is the deadlift.

3) In terms of gaining muscle mass less is more. Most people find it hard to cosnume enough calories to build muscle up. In order to build muscle up your body requires and excess amount of calories available. You will need top eat a lot of calories if youare working out hard. Some people will never grow because they never do this. Taking on board more calories is going to help but by also reducing the amount of training you do you will also reduce the amount of calories you require to build muscle up. As previously mentioned workouts that last 45 intense minutes are more than enough and many people will make better gains in even shorter workouts. You may wish to include cardio training in your schedule to maintain good general health which I agree with but don’t overdo it as this type of workout will again reduce that amount of calories available for building muscle.

If you have not previously been doing any of these three things then put these weight gain tips into action starting today and I am sure that you will see the difference very soon.


Jul 03 2009

How To Build Muscle On Your Biceps Fast

We all know that very close to the top os bodybuilders shopping list is a large set of impressive biceps. Naturally they are one of the most visible and eye catching muscles that will win you lots of praise. So, why is it then that so very few people whilst they remain dedicated to their search for big biceps still remain with their sleeve banging against there biceps in the breeze.

Well, it may be of interest to you that this small muscle is often very poorly trained. By that I mean it is suprising how many bodybuilders go about building bicep mass in the wrong way.

Here we are going to set a few things straight in order to set you firmly on the way to building muscle mass on your biceps quickly. So here is out brief biceps guide how to build muscles fast .

1) Your biceps already receive a lot of work in back workouts. Therefore focus on getting better at these exercises and your biceps will follow and get larger.

2) Do not overtrain the biceps. This unfortunately is far too easily done due to the fact already mentioned that they receive plenty of work in back workouts, keep it to a max of 4 sets of specific bicep exercises.

3) Choose the appropriate exercises for your goal. The best mass building exercises for arms are: Pull-ups with an underhand grip followed by rowing exercises. If you really have to train your guns more than standing barbell curls will be your best bet. Avoid seated concentration curls – exercises like these are designed as shaping and carving exercises to shape arms that already have a lot of muscle mass. if that doesn’t sound like you then other exercises will be more suitable.

4) Stick to the rep range of between 5 and size for maximum muscle size gains. Make sure you keep progressing by using a training log to track your progress. This ensures you will have motivation as you are trying to beat your previous pbs. Next up muscle building nutrition.

5) Are you getting enough calories inside you. You need to take on loads of calories if you really want to support muscle gains. eat at least 5 times per day measl containing: pastas, fruits, leafy greens, lean white meats and such like. These are the types of food that contain the necessary calories and nutrition to boost your growth.

6) Make sure you take enough rest. You are probably aware of the fact that muscles don’t increase in size and grow whilst you are actually working out, they do it whilst you are resting. Therefore it is only common sense to give them enough rest. You might as well stop now if you are not doing this.

So there we have it, our brief muscle building guide to biceps. Check you are following those guidelines and you may just boost your bicep size and build muscle mass quicker than you expected. Go hit it!