Biceps ---- Help paleez.

hawtpep

So I'm about 7 weeks into the GYM. I've seen muscle gain/strength in every muscle group. Except for Bicep...

My strength training is scheduled like this.

Monday -- Chest
Tuesday -- Back
Wednesday -- Legs
Thursday -- OFF
Friday -- Shoulder/F-ARM
Saturday -- BI/TRI
Sunday -- OFF.

For Biceps I do.

Preacher Curl 3-10
Inner Leg Curl 3-10
15s 3-10

I make sure that my form is perfect when I'm doing these exercises. Yet 6 weeks later I'm lifting what I was in week 1.
Any help would be appreciated. Maybe just advice about what you do?

Thanks in Advance

-Hawtpep

PositivelyFlawed

Interested in responses here as I've noticed gains elsewhere, but not in the biceps as well.

lewandt

maybe you need to up the weight amount. You should have a tough time lifting the last few sets. I know i had to up my amount for biceps and i slowed down when doing them to make it tougher. You can probably work them out two to three times a week, not just once a week.

edgemedia

So you're doing one muscle group a week? I'm really new at this too and just started the gym a couple of months ago and I just do my total body workout every other day. I assumed we were supposed to be working our muscles at least three times a week for more results. Maybe I'm doing it all wrong. I'd love to find out more. Thanks for bringing it up!

swilk627

I'm new at this too, but everyone has told me that it's not really necessary to isolate muscle groups like that. Do exercises that involve multiple joints and muscles --- squats, deadlifts, assisted pullups and dips.

lewandt

i am sure there is a lot of different ways to do them but i do my arms/back/shoulders together for about a 30 minute workout 3 days a week and on the other days i do my leg weight workouts. I just make sure i don't work the same muscles two days in a row, i make sure they get a day of rest in between.

But i do think you need to work them more than once a week to see any results.

hawtpep

So you're doing one muscle group a week? I'm really new at this too and just started the gym a couple of months ago and I just do my total body workout every other day. I assumed we were supposed to be working our muscles at least three times a week for more results. Maybe I'm doing it all wrong. I'd love to find out more. Thanks for bringing it up!

No I do one muscle group each day and I go 5days a week.

hawtpep

i am sure there is a lot of different ways to do them but i do my arms/back/shoulders together for about a 30 minute workout 3 days a week and on the other days i do my leg weight workouts. I just make sure i don't work the same muscles two days in a row, i make sure they get a day of rest in between.

But i do think you need to work them more than once a week to see any results.

Just trying to get some different opinions. Across the board I've seen about a 20-30lb gain in the weight I'm able to do. Biceps are the only muscle I'm having trouble with. My legs have exploded in strength but I do Cardio everyday and just strength train once a week.

StrongGwen

IMO, you'd do better to separate your upperbody work days. You show 2 days in a row, and you may need more recovery time. Try alternating upper/lower body focus days. and be sure to go heavy as you can. Instead of using the same weight, start out with a moderate weight for 12 reps, then increase the weight for 10 reps, increase again for 8 reps and again for 6 reps. You should barely be able to complete 6 with the final weight. Then immediately do 12 reps again with a slightly lower weight. You want to be pushing and grunting and sweating, so that you have to mentally find what it takes to finish those reps. You should see an increase in strength every time.

hawtpep

maybe you need to up the weight amount. You should have a tough time lifting the last few sets. I know i had to up my amount for biceps and i slowed down when doing them to make it tougher. You can probably work them out two to three times a week, not just once a week.

Yeah I cannot finish my last set I usually do 8. If I do more then I do another set with a lower weight and do as many as I can. So example.

Preacher Curl- 60/10-70/10-80/10-50/15

flab2sixpack

My 1st thought was that you're over-training, but you're not. If your goal is to gain muscle, giving them 2-3 days of rest is ideal. Are you taking in about 1gm of protein per lb of body weight? Protein is your muscle's best friend (as well as BCAA's).

I think you didn't mean to put "leg curls" as one of your bicep exercises, right? Here's my routine on the day I hit bi's:

Barbell/ez-curl bar curls: 3 sets/8-12 reps
Hammer curls: 3/8-12
Preacher curls: 3/10-12

Biceps are one of the easiest muscle groups to target... not much to it. Keep elbow at your side, curl. Simple.

Have you tried creatine??

Helloitsdan

Isolation movements should be avoided by most people except rehab patients and professional body builders.
The reason you probably dont have much in biceps is you arent working with the proper poundage.

Drop your entire routine and pick up a free program like Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5.

Both these programs are free and will teach you about basic compound movements and proper form.

You only need the 5 basic movements to get full body strength!

Deadlift
Squat
Bench press
Overhead press
Row

These are the only 5 movements you need to do 3 times a week for no more than 60mins.

This allows you proper rest with the other 4 days open to sleep and or mild cardio.

This allows on a physiological level your body to rebuild and overcompensate for the lifting you do in anticipation for the next lift.

So unless you are genetically superior you wont get much from isolation work.

Also if you arent eating right you wont get anything from either types of lifting.

I would be more than happy to help you get started so if you are interested you can send me a PM.

Please check out Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength.
Read the Book by Stuart McRobert "Beyond Brawn"

Good luck!

eayal002

If it's bigger arms you want you need to think tricep, bicep is 30% of your arm while the other 70% is triceps. Not saying don't work on the biceps off course you do but as far as getting that big sleeve ripping muscle it's tricep.

I suggest don't do same exercises every week, change it up. Add some variations, Arms is one of my week points (meaning they are not symmetrical with the rest of my body) so I use FST-7 (Fascial Stretch Training) and helps.
Use on your last exercise, say barbell curls or dumbbell curls,
7 sets, 10-15 reps between each rep either stretch the bicep or flex alternating between stretching and flexing. Forget everyone around you, don't do this for every exercise or you'll be over training.
Can do the same for tricep, close grip push downs or skull crushers, for both concentrate in squeezing that the contraction (bicep) extension point (tri) to get blood in that muscle. By doing this you are stretching the fascial layer beneath the skin and in theory allowing for more space for muscle growth.

But if you are looking for the huge arms think triceps. Close grip bench, skull crushers, overhead dumbbell extensions are my favorite. When I'm doing overhead dumbbell ext. I superset with weighted dips.

If you will do the FST7, should do 2 maybe 3 other exercises first go with 6 to 10 reps (for biceps only do two other exercises) then on last one do the FST technic. Hope this helps you.

You use your arms for just about every other workout so if they feel sore already arm day don't over train. Some people I know lift so hard for chest back shoulder ect that they do little arms and still grow big guns.

kensky

If you are 7 weeks into a gym routine, I'd suggest shifting your focus away from isolation/bodypart work in favor of a full body routine. Work hard/lift heavy 3 times a week using compound movements such as the squat, deadlift, press and row. I never do a curl, ever and my arms are solid.

taso42

If you are 7 weeks into a gym routine, I'd suggest shifting your focus away from isolation/bodypart work in favor of a full body routine. Work hard/lift heavy 3 times a week using compound movements such as the squat, deadlift, press and row. I never do a curl, ever and my arms are solid.

cosigned.

trmecham

For me, I never spent too much time specifically training biceps. But when I did, I got my best results training biceps with chest and triceps with back (which is where your best bicep development should come). And I found less was more effective. But if you want size, you need to be prepared to gain weight. Well, most people anyway.

trmecham

Oh, and if you are doing curls, movements like preacher curls are primarily peaking movements (once you already have good size). You'll get way more bang for the buck doing standing barbell curls and mixing up your grip width.

hawtpep

Thanks a lot for all of your help everybody.

ask4itall

Give it a little more time. The bicep is a small muscle and doesn't respond as fast as large muscles. A single body-part/day is good...here are my recommendation to grow larger:

1.) Go heavy: This is very important. I have different work-out routines depending what I want to accomplish. For example this winter I was in my "bulking" phase; however, I am now in my "slim-down" phase. In my bulking phase...I do 3-4 sets of 3-8 reps of heavy weights. In my "slim-down" phase...I do 5-6 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8 reps.

2.) No rest for the weary: Take as little time as possible between sets. For example...I try to limit my rest between sets to 20-30 seconds. Yeah...it's tough...but necessary.

3.) EAT: Be sure you are eating. In my bulking phase...I might eat 2700 calories/day; however, in my slimming phase...I usually only eat 1800 calories/day. Moreover...depending on your weight...make sure you're getting plenty of protein. For me...I shoot for 200g/day. Also...and very important...have a protein shake immediately after your work-out.

4.) Choose you weight: This is an easy one...choose a weight you can do 6-reps with...then do 12-reps. LOL All kidding aside...ideally...you want to absolutely STRUGGLE completing the last 2-3 reps of each set. For example...I sometime do squats until I'm sick of my stomach. I have actually nearly passed-out after 4 sets of squats.

5.) Finish off your Bicep work-out with as many chin-ups (underhand) as possible; your tricep work-out with as many dips as possible; your shoulder work-out with as many pull-ups (overhand) as possible. For example...I did my bicep work-out yesterday...I finished up with 8-sets of 10 chin-ups with 15 seconds of rest between sets.

Bottom line is this...focus more on big muscle groups right now and the other muscle groups will follow.

Good luck and plz let me know if I can help or answer any questions....also...if you so desire...check out my Facebook fitness page at:

http://www.facebook.com/fitwithfig

Helloitsdan

If you are 7 weeks into a gym routine, I'd suggest shifting your focus away from isolation/bodypart work in favor of a full body routine. Work hard/lift heavy 3 times a week using compound movements such as the squat, deadlift, press and row. I never do a curl, ever and my arms are solid.

cosigned.

Hip hip huzzah!

ask4itall

Here is an article for you:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-science-of-arm-training-arm-workouts.html

Give it a little more time. The bicep is a small muscle and doesn't respond as fast as large muscles. A single body-part/day is good...here are my recommendation to grow larger:

1.) Go heavy: This is very important. I have different work-out routines depending what I want to accomplish. For example this winter I was in my "bulking" phase; however, I am now in my "slim-down" phase. In my bulking phase...I do 3-4 sets of 3-8 reps of heavy weights. In my "slim-down" phase...I do 5-6 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8 reps.

2.) No rest for the weary: Take as little time as possible between sets. For example...I try to limit my rest between sets to 20-30 seconds. Yeah...it's tough...but necessary.

3.) EAT: Be sure you are eating. In my bulking phase...I might eat 2700 calories/day; however, in my slimming phase...I usually only eat 1800 calories/day. Moreover...depending on your weight...make sure you're getting plenty of protein. For me...I shoot for 200g/day. Also...and very important...have a protein shake immediately after your work-out.

4.) Choose you weight: This is an easy one...choose a weight you can do 6-reps with...then do 12-reps. LOL All kidding aside...ideally...you want to absolutely STRUGGLE completing the last 2-3 reps of each set. For example...I sometime do squats until I'm sick of my stomach. I have actually nearly passed-out after 4 sets of squats.

5.) Finish off your Bicep work-out with as many chin-ups (underhand) as possible; your tricep work-out with as many dips as possible; your shoulder work-out with as many pull-ups (overhand) as possible. For example...I did my bicep work-out yesterday...I finished up with 8-sets of 10 chin-ups with 15 seconds of rest between sets.

Bottom line is this...focus more on big muscle groups right now and the other muscle groups will follow.

Good luck and plz let me know if I can help or answer any questions....also...if you so desire...check out my Facebook fitness page at:

http://www.facebook.com/fitwithfig

wk9t

IMHO, if you have only been in the gym for 7 weeks you don't need to be on a split routine yet. You should be doing a total body work out 3 - 5 days a week. Split routines and isolation is more for intermediate and advanced body builders. You need to gain overall strength and fitness first.

reedkaus

i would suggest increasing the amount of weight you do, which will force you to do less reps. this is okay. also, in your last set, you could throw in a few negatives provided you have a workout partner. if not, on your last set, do as many reps as you can, drop the weight down a few pounds, and punch out as many more as you can do, then drop the weight again, and finish it out until you can't do any more.

zafferFL

Start doing some chinups for freakish arms, cancel all isolationist immediately, so much time for such little gain.

bizco

Negative chin-ups and wide grip (and close grip) lat pulldowns helped me. For negative chin-ups, hang/descend SLOWLY for 60 seconds each set. Or work your way up to this if you can't achieve 60 seconds. If you're not familiar with them, here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UFc7dlrSFI&feature=g-hist&context=G2c71188AHT1FV8QADAA

nutandbutter

If you are 7 weeks into a gym routine, I'd suggest shifting your focus away from isolation/bodypart work in favor of a full body routine. Work hard/lift heavy 3 times a week using compound movements such as the squat, deadlift, press and row. I never do a curl, ever and my arms are solid.

cosigned.

Hip hip huzzah!

Agreed! Don't make it so complicated. Talk to nearly any bodybuilder and they will tell they wish they had focused on compound movements instead of bullsh*t overly complicated routines when they were starting out. There is a place for isolations, just not when you're a noob.

Captain_Tightpants

You didn't mention diet but make sure you're not in a calorie deficit. You can only gain mass in a calorie surplus (note: you can still improve strength in a deficit). If you're in a deficit, the gains you are seeing might just be fat loss uncovering muscle that was already that size, and as the fat covering the bicep area is generally pretty thin even in bigger people the "gain" doesn't appear as rapid there. If you actually want bigger muscles, you have to feed yourself. If there's weight to be lost, do a deficit to lose that first then concentrate on bulking afterwards.

Helloitsdan

You didn't mention diet but make sure you're not in a calorie deficit. You can only gain mass in a calorie surplus (note: you can still improve strength in a deficit). If you're in a deficit, the gains you are seeing might just be fat loss uncovering muscle that was already that size, and as the fat covering the bicep area is generally pretty thin even in bigger people the "gain" doesn't appear as rapid there. If you actually want bigger muscles, you have to feed yourself. If there's weight to be lost, do a deficit to lose that first then concentrate on bulking afterwards.

Depends if he is Obese II or Obese III.
These are the only 2 ways to gain muscle with a deficit.

ATP baby!

O II and O III peeps have enough stored energy in muscle tissue to actually recomp while in a deficit.
But only if he isnt wasting time in the gym!

He's going to check out SL 5x5 and SS programs.

BTW if you guys havent read Stuarts book Beyond Brawn I highly recommend it.

Devlyn_P

Do compounds 3 days hard a week.
Eat! Nutrition is huge in making lean mass gains.
Rest to grow!

When you plateau in muscle growth, switch up your workout routine so your muscles don't get acclimated to the same redundant exercises.

Matt_Wild

I'd personally recommend doing the following:-

Week 1 Light Weight:
Standing Dumbbell Curls, 3 sets and 10-12 reps
EzBar Preach Curls, 3 sets and 10-12 reps
Alternating Dumbbell Curls, 3 sets and 10-12 reps

I'd want you to explode in the positive (which is up), contact for 2 and then slowly do the negative for 5-6 seconds THIS MEANS SLOW. You'll find you can curl much less weight than normal. Its about feeling the contraction in the arm and the negative controlling the weight down.


Week 2 Heavy Weight:
Standing Cheating Dumbbell Curls, 3 sets and 10-12 reps
EzBar Preach Curls, 3 sets and 10-12 reps
Alternating Cheating Dumbbell Curls, 3 sets and 10-12 reps

This week is heavy weight curls. This is taking as much as you can do and power it up. This will involve cheating the weight up and poor form.

Should do the trick.

nick1109

I'd have to agree with all those saying to scrap doing all the isolation work and eat more.

For a new gym goer start with a either a full body using only compound lifts (squats, deads, rows, bench and OH press) or do something like push pull legs with compound lifts. Something like below would be a good starting point but remember genetics could be a factor. Keep your lifting heavy with progression at every chance you get, keep the workouts brief and intense and make sure you're eating enough to gain-simple

All 4x6 or 5x5

Push-
BB bench
Standing BB shoulder press
Close grip bench

Push-
Deadlifts
BB bent over rows
BB curls

Legs-
Squats
SLD's
Calf raises

hope this helps