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Bicep Building

Big, well defined biceps are one of the jewels of a body builders physique. How do attain them? Even if you don’t aspire to biceps the size of the muscle gods on magazine, there is a number of very effective exercises to help you build flex-worthy biceps.

Try doing curls with free weights. One way to perform them is with dumb bells, the free weights that can be held in one hand. They can be done sitting or standing. Let’s look at one exercise in which you stand.

 After choosing a weight of dumb bell you can handle, arch your back a bit, keeping your knees together. Your arms should be bent at a 35 degree angle. Lift you’re the dumbbells, giving it a full bicep flex.  The wrist should bend backward as you perform the motion. Maintain your form. That is, isolate the bicep muscle by not involving other muscles in the lifting of the weight. If you end the exercise with the dumb bells jerking about, you’ve lost your form, and no benefits will have been gained from those final inept repetitions.  Be aware that if you can’t maintain your form, it might be because you choose too heavy a weight.

Doing curls while sitting is a great way to isolate your biceps. Not having to maintain your balance while you stand allows you to more easily focus and isolate your biceps as you perform the curls.

You’ll know that you’re giving your biceps a serious workout if your last few reps leave your muscles shaking. That very last rep should be barely doable.
The idea is to exhaust the muscle, but not overwork so that your arm is very sore or strained the next day. You’ll be fine if it’s just that last rep that’s just barely possible to squeeze out.

Curls can also be performed with a barbell. Using barbells require great concentration so as to maintain good form and ensure that the biceps are being isolated.

For those looking to build their biceps who don’t have access to a gym or free weights at home, there are a number of exercises that can be done at home- or in a hotel room, for that matter. Push ups are beneficial for the arms, as well as the pectoral muscles, which is their prime target.  Affixing a pull up door to a doorway- make sure the doorframe can support the bar- will allow you to do pull ups, a strenuous exercise that’s very good for your arms.

You can even fashion a cheap, homemade barbell out of everyday materials. For instance, save a few jugs of milk or water- jugs, not quart containers!). Then fill them up with water. Water is very heavy in case you forgot. You now have yourself a dumbbell. You can adjust the weight, of course, by adding or subtracting water from the jug. Go ahead and perform your curls just as you would if you were in Gold’s Gym.