Biceps… everyone loves big biceps!
Whether they are looking at them, or own them, or feel them, they love them. Biceps are associated with strength and prowess as are wide muscular shoulders. Very primordial indeed as the cornerstone of masculinity, it is usually the first thing noticed in a short sleeve shirt.
So, how does one develop a big set of biceps? Or, more importantly, once they begin to grow, how do you keep them growing? Do you just add more sets of eight or do you raise the reps to twelve or maybe twenty to shock them into growth? It is shocking to see that many do just that!
AN INTENSE MUSCULAR CONTRACTION
Muscle growth is a reaction to a stress, like going out into the hot August sun. When you go out into the hot August sun, your body experiences it as a stress. Due to the intense sunlight, your skin begins to compensate, and then overcompensate, to lay down a means of protection for the next time you are exposed. The pigment in your skin becomes darker, you get a tan!
If you went out on a cloudy day in October for five hours, you would not get a tan as you would, being exposed to direct sunlight in August. The reason is because there is no stimulus… even if you put a whole bottle of suntan lotion on! By the way, I equate just that to bodybuilders who are in the gym doing four sets of eight or a predetermined number of reps, stopping short of the last almost impossible rep that turns on the growth mechanism.
How long and often do you think you would have to go out into the hot August sun to get darker? If you stayed out for three hours rather than two, you would possibly burn. If you went out again the next day you would probably blister and if you continued you would end up in the hospital. The reason is that the body would not have the time to compensate and then overcompensate for the intense rays of the sun. The volume and frequency is just too much.
Muscle requires an intense contraction in order to grow. As one grows stronger, the contraction must be more intense.
The question…how many intense contractions does a muscle need to stimulate growth?
The answer…one good one! Why one? As with the affect of the hot August sun, the body has a limited tolerance to exercise volume and a limited resource to compensate for that stress. Volume is not the answer, intensity is!
CLIMBING THE LADDER OF INTENSITY
As your biceps grow larger, it is not sets that you must add or reps but a more intense contraction. You can train hard or long, but you can’t do both!
For example, if you have been doing a set of Nautilus Curls to failure or maybe Barbell Curls and you hit an impasse where your strength and/or size gains have ceased, what should you do? Well we all know that the most important rep of any set is the last rep because it is the one that turns on the growth mechanism. Every rep previous to that is nothing more than a warm-up. What is needed is a reason to grow bigger and stronger. What is needed is a leap in intensity.
CONTRACTIONS ONLY AND NEGATIVES
This works wonderfully and best if done on a Nautilus or Hammer Curl machine. If you have a training partner, you can have him assist and use both arms simultaneously or if you don’t do it in Omni fashion (one arm at a time) and use your other arm to assist.
Use a weight heavier than what you could normally curl, usually thirty percent or so. Have your training partner assist you into the contracted position where your biceps are fully contracted. Be careful that your elbows are aligned with the axis of the machine. Hold the weight for seven to ten seconds (as a guide), to a point where you no longer are able to hold the weight, at which point you will do an extremely slow negative all the way to the bottom of the movement. You will find as I did in my phone clients that after a couple of workouts when they go back to doing a set of reps to failure, they will be stronger. Only one set necessary!
PARTIAL REPS
This is one of my favorites and it was Mike Mentzer that turned me on to this. He and Ray used to do this one with over two hundred pounds!
This technique is best done with a ninety degree preacher curl bench and a barbell. Your rep range should be about six full reps to failure, but don’t stop at six if it is not failure. Once you reach the point where you can not do another rep, have your training partner assist you with the next. At that point, your training partner will be holding his hands under the bar, as a safety net, while you lower it slowly. There will be a point where you feel you will not be able to return and your partner at that point will give you just enough assistance until you begin to move and complete the rep on your own. You two must be in synch with this! Now this point is usually less than half way down. Your partner will just get you moving again as you contract as hard as you can until you are finishing the partial end of the movement your own. Your partner can hold his hands at that same point as you lower the bar into his hands and he assists you until you get it moving again, sort of catching it for you. Do as many partial reps as safely possible, usually about four are enough but you will know. Move the bar slowly and strictly. One set is enough!
PREEXHAUSTION
This is another that can be done also by those who do not have access to Nautilus or Hammer Strength machines or to raise the intensity temporarily of your biceps workout.
Superset one set of barbell curls to failure with a close grip, hands facing you (like a chin up) lat pull-down using only a contraction and negative. After finishing your barbell curls to failure, go immediately to a lat pull-down machine where you have your training partner pull down the bar to your upper chest and you hold it in the contracted position for seven to ten seconds until you can not hold it any longer, at which point you continue with a slow negative. Your lats will be fairly fresh but you biceps after your curl will be wasted allowing the lats to push your biceps driving the intensity of contraction higher.
(Authors Note: I suggest if you are doing a bicep movement after back, and are doing a pull-down for back, you drop the pull-down for back on that day and do just the hold for the biceps.)
BE CAREFUL WITH TECHNIQUES
Be careful to not overuse these techniques. Use them for a couple or three workouts and then go back to training to failure. The leap in intensity is great. Always manage your volume and frequency as you get bigger and stronger.
ABBREVIATED ROUTINES
If you are doing an abbreviated routine in which you are not doing direct bicep work, you can incorporate some of these techniques such as contractions and negatives… and partials. However, do not get stuck using any technique for a long period of time or every workout as they can lead to overtraining very quickly if not managed properly.
Bill Sahli is a 35 year veteran X Competitive Bodybuilder, HIT Trainer, Author and Life Coach.
Bill is author of the E-book “R U Serious ®?- High Intensity Bodybuilding and the Audio Teleseminar – High Intensity Mindset found at ” http://www.ruserious.info
He is available for personal instruction on a limited basis. He has trained bodybuilders, athletes, professions, the handicapped & both men and women. His amazing techniques save hours in the gym, with most clients training 15-30 minutes within a week, allowing them to reach their goals in record time. You can reach Bill at rruserious@gmail.com
