In the battle against scrawniness, there are no shortcuts. Even if you have all the juice/gear/steroids under the sun, you have to earn the muscle. You have to go to sleep on time. You have to sit down at the table and consume 5 to 6 meals each day high in the macronutrients your body needs. And in the gym, you have to put in the hours. Sure, you can slack and get to 180 pounds, looking better than your peers, without a doubt. If you want to be a good bodybuilder, or a great bodybuilder, then you are going to have to put in the work.
In no area is your hard work – or lack thereof – more noticeable than when it comes to arm development. If you are lazy, it shows. If you don’t eat enough, they don’t hit 18 inches. If you focus on biceps and neglect triceps, they are small. If you stick with too many isolation, light weight ‘pumping’ movement, they aren’t going to grow. There is no cheating your way to big biceps. The rules are well known, clear, and not very secret at all actually. You have to put in the work. Let’s look at the rules you should be following to develop an amazing pair of battle-tested biceps.
Heavy iron works
Ronnie Coleman didn’t build those amazing guns by hanging out at the cable rack. He
Training past failure
When you can’t train anymore – give it another repetition or three! There are going to be times when cheating is necessary and completely acceptable. Swing that weight only after the biceps has failed on its own. Using the back and hips to move that extra 20% of the weight will keep your biceps working beyond their failure point!
It takes time
You can train abs in a relentless manner – without mercy – for 3 weeks, and develop a fairly nice midsection, in conjunction with dieting. However, it’ll take about 3 YEARS of consistent biceps training to reach that same point. Accept it, and knock out the work. Get ‘er done! Stay steady, keep showing up, and the results will speak for themselves!
Preach on!
Preacher curls rock. Use them – every single workouts – for optimal biceps development! Cable, dumbbell and EZ curl bar varieties are acceptable!
Cables for finishing
There is something to be said for continuous tension that does lead to definition in the biceps not found with slinging that heavy iron, which does come to rest at both the top and bottom of every single repetition. Stick with cable isolation curls, never actually letting the weight rest at any point – for 4 to 10 sets at the conclusion of your brutal back workout!
Don’t forget to flex
Biceps are one muscle group that can develop externally – particularly in the peak region – with a nice healthy and heavy dose of flexing. Look at Arnold’s biceps – he has a peak on the right because that is the one he flexed for everyone since birth. Jay Cutler has the same problem. Flexing the biceps regularly does bring out some separation and detail you can’t see otherwise – so flex away!