Building biceps without limitations?

[Dionysusedge]

Hey guys

Here's my situation.

Ive got very good triceps, they have really come up quite well in the last couple of years.

However, i have some problems building my biceps.

It seems that on larger movements like barbell or dumbbell curls, my front delts try to take the load; and on the other hand when doing isolation movements, my forearms seem to take the load, and my biceps get lost out in the cold.

So either my forearms pump up, or my front delts pump up, and my biceps just lag behind. Sometimes it feels like the bicep muscles arent even firing.

Ive tried preacher curls and my forearms get pumped. spider curls arent even working now.

Anybody experience anything similar?

Any suggestions?

 

[dragonfire101]

train delts same day as bis and train delts first and pr-exhaust them and then do bis.

 

[goonstopher]

Maybe drag curls with your hand bent back (zothman curls technique)... Weight would probably be reasonably low though.

 

[myosin]

Couple idea's...

1) Try to "lock" your shoulder girdle when you curl... "dig" your elbows into your back/side.. this might help the forward motion of the upper arm when you curl

2) Relax your wrist... let it bend back a little instead of keeping it straight/extended from the forearm... may need to use less weight

 

[chemicalwarrior]

Maybe drag curls with your hand bent back (zothman curls technique)... Weight would probably be reasonably low though.

Ditto on this. I was shown this technique by a 275 lb'er who had similar trouble building bis. It's really helped. Probably the best bi exercise I've done- really hits the inner head. For the outer head there is a variation of a hammer curl that Charles Glass recommends- palms down facing hips, lean forward slightly, curl up and in bringing the weight to just below your chest, palms facing the body the whole way. It'll hit the brachiallis and outer bi.

 

[Bigcheese]

I would suggest incline dumbell curls to take your shoulder out of the movement. That works for me.

BC

 

[burman]

1) Try to "lock" your shoulder girdle when you curl... "dig" your elbows into your back/side.. this might help the forward motion of the upper arm when you curl

2) Relax your wrist... let it bend back a little instead of keeping it straight/extended from the forearm... may need to use less weight

you could also try to get ahold of one of those bicep curling (Boxed Arm Blaste) things arnold endorsed in the 80's they help to isolate the biceps. some like it and some don't but it's worth a try if your having that much trouble

 

[dcshores]

I have the exact same problem. Preacher curls and any curl where my elbows are locked works for me. Like you I used to feel my forearms more than my bis doing preacher curls. I would not worry about it. Your forearm muscles do flex the radius and ulna when you are supinated. As long as you are progressive on the exercise the biceps are getting worked. Also relax your grip some. I have brought my arms for 15.5 to almost 18 by doing the above.

 

[dan525]

I was always a big believer in heavy free weights(barbell curls, dumbells) for arm size, but as I have got older my opinion has changed. I get plenty of heavy work from deads, rows and pullups. For biceps I have found that lightening the weight and concentrate on flexing the muscle throughout the range of motion helps alot. I have also got great results off the machine preacher curls. I use one arm at a time and really try to feel the muscle. The machines provide continuous tension on the bi's which seems to be a better builder of smaller muscle groups then the amount of weight used. Just my opinion.

 

[Dionysusedge]

Thanks guys for the insight and idea's.

Youve given me some stuff to work with.

 

[zavian7495]

i have the same problem too bro my tris way overpower the size of my bis just cant seem to build them

 

[marshallmadman]

This here is all good advice. Especially #2.

1) Try to "lock" your shoulder girdle when you curl... "dig" your elbows into your back/side.. this might help the forward motion of the upper arm when you curl

2) Relax your wrist... let it bend back a little instead of keeping it straight/extended from the forearm... may need to use less weight

 

[Dionysusedge]

i have the same problem too bro my tris way overpower the size of my bis just cant seem to build them

I was thinking last night about when i first started bodybuilding as a 15 year old kid. MY arms were pretty big, easily my biggest bodypart as i trained them all the time.

Then i finally wised up and started training the rest of my body with serious intent. Everything took off nicely. Once that happened though, my biceps have always just kind of lagged off behind everything else.

I have fairly strong delts, and long. but big forearms...im kind of wondering if im just lagging due to my genetic design. Maybe the leverage involved places the stress on the brach/ulna in the beginning of the movement and then the front delts take over at the halfway point.

Its weird...

 

[marshallmadman]

Mind/muscle connection seems to be lacking. Try relaxing your wrist as I indicated above, and start doing higher reps, and pumping type movements. Flex your biceps at every opportunity. That will help your mind get in tune with that muscle group, and hopefully prevent what your body is subconsciously doing when you curl. Flexing your biceps is a big help. I know it sounds dumb, but it works.

I was thinking last night about when i first started bodybuilding as a 15 year old kid. MY arms were pretty big, easily my biggest bodypart as i trained them all the time.

Then i finally wised up and started training the rest of my body with serious intent. Everything took off nicely. Once that happened though, my biceps have always just kind of lagged off behind everything else.

I have fairly strong delts, and long. but big forearms...im kind of wondering if im just lagging due to my genetic design. Maybe the leverage involved places the stress on the brach/ulna in the beginning of the movement and then the front delts take over at the halfway point.

Its weird...

 

[zavian7495]

I was thinking last night about when i first started bodybuilding as a 15 year old kid. MY arms were pretty big, easily my biggest bodypart as i trained them all the time.

Then i finally wised up and started training the rest of my body with serious intent. Everything took off nicely. Once that happened though, my biceps have always just kind of lagged off behind everything else.

I have fairly strong delts, and long. but big forearms...im kind of wondering if im just lagging due to my genetic design. Maybe the leverage involved places the stress on the brach/ulna in the beginning of the movement and then the front delts take over at the halfway point.

Its weird...

ive thought the same thing many times i have really thick arms im 6'3" and 265 have cold 18 1/2 to 19 inch arms but if i had a arnold bi who knows lol

 

[Big Dave Smith]

How strong are your biceps? Are they getting stronger and stronger over time consistantly? Are you keeping a logbook? Are you doing negatives? Are you stretching fascia?

Nothing on my body fails to grow if I do the above consistantly with a surplus of food and rest. Are certain exercises more efficient? Sure... But I don't think one will magically make your biceps grow. You know how to flex your arm with a weight in your hand. If you double that weight over the course of a year or two... you will certainly have larger biceps. Shape? Thank (or curse) mom and dad for that one.

 

[zavian7495]

How strong are your biceps? Are they getting stronger and stronger over time consistantly? Are you keeping a logbook? Are you doing negatives? Are you stretching fascia?

Nothing on my body fails to grow if I do the above consistantly with a surplus of food and rest. Are certain exercises more efficient? Sure... But I don't think one will magically make your biceps grow. You know how to flex your arm with a weight in your hand. If you double that weight over the course of a year or two... you will certainly have larger biceps. Shape? Thank (or curse) mom and dad for that one.

yea mine get thicker but shape and how they stand up just sux

 

[myosin]

In the genes....

yea mine get thicker but shape and how they stand up just sux

"shape", "stand"... BDS is right, up to Mom and Dad ... BUT, one thing that might help a LITTLE is isolating the brachialis muscle via reverse grip biceps curls... do a search, this muscle lies directly under the bottom half of the biceps. If you build that up, it should "push up" the biceps a little.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

"shape", "stand"... BDS is right, up to Mom and Dad ... BUT, one thing that might help a LITTLE is isolating the brachialis muscle via reverse grip biceps curls... do a search, this muscle lies directly under the bottom half of the biceps. If you build that up, it should "push up" the biceps a little.

I found that just getting really good outer biceps development made my arms look 3D compared to years past. My arms really suck, so any improvements are quite noticable. For every supinated curl I do, I do a curl with my palms facing eachother. It's made a huge difference.

I refuse to shoot my biceps. I feel that I'm too young and want to rely on training as heavy as I can for as long as I can. Once that fails, hopefully in a very, very long time... I'll consider purchasing from our fine sponsor synthetek. I have nothing against synthol, but I feel that the more you can delay the use of certain things (ie: insulin, synthol), the more response you'll get and the less you'll have to use when the time is ready.

 

[Dionysusedge]

Yeah Dave, Ive kept a log book for many years for my training.

Arms are strong, i did EZ curls a couple of night ago with 165 for 3 sets of 8-10.

As for tilting the wrist back, my wrist are kind of shot from years of training.

I really think i may just have to call genetics on this one.

All in all, my arms are way bigger than the average person on this planet, AND i have no desire to compete, so really and truly, this is just a vanity issue.