I use to have decent sized biceps, then i lost a lot of weight and they are gone. How do I build them back up.

12/30/2006 9:06:52 PM

The same way you earned them in the first place.

12/30/2006 9:07:29 PM

Anabolic steroids.

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 9:09 PM. Reason : ]

12/30/2006 9:09:48 PM

Is this a joke?

12/30/2006 9:43:03 PM

Deadlifts

12/30/2006 9:53:58 PM

don't listen to ^ this guy... he has an unhealthy obsession

but really, you should do a hard back day with a couple of bicep excersise in the beginning of the week and later in the week you could do an arm day, focusing on bi's, tri's, and forearms (you could do some tri's on chest and shoulder days too- big tri's make your bi's look big too)

12/30/2006 9:59:45 PM

what are some good exercises for building bulk (in biceps)? i do one-arm isolation curls and essentially do almost negatives with a 2-arm cable curl, but my triceps still grow a LOT faster than my biceps. any other guys have a problem with muscles not maintaining symmetry?

i work them out the same number of times a week, my biceps just don't grow as fast as my triceps... should i do something different?

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 10:09 PM. Reason : triceps]

12/30/2006 10:03:23 PM

Quote :

"my biceps just don't grow as fast as my biceps"

12/30/2006 10:05:05 PM

fixed it - as fast as my triceps

12/30/2006 10:09:37 PM

Chin-Ups and Zottman curls

12/30/2006 10:11:05 PM

one of my favorite exercises for bi's is rotational single arm bench curls- set up a bench at an incline, and lean over it with your tricep flat on it and the your palm facing you at the top of the the exercise- then bring it down rotating your wrist as you go down so that your palm is facing the the bench at the bottom of the exercise- and do your best to keep the weight from hitting/bouncing off the bench- sometimes using a preacher-curl bench can help out with this

you should also check out http://www.bodybuilders.com for more advice

12/30/2006 10:22:58 PM

thanks guys

12/30/2006 10:29:45 PM

if you want to build bulk do big bar movements, hammer curls (incline hammers have always worked well for me). Straight bar curls, reverse curls. Especially if your arms are uneven in strength. There is a misconception that if one arm is stronger you should do dumbbell work, this is not true. Use a bar and good form, it forces your weak arm to work a little harder than the other arm. It will catch up quicker this way.

12/30/2006 10:35:09 PM

^Thanks that is what I was looking for.

12/30/2006 10:45:07 PM

weighted chinups

12/31/2006 12:32:56 AM

Quote :

"but my triceps still grow a LOT faster than my biceps"

they are supposed to. triceps are naturally bigger than biceps.

12/31/2006 10:41:38 AM

One and a half's, concentration curls, and 21's = bigger biceps

12/31/2006 11:12:12 AM

Quote :

"but my triceps still grow a LOT faster than my biceps"

Opposite phenomenon for my triceps/biceps. My triceps suck.

12/31/2006 11:12:34 AM

Quote :

"One and a half's, concentration curls, and 21's "

Can you explain those or post a link?

12/31/2006 2:05:11 PM

got to isolate them bad boys

12/31/2006 2:10:59 PM

Curls get the girls

12/31/2006 3:29:02 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "One and a half's, concentration curls, and 21's " Can you explain those or post a link? "

I wouldn't even worry about them.... They are basically parital reps... I don't think there is really any advantage to doing a partial rep. Just do regular curls (if you must do curls), for the full rep, contracting the muscle fully. Someone might try to tell you that 21's will work a different area of the bicep, which simply isn't true. When you move the weight, you contract the same fibers.

For what its worth (maybe not much), I've always had the most success with weighted pull-ups and heavy rows (BB or DB) for adding mass to my arms. Don't forget that the tricep is typically around 2/3 of the mass of your upper arm, so for bigger arms, you need to work on those a lot.

12/31/2006 3:34:16 PM

Quote :

"I wouldn't even worry about them.... They are basically parital reps... I don't think there is really any advantage to doing a partial rep."

That's debatable.

However, I do those exercises because of the resistance. I think it's really tough for the average person working out to really work their biceps hard for several reasons. One being that most people tend to use a lot of their back and shoulders to do their curls and don't isolate their biceps. They also don't get enough resistance in their exercises.

21's and one and a half's offer a lot of resistance. And with your concentration curls you can use your other hand to help you finish off the last few reps and work your bicep to failure. I've done a lot of different bicep workouts, but I'm always sore as shit after doing 21's and one-and-a-half's in my workout and my biceps are about as big as they can get.

Pull-ups are good too. But do real pull-ups....all the way down and up...no swinging.

12/31/2006 4:40:08 PM

Why wouldn't you want to do a full range of motion for an isolation excercise?

12/31/2006 4:53:24 PM

More resistance.

12/31/2006 5:11:17 PM

You want big guns, do some research and don't waste your time w/ crazy, 5 set arm routines. The primary role of the bicep is elbow flexion and you should be getting enough of that work doing Chins and Rows.


Here is a solid article by Alwyn Cosgrove

Part I

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=746517

Part II

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=797992

12/31/2006 5:36:16 PM

Quote :

"they are supposed to. triceps are naturally bigger than biceps."

just because triceps are bigger than biceps, doesn't mean they are supposed to grow faster.

everybody is different.

12/31/2006 6:08:58 PM

Quote :

"21's and one and a half's offer a lot of resistance. And with your concentration curls you can use your other hand to help you finish off the last few reps and work your bicep to failure. I've done a lot of different bicep workouts, but I'm always sore as shit after doing 21's and one-and-a-half's in my workout and my biceps are about as big as they can get. "

So you have more resistance, but does that mean you are recruiting and using more muscle fibers? Not necessarily. Does it mean you are breaking down the muscle more? Again, I don't think so. As for the soreness, soreness doesn't mean you've effectively worked a muscle well, or that you have even broken the fibers down. One of the initial causes of soreness (immediatly after) is a build up of lactic acid in the muscle. I've never thought soreness was a good indicator of the effectiveness of any lift. You can effectively work a muscle and have little to no soreness after or the following day. I think where we agree is that more weight is a good thing if done properly. I feel that the more weight you lift *correctly* will release more testosterone and aid in muscle recovery and speed of that recovery. That's also why compoud movements such as a pull up or row are particularly good for builiding mass. You can use more weight. If these lifts are executed with proper form, you can easily "isolate" the bicep just as you would with iso curls.

[Edited on January 1, 2007 at 12:57 PM. Reason : .]

1/1/2007 12:54:27 PM

i got decent ones by doing pullup/chinup's every day for a couple years.... got to where i could do 20 full hanging over handed or underhanded very easily...

1/2/2007 2:48:42 PM

Quote :

"Deadlifts"

seconded, along with squats. you may think this is crazy talk, but those two exercises will make everything else in your body grow.

[Edited on January 2, 2007 at 3:04 PM. Reason : most people say I have large arms, and I do no isolation work for them whatsoever.]

1/2/2007 3:03:36 PM

1/2/2007 4:00:00 PM

Someone explain one and a halfs I've seen them done a few ways.

I've even seen a few people do a reg set then do a set of halfs.

Oh yes, does anyone here do the Z curls regularly?

1/2/2007 5:35:58 PM

restricted pretty much hit this nail on head.

1/3/2007 1:18:52 AM

GUN PUMPS FOR THE LADIES!

1/3/2007 3:43:15 AM

check out the gunzz

1/3/2007 9:27:52 AM