better way for bicept growth..

To me it seems to work best if you use a curling bar (signle bar) with or without the elbow holders (sorry I dont know their name :( ) . And also I like to mix that up with some dumbell curls until I can feel my biceps have been worked well.
 
if you want big biceps to compound excersises. no reason for doing every kind of bicep curl known to man kind when you can do compounds and not only target you biceps but other muscles as well. do some chinups
 
Jake 85 said:
if you want big biceps to compound excersises. no reason for doing every kind of bicep curl known to man kind when you can do compounds and not only target you biceps but other muscles as well. do some chinups
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Good Post. I agree that the biceps should be worked out with big back exercises like pull-ups, or row variations. No reason to target them directly.
 
I personally get best results with curling individual dumbbells simultaneously and hammer curls. I have read that curling with a 'straight' barbell is unnatural for your wrists, which is why the 'curling' barbell was invented for the wrists
 
I always used to get frustrated when doing curls... I've since started using compound exercises and like them a whole lot better. Plus they get you out of the gym quicker too.
 
nickorette said:
which is better for bicept hypertrophy: using alternating dumb bells or using a sinlge barbell?
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For what it's worth - on alternating dumbbell curl vs. standing barbell curl.

Notwithstanding the impact of intensity, sets, reps, tempo, rest etc. on muscle growth , some research suggests that if you want to get the most muscle stimulation ( i.e max stimulation is 100% ) from a muscle, some exercises are better than others.

For a bicep exercise, barbell preacher curls, seated alternating incline dumbbell curls and narrow grip standing bicep curls were found to be among the best choices - something like 90% - 86% stimulation ( in that order ). By comparison, wide grip standing curls with a standard bar or wide grip standing E-Z bar curls stimulate much fewer muscle fibers - only something like 63% - 61%.

So, alternating dumbbell curls would appear to be a very good choice , with the incline version being among the best.
 
If you're doing your compound lifts there shouldn't be much of a need for any curls. Your Biceps are relatively small muscles and don't need to have much isolation work. Try pull ups with an outward facing grip, they don't directly target biceps but they seem to work well for me
 
Wrangell said:
For what it's worth - on alternating dumbbell curl vs. standing barbell curl.

Notwithstanding the impact of intensity, sets, reps, tempo, rest etc. on muscle growth , some research suggests that if you want to get the most muscle stimulation ( i.e max stimulation is 100% ) from a muscle, some exercises are better than others.

For a bicep exercise, barbell preacher curls, seated alternating incline dumbbell curls and narrow grip standing bicep curls were found to be among the best choices - something like 90% - 86% stimulation ( in that order ). By comparison, wide grip standing curls with a standard bar or wide grip standing E-Z bar curls stimulate much fewer muscle fibers - only something like 63% - 61%.

So, alternating dumbbell curls would appear to be a very good choice , with the incline version being among the best.
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Haha, always so data oriented!

That is not a complaint.

However, 99/100 guys you come across over-emphasize their bicepTs (lol), so giving them data to support which exercises have max impacts on biceps isn't wise IMO.

If anything, they need to re-examine their approach and eat food. Not figure out which bicep exercise is teh cool!!!!!1111LoLz
 
I do one handed barbell twist swiss ball 0.0005 degrees rotation preacher curls. And i have hyooooge biceps
 
stroutman81 said:
Haha, always so data oriented!

That is not a complaint.

However, 99/100 guys you come across over-emphasize their bicepTs (lol), so giving them data to support which exercises have max impacts on biceps isn't wise IMO.
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I for one , agree with you - 100%. I think biceps are greatly over-emphasized in most weight routines.

However, my reply wasn't intended as an indirect comment as it pertains to whether he is or isn't over-emphasizing biceps - or even should be. He seemed ( at least to me ) to simply be wondering about any differences in effectiveness - if there were any - between alternating curls and barbell curls. So, I just wanted to pass along this info to him that a prof up here near me ( Tudor Bompa at York U ) had done some studies that suggested some differences between exercises may exist. He observed that when training / isolating a particular muscle some exercises seem to result in greater muscle stimulation than others. In some cases ( and it seems to me, it is for most ), he found the differences to be minor, in some cases they're more significant. I see nothing ' unwise ' is sharing that sort of information IMO.

stroutman81 said:
If anything, they need to re-examine their approach and eat food. Not figure out which bicep exercise is teh cool!!!!!1111LoLz
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Again, I agree with you ....." approach " is critical.

That's why I said " Notwithstanding the impact of intensity, sets, reps, tempo, rest etc. on muscle growth ". The intent of this preface to my comments being being, that learning and embracing the protocols of how to train in a proper and effective manner - intensity, sets, reps, tempo, rest etc. - are as equally ( and may at times be more important ) than the actual exercise you choose to do. :)
 
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Yea.

I understood your original point. Really.

Experience tells me that 9/10 guys, when they ask the original question above, are not asking about different musclular stimulations. Rather, they are trying to figure out how to get HUUUGGGAANNTTICC arms because their 50 million sets of bicep curls doesn't seem to be doing the trick right now.
 
stroutman81 said:
Yea.

I understood your original point. Really.

Experience tells me that 9/10 guys, when they ask the original question above, are not asking about different musclular stimulations. Rather, they are trying to figure out how to get HUUUGGGAANNTTICC arms because their 50 million sets of bicep curls doesn't seem to be doing the trick right now.
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I hear you.:)

When you consider how small the bicep / tricep muscles are in relation to the other much larger muscles found in the legs / butt, back ...it never ceases to amaze me how some gym rats will spend 70% of their workout time focusing on muscles that may only make up 30% of their overall muscle mass.

Then again, when it comes to biceps, I can see how ( for some at least ) that old maxim " curls for the girls " carries a lot of weight !:)
 
What I will never understand is this:

Biceps are probably the easiest muscles to train. You can train them doing practically anything upper body related. So why do people not get how to train them? It really isn't that difficult.
 
triceps make up more percentage of the arm. if they wanted big arms, getting bigger triceps is more effective.

this doesnt really have anything to do with anything. jut putting it out there
 
Wrangell said:
I hear you.:)

When you consider how small the bicep / tricep muscles are in relation to the other much larger muscles found in the legs / butt, back ...it never ceases to amaze me how some gym rats will spend 70% of their workout time focusing on muscles that may only make up 30% of their overall muscle mass.

Then again, when it comes to biceps, I can see how ( for some at least ) that old maxim " curls for the girls " carries a lot of weight !:)
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I guess I understand what you're saying, but it's just a matter of what you care about. I like to be in proportion, but I admit I like to have big arms. Have you ever heard someone say "wow did you see that guy's glutes? He's huge"
 
theGOOCH said:
I guess I understand what you're saying, but it's just a matter of what you care about. I like to be in proportion, but I admit I like to have big arms. Have you ever heard someone say "wow did you see that guy's glutes? He's huge"
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Right, but the problem is this:

How most naturals think you need to train in order to actually have big arms is not conducive for ANY size, period.

That's the point.
 
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