How To Build Big Biceps: 4 Essential Exercises

The bicep is certainly the one muscle almost anyone can name. When asked to "show me your muscle" it's a given that kids will flex the arm and bicep to show how powerful they are. Everyone interested in body building seeks great 'guns' because the biceps are the paramount muscle area in body building, and can set the mark on how the entire body is regarded. It is quite important how you chose your bicep workouts.

The biceps muscle group consists of three separate muscles. The bicep brachii is the primary bicep muscle, and is found on the anterior portion of the upper arm. The brachii is again split into the long head on the outer arm, and the short head on the inner arm. The bicep brachialis is found on the outside of the upper arm, nestled between the biceps and triceps. The bicep brachioradialis is the connector muscle joining the primary bicep and the muscles of the forearm, also located on the side of the arm. These three muscles control elbow actions (drawing your hand in toward the body, turning your palm upwards, and movement of the lower arm apart from your upper arm) plus extending your entire arm from the shoulder joint.

The best bicep routines guarantee that the focus is evenly balanced across the long and short heads of the biceps brachii, the main biceps muscle. Bear in mind that the biceps muscle group gets exercised every time chest and back routines are done, so biceps training should probably not be attempted exceeding once or perhaps twice a week. This is because of the sufficient recovery time required to make sure muscle building is accomplished.

The familiar curl exercise is the most intense and best method to build the biceps group, since they focus on the main purpose for the biceps, bringing the hand in toward the body, and then the reverse action of stably monitoring the dumbell moving away from the chest.

The following are the most commonly used curl workouts for building bigger biceps. Even though you may use variable resistance machines when doing isolation exercises, most body builders prefer to use free weights for these routines.

Standing Barbell Curls - Done from a standing position, palms upward, grasping the bar at shoulder width. Draw the barbell to the chest, and then smoothly and slowly return it to the starting position. That is the classic build bigger biceps workout, and mimics the most intrinsic bicep function, elbow flexion and extension.

Incline Dumbbell Curls - Done in a lying position using an incline bench firmly gripping a dumbbell with each hand. Hold the dumbells straight out to the sides keeping a bit of a break in your elbows at all times, curl the dumbbells up, while at the same time turning your wrist to meet your shoulder with your hand, and then in a controlled reverse movement go to the original starting position.

Hammer Curls - Performed in a standing position, elbows held at your sides, gripping two dumbbells. With your palms facing towards each other, curl the dumbbells up one at a time to your shoulder height, then smoothly reverse the movement to the original position. Hammer curls build up your brachialis, therefore keeping the elbow fixed is necessary, as this aids to pass the strain to the proper area.

One Arm Preacher Curls - Accomplished by sitting in front of a preacher board (which is a support board used in a sitting position) holding dumbells or a barbell in a palm up grip with your elbows planted stably on the preacher board. Slowly bring the weight up to touch your shoulder, and then slowly reverse the action back to the beginning position. First one arm, then the other.


Chris Hardenbrook is a health and fitness expert based on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Get more information about how to build bigger biceps [http://www.superiormuscles.com/bicep-workouts], plus other healthy diet and exercise programs at his web site www.SuperiorMuscles.com [http://www.superiormuscles.com/] where you can instantly download a free 29-page health and fitness eBook.

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