Raising your biceps can improve your performance in several sports, and it's also cool to show off. For fans of lifting weights, the development of the biceps muscle is one of the most satisfying achievements because it brings a significant change in physical appearance. There are many isolation exercises that can be done to target only the biceps, as well as compound exercises that target the biceps as well as other muscle groups, so you can see better biceps development.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Doing Isolation Exercises
Step 1. Perform barbell curls while standing
This is probably the best move for the biceps. When it comes to increasing biceps, people will definitely remember the standing barbell curl. The standard variation is: grip the barbell shoulder-width apart with your palms facing up, starting with your elbows straight down, then bending your arms up so that the barbell is at chest level.
- Try not to move the elbow position and the body is straight so that the body shape is correct. This way your arms support the load to the maximum.
- Do not rush to lower the barbell. Hold the barbell while slowly lowering it for each rep to be effective.
- You can also do this movement while sitting. The barbell handle when it comes down will rest on your thighs, so the range of motion will decrease at an angle that provides maximum load on the biceps.
Step 2. Do dumbbell curls while standing
For standing dumbbell curls, the stance is the same as standing barbell curls, but because there is a dumbbell in each hand, you can work both arms at once or alternate. In general, the total weight of the barbell is greater, but it may be easier to increase the rep with dumbbells, especially when you alternate.
- One of the biggest advantages of doing standing dumbbell curls is that there is a wide variety of grips. You can use dumbbells for hammering or hammer curls. Hammer curls are grips in which your palms are facing your sides during movement (rather than facing forward), and the dumbbells are moved toward your face, much like a barbell movement.
- Another variation of the hammer curl that's also part of the standing dumbbell curl is to widen the range of motion by lifting the dumbbells across your chest at a 45-degree angle (as opposed to the usual straight up, shoulder-width apart).
Step 3. Do a concentration curl
This curl focuses on the entire bicep. Sit on a bench or chair with a dumbbell in one hand. Lean slightly forward and position the triceps (back of the upper arm) on the inner side of the thigh. Inhale when the dumbbells are lowered, exhale when they are raised towards the shoulders. Then alternate with the other arm.
Make sure your arm is not swinging. Both up and down movements should be slow and controlled for maximum effect on each rep
Step 4. Perform a reverse curl
Start with a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing back and backs of hands facing forward. Lift the dumbbells toward your shoulders. The peak of the movement is when the back of your hand is facing up and your knuckles are facing forward. This exercise is great for the biceps as well as the forearms.
This exercise can also be done with a barbell
Step 5. Do a preacher curl
The preacher curl movement isolates the entire biceps. Start with a barbell or a pair of dumbbells, arms resting on the preacher bench, and chest resting on the sides. Slowly bend your arms until the weight is almost touching your shoulders before lowering it down again.
When using dumbbells for preacher curls, you can do variations and shape certain parts of the biceps by using a hammer grip, where your palms are facing the side of the body (not facing up) at the beginning of the movement
Method 2 of 3: Doing Combined Exercises
Step 1. Perform drag curl
In a standing barbell curl position, lift the barbell grips to your chest level, which is the highest point you can lift the barbell with the handles still in contact with your body. Then lower the barbell in the same groove, making sure the barbell handles are always in contact with your body. During this movement both elbows will move back and shoulders can't help.
Step 2. Do chin-ups with a barbell
The chin up exercise works the back and biceps. To maximize the load per rep on your biceps, start with the barbell fully hanging below and about 15 cm between your grips, then lift until the weight disc is slightly above your chin and your upper chest is in contact with the handle. Because the range of motion is wider when lifting up to the chest, the biceps can be worked harder.
For each rep to be more effective, it's a good idea to move down slowly until you return to a full hanging position. Although this is more difficult to do with the chin up movement, don't let the weight just go down according to gravity
Step 3. Perform a hammer row with one hand
This movement is essentially a hammer curl using dumbbells while the upper body is bent horizontally. To perform this exercise, place your right knee on a flat bench while your left foot is flat on the floor. Bend over so that your back is straight and parallel to the floor. The right hand rests on the bench. Lift the dumbbell with your left hand with a hammer curl grip (palm facing your body). In the starting position, let your left hand hang straight down, then pull the dumbbell up by bending your elbow so that the dumbbell is close to your chest, then lower it again. Switch the opposite position to train the right arm.
This position allows you to lift heavier weights than a regular hammer curl because part of the weight is also borne by the muscles of the upper back
Method 3 of 3: Maximizing Biceps Shape
Step 1. Reduce consumption of simple carbohydrates
In addition to working out strong biceps, you also need to improve their appearance and shape as well. There are many ways to achieve this that can be done outside of the gym, but still integrated into a biceps training program. Start by reducing the consumption of simple carbohydrates from your diet.
We recommend that you reduce the portion of carbohydrates to 30% of your daily calorie intake, of which 85% of the amount of carbohydrates you eat comes from fruits and vegetables while the rest is complex carbohydrates
Step 2. Increase protein consumption
If you want to build muscle while reducing fat to build better muscle, then you should increase your protein intake. The protein portion should be 40% of your daily calorie intake.
Step 3. Watch your calorie intake
One of the biggest mistakes when it comes to building muscle is limiting your calorie intake. No matter how hard you train your muscles, they will still shrink if you don't balance your caloric intake to help build muscle fiber.
Step 4. Focus on working your brachialis muscles
If you want your muscles to grow up like a mountain, and not to elongate like a rugby ball, there is an element of genetics in this; but exercises that focus on the brachial and brachioradialis muscles can actually push the biceps higher like a mountain.
- Different types of exercises that focus on these muscles have been described above, such as the hammer curl, reverse curl, and preacher curl. To maximize the effects of these muscle-elevating exercises, make sure your elbows stay at your sides and your wrists straight for each rep.
- The key to elevating the muscles in a curl is at the end of the movement when the forearm is closest to the upper arm. In addition, you can further elevate the crest of your biceps by focusing on the latter half of the rep, particularly by pushing the muscle as hard as you can at the end of the movement.
Step 5. Extend the span of each rep to the maximum
If you want to lengthen your biceps (length from elbow to shoulder), then you need to focus on the beginning of each rep, not the end, because the end/peak is for elevating the biceps. Put more effort into lifting the weight slowly at the start of the rep as well as going down. One of the best ways to lengthen your biceps is to fight inertia as hard as you can by lengthening your rep range.
Step 6. Close the gap between the grips on the barbell
The long head of the biceps, which is the upper part of the biceps that is further away from the body, can actually be worked harder than the short head, which is the lower part that is closer to the arms. To specifically target the long head of the biceps, the grip distance on the barbell is brought closer so that it is only 10-20 cm apart when doing barbell curls.
If you prefer dumbbells, you can still target the long head of the biceps by doing a cross curl toward your chest at a 45-degree angle, bringing the dumbbells closer to the opposite shoulder (in normal curls the dumbbells only move in a straight line)
Step 7. Keep the distance between the grips on the barbell
Gripping the barbell apart (especially those that are wider than the shoulders), or doing a dumbbell curl as far away from the body as possible, can help build a short head of biceps. However, because a standard grip distance of just shoulder width can work the short head of the biceps harder than the long head, people usually start with this grip distance, also because the long head is usually more developed than the other parts.
Tips
- If the weight you are lifting now feels easy, but once you add it, it becomes too difficult, then just increase the reps you do until you have enough strength to lift more weight with an adequate number of reps as well.
- A common mistake when doing curls is doing this move too fast and/or lowering the weight too fast. Just slowly. Raise and lower the weight at the same speed and don't be careless. The results are sure to be satisfying.
- Correct posture and movement is more important than the amount of weight. Even if you can only start from 5 kg, that's okay. As long as your posture and movements are always correct. If the load that is now being lifted feels easy, it can be increased by 2.5-3 kg.
- The secret to getting strong, cool arms is to work your triceps too. The triceps make up the bulk of the arm, so if they're beautifully sculpted, your biceps will look better too.
- If you want to increase your biceps, look for the right weight and you don't have to do too many reps, 8 is enough, as long as the 8th rep feels almost impossible to lift. Do 3 sets for each movement.
- Start by increasing the overall size before elevating the crest of the biceps, because if you elevate the "curl" of the muscle first it will be more difficult to develop the overall size.
- Change your lifestyle for more effective muscle development. This means that you need to drink more water, eat protein and fiber, and make time for intense, fat-burning exercise.
- Remember that muscles don't build overnight. It takes time and dedication to do this, so don't be discouraged quickly.
- If your wrists and/or elbows hurt during these movements, use a curl bar and/or dumbbells instead of a straight bar.
- Also learn about other common biceps exercises, namely the incline biceps curl, cable curl, and lying biceps curl.
- Don't just rely on curls to get cool biceps; You need to work out the whole body, especially the legs. To gain 2.5 cm of arm muscle, you need to increase your lean body mass by 1.8 kg.
- Do not do weight training before the age of 14 years, because the muscles at an early age are more prone to injury. We recommend that children only do push-ups.
Warning
- Never lift weights that are so heavy that your lifting technique and body shape will go wrong during the exercise - that is, if you have to swing or use momentum to lift the weight. Without the right technique you will not get optimal muscle development and also risk injury.
- You don't need to use a power cage or squat rack to do curls. If you can't even lift the weight off the floor, don't practice curls with such weights first. Remember that this can result in injury.
- To get hypertrophy then you also have to do special exercises. This means that the appropriate weight is one that can be lifted for 8-12 repetitions. If you do more reps than that, what you're working on is endurance. If it's less than that, what you train is only strength.
