MUSCLE MAGAZINE
PRIZE WINNING BICEPS
Prize winning biceps! Can they be a reality for you or just a
dream? How much sweat and pain have you
already put into yours? How many
endless hours and sets have you pumped blood through their fibrous tissue? If you are not satisfied with their present
size and shape, then the advice I am about to offer you is priceless.
For complete biceps development, FORM
is the most important factor! In the
gym, whenever I see a new trainee doing curls incorrectly, I walk over to him
or her and demonstrate the proper technique needed for maximum stimulation. 
I have seen to many bodybuilders’
waste time and sweat training their biceps with little to show for it. The reason their gains are minimal is not
because they are not training hard, but rather the fact they are not training
properly. I have also observed
bodybuilders who have packed on slabs of muscle towards the center (medial) of
the biceps while the lower (brachialis) part of the muscle remained shallow and
weak.
Champions like Larry Scott, Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Robby Robinson had outstanding bicep development. During their bodybuilding careers they
ranked among the best in the world in upper arm development. These champs just didn't get that way
because of great genetics, they had to train hard while performing a variety of
curling movements through a full range of motion. During my early training years back when I
was in high school (many moons ago) I trained my arms hard and heavy, seemingly
as intense as any favorite muscle artist of the day. I tried all the exercises and systems I knew. Still my biceps development did not equal
the amount of work that was being enforced upon them. I was beginning to get discouraged. After all, here I was spending pain soaked hours bombing my
biceps endlessly with little to show for it.
Then I remembered
what my father had told me when I first began to workout. ''Son'' he said, ''when training your
biceps, make sure you perform the curling movement through a full range of
motion. I started to do just that. I would use a straight bar, gripping it with
hands shoulder width apart and palms facing up. Before I would even begin to curl, I made sure my knees were
slightly bent while sucking in my abs and extending my elbows in front of
me. This leveraged my body in such a
way that I received 100% stimulation from all parts of the
movement. Now, while remaining in this
position, I would begin to curl, raising the bar up slowly while keeping my
wrist straight and elbows stationary, placing constant tension on my
biceps. As the bar reached my chin I
began to extend my elbows even further in front of me to the point where they
were almost facing forward. This
contracted my biceps fully, gorging blood into them for a super pump. At this point I begin to lower the barbell
slowly, while forcing my elbows to remain extended in front of me. Here most bodybuilders fail by stopping
short of locking their elbows out at the extension part of the movement. T
his
is a mistake I see all too often.
Bodybuilders should focus not only on locking out the elbows but
continue the movement even further by trying to extend their arms straighter
with an exaggerated effort to lower the bar down to the knees, thus stretching
and pumping their lower biceps tremendously.
After a while of training with the
prescribed technique, I began to notice changes in my upper arm
development. My biceps actually became
fuller and longer with a higher peak than ever before, making them one of my
most outstanding body parts. This style
of curling can be incorporated into most curling type movements. Frequency, exercises, sets and repetitions
is more of an individual preference.
Some of my students do well on low sets and high repetitions utilizing
two or three exercises while others like doing just one biceps exercise with
many sets and low repetitions. It's up
to each individual to decide what system works best for them. The important thing is to remember to do
your curls through a complete range of motion using correct form and exercise
style.
In conclusion, don't become obsessed with
heavy weights. You are not after a
world record curl; you are after ''Prize Winning Biceps''.
