There was a time when the world knew only one bodybuilder – Arnold Schwarzenegger. And one training method called the Arnold System. Today, in the decades since, the training recommendations of the greatest bodybuilder of the 20th century seem unnecessarily intense. And therefore controversial. Modern scientific experience of “pumping” suggests many counterarguments against huge exhausting loads. Especially when it comes to the biceps – a relatively small muscle, which is also overloaded by the indirect effects of exercises on the chest and back. However, as soon as you look at the photos that accurately document Arnold’s hands, all objections crumble into dust…
To “mass”
My biceps “pumping” program begins with a “cheat” biceps curl with a barbell. At the beginning of the movement, the bar rests on the front of the thighs, the grip is shoulder-width apart.
For the movement to have impact, you need to use a significant amount of weight. However, when the arm is straightened, it is almost impossible to launch a heavy barbell from the start. If you still try to do this through strong willpower, 90% of the load will not be on the biceps itself, but not on its lower tendon. The greater the weight, the greater the traumatic effect. It is unlikely that you will rupture the tendon the first time, but there will definitely be microtraumas, albeit imperceptible. After 5-6 workouts you will feel a slight pain in the lower biceps ligament, and after a couple more workouts the pain will grow to unbearable.
That’s it, then on “pumping up” the biceps you will have to give up, as well as on all the basic movements in which the biceps is involved along the way: bench press, inclined bench presses, bent-over rows of the barbell to the belt, rows of the block to the belt while sitting, behind the head and to chest… In other words, a biceps injury paralyzes the most important area of your overall training – the chest and back.
That’s why I do cheat curls. Due to the slight effort of the entire body muscles, I slightly “throw” the barbell, and then “catch” it above the “dead” area. Then I do the lift using only the strength of my biceps – no “rally”! I return the bar slowly, under complete control. I do 5-8 sets of 8-12 reps.
I set the range of sets based on fluctuations in well-being. You cannot train the same way at every workout.
Muscle tone fluctuates due to varying degrees of recovery. On some days you rest better, on others worse. If you try to do an extreme number of sets against the background of low biceps tone, then the “weakness” of the muscles will lead to the transfer of stress to the ligaments and, ultimately, to their injury.
My second exercise is dumbbell bicep curls with your back supported. They recommend a slight deviation of the back of the bench from the vertical – no more than 25-30 degrees.
I tilt my back lower – all the way to 45. With this tilt at the start, the biceps receive a strong preliminary stretch. The more a muscle is stretched, the more muscle fibers participate in its contraction – this is a proven law of physiology. So back lifts are a mass-building exercise. In total, there are 5-8 sets of 8-12 repetitions in the exercise. The specific number of sets and repetitions depends, as I indicated, on my energy level .
For Form
Immediately after the mass movements, I perform exercises to increase the peak of the biceps, improve its definition and overall shape. First, I do concentrated one-arm raises. The task here is to ensure complete isolation of the biceps. It is known that an absolutely vertical position of the humerus leads to this goal. However, it is difficult to ensure the biceps are vertical with any variant of concentrated lifts. That’s why I invented a fundamentally new form of movement. It looks like this. Bend at a right angle and place one hand on any support to provide a firm hold on your torso. Take a dumbbell in your other hand and let your arm hang freely under the weight of the dumbbell.
The next exercise is standing alternating dumbbell raises. This is where the place for supination is located, i.e. turning the hand outward. No one argues that wrist supination leads to an exceptionally complete contraction of the biceps, however, in my opinion, the place of supination is only among “grinding” exercises. It is impossible to mix the work of the “mass” and the supination of the hands. The first requires raw willpower, the second requires an attentive and focused attitude towards the correct technique.
Take a relatively light weight that allows you to keep your elbows motionless even in the middle of the amplitude, and start the exercise. Try to supinate your hand as much as possible. This will have double benefits – both for the biceps and for its peak. Rotating the forearm activates the brachialis muscle underneath the biceps, increasing its “mass” and “pushing” the biceps outward. This makes the peak of the biceps seem even larger. The movement is 5 sets and 10 reps.
The 4 exercises I described are quite enough to create a program for “pumping up” your biceps. The only thing I haven’t talked about yet is stretching your biceps between sets. To do this, you need to fully straighten your arm and move it back a little. Stretching the biceps, as I noticed, greatly increases the impact of all exercises – both on the “mass” and on the peak of the biceps. Don’t be lazy to repeatedly stretch your biceps in between all sets of the complex.
Biceps training should have its own plan. If you have already “pumped up” that “mass” that goes well with the width of your chest and the volume of deltoids, then the entire program must be composed of isolating movements alone. If it doesn’t give you “mass,” then the plan is this: 3 “mass” movements plus one formative one.
If you have already achieved a good balance between mass and form, then there should be equal amounts of both movements.
I advise you to “pump up” your biceps: three times a week, combining them with the lats. On the intermediate days, you will “pump up” your triceps along with your deltoids. If you have a very high level of fitness, “pumping up” your biceps and triceps can be combined into one workout.
