The barbell curl is often the first exercise a bodybuilder will discover in the gym, and one which delivers terrific results in terms of upper arm mass when they are completed correctly. This is the tricky part, however. Many bodybuilders don’t complete the exercise correctly, and there isn’t a great deal of literature out there dedicated to proper completion of slow and effective barbell curls. Here are four tips for making your barbell curls more productive. Back it up! Keep your back straight for the entire duration of this movement. Slouching or bending over not only places your lower back and neck at risk of injury, but also removes the workload from the biceps and draws it to other parts of the body. If you have a tough time keeping your back straight, you may want to consider ...

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Q: I am just getting into doing pullups, and have finally figured out how to keep the lower body still during each set - but don’t know whether I should pair pullups with biceps or back? I feel like my lats are weak, and wonder if I’ll get more overall benefit from doing pullups on back days. Which is it? A: The general rule is: Pullups on back day, chins on biceps day. However, I don’t really consider chins a big benefit to the arms. Wide grip chins are one of the best back exercises you can do for lats, and if performed correctly - with the elbows pulled back dramatically as if (Dorian Yates would say) you are elbowing someone behind, you’ll get great results. Truly strong, big biceps come from curls, and great backs come from sole ...

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Are you happy with your triceps development? Of course not. That’s a silly question. No bodybuilder is ever completely happy with his arm development. Even the great Phil Heath and Ronnie Coleman, owners of the four best arms in the history of bodybuilding, still train their arms regularly and are never satisfied with them. After checking out the routines of the pros, we narrowed it down to eight primary triceps movements that were most popular for mass. Let’s check them out! Close-grip bench press Complete them after your regular benching on chest day as a transition to your triceps training. Skullcrushers These are probably the best overall movement for adding mass. Wear gloves and use a spotter for safety. Go heavy, but ensure you can always control the weight. Overhead extensions with a heavy dumbbell Be sure to ...

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Maybe you already have good forearms. Maybe you just want to make them great. Or, maybe your forearms lag. Perhaps you never made them a priority when you started training, and now that you’re a few years in, their weakness is definitely showing. Whatever the case, it’s time to pump them up! Forearms can be a challenging muscle group to build up. They are like the calves in that they are engaged in low-impact exercise virtually all day long. Whether you’re walking, typing, cooking, eating, training, or doing anything else, there is a good chance you are using your forearms. They’re not moving a lot of weight, but they’re moving a lot. To spurn new grown in your forearms, you need to do two things. First, you have to train heavy. After ...

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Looking to push yourself in a way you have never done before? Ready to instill some new growth in those stubborn arms, in a way you haven’t before? Buddy bicep curls might just be the tool for you! They are very simple – you and a buddy start doing curls with the same barbell, handing it back and forth until neither of you can complete another rep. They’ve simple, tough, and very effective! Find A Buddy You’ll want to select a training partner who is roughly the same weight and strength as you. It’s okay if there is some discrepancy. After all, each of you will only be completing as many reps as YOU can do. Select A Weight You’ll want to begin with a weight that you can curl comfortably for 10 to 12 repetitions. This will ...

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Have you ever watched a training DVD from a professional bodybuilder? You start with waking up with them in the morning, and watching them sluggishly eat a bowl of egg whites in front of the television. They hop into a very nice (and usually leased) sports car or Humvee and travel to the gym, where they attempt personal bests on many lifts to impress the thousands of fans who will be watching the DVD at a later date. What is the form like on these videos? For the most part, it is terrible. They are, after all, trying to impress viewers, as the message board participants will indeed rate their lifts. Ronnie Coleman squatting 800 pounds for two reps was talked about for years on the forums, as was his 700 pound deadlifts. Jay Cutler, ...

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We’ve all seen the young trainers in the gym, standing in the squat rack with an Olympic barbell, doing bicep barbell curls. Well, not exactly bicep curls. More like, “back heaves”. They add 40 pounds more than they can handle to the bar, and then use an extremely amusing amount of body English to bring the barbell from belt buckle to chin. Some cheating is beneficial in bodybuilding training. The goal of bodybuilding training is to stimulate the muscle group by filling it with as much oxygen- and protein-rich blood as possible. So if improper form at the end of a set helps the bodybuilder to push more blood into the region, it’s a positive thing. However, the question is, when does a little cheating become too much? When does the body English and ...

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When one thinks of legendary peaked biceps heads, bodybuilders like Robby Robinson come to mind. Large, split heads which inch higher and higher as the bicep is flexed. While much of the size of the peak is determined by genetics, it is possible to grow the biceps peak that you do have. Exercise selection is the key. In order to build the peak, you must train the outer biceps head. Here are some movements, which target that area. Preacher Curls This movement is king for bringing out the biceps peak. You can complete this exercise on either an incline bench, or a specified preacher bench, if the gym is equipped. Have a seat at the preacher bench and curl away! Supinated Wrist Dumbbell Curls When doing dumbbell curls, change your normal thumb position so that the thumb and ...

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The gym is full of weights, benches, and machines designed to help you reach your bodybuilding goals. But seeing many dozens of machines can be intimidating – where to start? Which is the most effective? As with most things in life, it’s always best to start with the basics and build a foundation. These are the five top exercises for making you grow. Squats Simply put, the squat makes the entire body grow. Aside from the back, legs, and core of your body, squats force your brain to release growth hormone which makes the whole body grow. If you can’t add any more size to your arm, add squats to your routine and watch them grow along with your legs, back, your chest, and everything else. Always go to parallel with squats, use a belt ...

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