Jim Cipriani's Body Transformation Blog
- Hard Hitting Facts and the Most Result Producing Routines You'll Ever Experience.
- Tips, Tricks and Thoughts on Diet and Training in support of Awesome Muscle Growth and Fat Obliteration Without Steroids....FAST!
- Build a Leaner, Fitter, Better, Body Now! Get Ready for Jim Cipriani's Body Transformation Blog.
An Unscripted Look Into My Biceps Routine
September 21, 2010
This week we are going to take an inside look at my current biceps routine. The biceps consists of two muscle heads (the long outer head and the short inner head) that run down the front of the upper arm. Just like the triceps, each head has a distinct attachment at it's origin but have a common insertion point at one tendon that attaches to the radius. To get full biceps development calls for stimulating the two heads equally (plus the brachialis), which calls for a variety of movements. Although every biceps exercise hits both heads to some degree, some are better than others at stressing individual heads. This is a key concept in choosing the exercises that I do.
Something to note about the videos this week: I was a little late getting to the gym, so I wasn't alone for my full biceps workout. Because of that, on the second two videos you are going to see them without spoken instruction included. Anyone who has been around someone talking on a cell phone while in the workout area knows how annoying that can be. So I didn't want to take that one step further with loud video instruction. What you will see is a candid look at how I actually tackle each exercise in real-time. Anything worth noting has been done so in the text below.
Overall Biceps Mass
Your best mass builders for the biceps are going to be the movements in which your upper arm is in line with or slightly in front of your torso, as in standing barbell curls or preacher curls. The front delts help the biceps in both of these exercises, more so in standing barbell curls, as your arms travel slightly forward while you curl the bar up. This synergy with the front delts enables you to use bigger weights which, in turn, will build the most muscle. MRI studies also indicate that a grip that’s slightly narrower than shoulder width hits both heads of the biceps best.. As with all my first compound movement for each bodypart, I am attacking it Max-OT style. 4 sets of 4-6 reps (after warm-ups and acclimation sets).
The Long Head of the Biceps
You get complete biceps stretch when your upper arm is straight down and back behind the plane of your torso, palms facing forward, as in the bottom of a Incline Dumbbell Curl (between 30 and 60 degrees). Here I do 8-10 reps, but I only rest 30 seconds between sets. I do this until I complete all 4 sets. Usually by the last set, I am only getting 6 reps or so.
An Note On The Video: There is no talking. In fact, due to some copyright factors of the song playing in the background there is no sound at all. What you are going to see is how I actually incorporate this cluster set technique with shortened rests in its entirety. Pay attention to a few thing.
- One, the form. notice how I go all the way down for full stretch on every rep, very little swinging (actually this should be avoided completely) and I don't let my upper arms overly rotate forward at the top of the curl.
- Two, how the reps drop with each set. I actually shortened my rests to 20 seconds instead of 30 for the sake of keeping the video shorter for you to watch. This caused the reps to drop a little more than usual with each successive set. But you will notice how the weight starts moderately easy and then gets super intense.
The Short Head of the Biceps
To hit the short head we are going to do the opposite of what we did to hit the long head...do a curl with our arm(s) positioned in front of the body. My two favorites are the Spider Curl (which you will see done in the video) and an old Arnold favorite, the concentration curl. One set till failure. As previously mentioned in past blogs, I don't always hit failure. My goal is to reach 20 reps no matter what. If my weight selection is good enough, I reach failure right around 20. Sometimes I have to do a drop-set or rest/pause to complete it. If my choice is too light, I make a note of it and do a better job in my weight selection for next time.
An Note On The Video: Again, no talking. You are going to see me go for the 20 reps in real time action. Pay attention to the form. I am going all the way down with each rep as well as hitting a full contraction at my forehead. I try to get a very short pause at the top and consciously contract my biceps hard in the fully contracted position.
Also, my first set was a little easy so I opted for a second set. Plus, it gives you a better angle of the movement to see it from top to bottom. Due to fatigue, you will see how I incorporate a Rest/Pause technique to complete all 20 reps.
An unimportant thing you will be able to notice but worth noting is that if you look closely, you will be able to see where I had torn one head of my right bicep. This was not done through weight training and it limits me very little in my training.
There you have a look inside of my current biceps workout. Watch the videos to make sure you are executing properly. I'll see you next week for an inside look at my training for another bodypart.
See you then! In the meantime....
TRAIN WITH PASSION!!!
James Cipriani - CFT, CSCS
Cutting Edge E-zine
Sign up to receive a FREE subscription to my Health and Fitness Newsletter. Published bi-weekly, it’s packed full of motivating stories, tips, techniques, strategies, AND healthy recipes that reveal the highly guarded personal training secrets for re-shaping your body fast!
Browse Recent Posts
Spread the Word!
Leave a Comment
Name:
Email:
Comment: