Biceps Seriously Lagging

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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[quote]BenceJones wrote:

Just trying to help the guy not get so comfy with his tricep strength level. Fact of the matter is a 305 bench at 6’ 220 is nothing to be jealous of. And that is likely the reason his arms are only 16 inches at that weight. Some of us (me) had to build a lot of strength to get the added size along with it.

FYI I had to get to a ~350 bench at 208 and 5’11 to get 17inch arms.

I regret that my initial post sounded harsh, tough love perhaps.

[/quote]

No prob, I didn’t take it harshly. I put 100 lbs on my bench in 11 months. I’d say another 3-6 months and I’ll be at 350. I’m hoping being able to get up 275 for reps on close grip and 135 for reps on curls will get me up to 17". That’s my plan of attack anyhow.

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[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

No prob, I didn’t take it harshly. I put 100 lbs on my bench in 11 months. I’d say another 3-6 months and I’ll be at 350. I’m hoping being able to get up 275 for reps on close grip and 135 for reps on curls will get me up to 17". That’s my plan of attack anyhow.
[/quote]

Those are great gains, just keep pluggin away you are on the right track for sure.

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[quote]brian.m wrote:
waylanderxx, i know it sounds stupid but i stopped training biceps directly (no i didnt just train them half assed to make sure i didnt grow haha)…i started only training upper body for longer than i’d like to think and still feel my legs/back are catching up, so at my current level of development, i didnt feel it necessary to include, even if its not best to totally cut out a muscle group[/quote]

What?

Your arms are 15". How the hell could your legs be that far behind in development when YOUR ARMS ARE ONLY 15"??? Are you walking around on two very long #2 pencils?

“[quote]my current level of development…[/quote]”. What development?

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[quote]MODOK wrote:
My bis have always responded to 12 and higher reps for some reason. If I go as low as 8…I get nothing, 10 moderate success, but when I hit 12 and even 15 reps thats when the bis grow for me. It seems to be that way with a lot of the folks I talk to in the gym as well. Just an aside.[/quote]

This has somewhat been my experience as well (though I’d say 8 would be about as low as I go). Biceps just seem to be one of those muscles that responds better to higher reps for a lot of people.

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[quote]Professor X wrote:
brian.m wrote:
waylanderxx, i know it sounds stupid but i stopped training biceps directly (no i didnt just train them half assed to make sure i didnt grow haha)…i started only training upper body for longer than i’d like to think and still feel my legs/back are catching up, so at my current level of development, i didnt feel it necessary to include, even if its not best to totally cut out a muscle group

What?

Your arms are 15". How the hell could your legs be that far behind in development when YOUR ARMS ARE ONLY 15"??? Are you walking around on two very long #2 pencils?

“my current level of development…”. What development?[/quote]

Professor X, i hear what you’re saying but the crazy part is wherever i go, from seeing old friends i havnt seen for a long time, or somebody i’ve just met, i’m constantly getting nicknames from big brian (if theres more than one in a group) to the hulk and all sorts of stupid comments and remarks etc…

Madness

-its obvious i train, but i am a far cry from deserving some of the things i’ve been called

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What is it you do not like about your biceps? You say you have xin guns but arm size is 2/3 triceps.

Don’t like the look? Get better genetics…:slight_smile: If you have long arms compared to the rest of your body you’re probably never going to have a nice peak.

Brian, anyone these days who look like they work out is going to be called “hulk”, “big”, etc. by the general public or thsoe who have seen you put on a little bit of muscle. Fuck, I went from 140 to 160 and old friends say I look “jacked”, “big”, etc. I’m built like a dwarf so any muscle is going to show more. Don’t let it get to your head. Get in the gym and lift. Squat…only because most people who “lift” never squat or squat properly. Lift and eat until your friends scream in horror and run from your shear size and strength.

Do people look at you in the gym with a weird eye? If not then you’re not training hard enough.

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[quote]brian.m wrote:
Professor X wrote:
brian.m wrote:
waylanderxx, i know it sounds stupid but i stopped training biceps directly (no i didnt just train them half assed to make sure i didnt grow haha)…i started only training upper body for longer than i’d like to think and still feel my legs/back are catching up, so at my current level of development, i didnt feel it necessary to include, even if its not best to totally cut out a muscle group

What?

Your arms are 15". How the hell could your legs be that far behind in development when YOUR ARMS ARE ONLY 15"??? Are you walking around on two very long #2 pencils?

“my current level of development…”. What development?

Professor X, i hear what you’re saying but the crazy part is wherever i go, from seeing old friends i havnt seen for a long time, or somebody i’ve just met, i’m constantly getting nicknames from big brian (if theres more than one in a group) to the hulk and all sorts of stupid comments and remarks etc…

Madness

-its obvious i train, but i am a far cry from deserving some of the things i’ve been called[/quote]

People did that to me when I had 15" biceps as well. However, they were sedentary people with even smaller arms.

If you go by their opinion, you might as well quit lifting now.

48

OP, try this;

LR

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haha if i went by your opinion, i probably would have quit now too :wink:

i was trying to use the constant remarks as an example, but it doesnt really matter anyways, i still of course have a lot of growing to do, i just wanted to add some different measurement/ratios to the mix because i find it interesting to see what other people are striving for, or what they find ideal (ratio wise, size wise i’m sure everyone in here wants more)

50

what are your back movements? getting strong on those would definitely allow you to up the bicep size.

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[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
what are your back movements? getting strong on those would definitely allow you to up the bicep size.[/quote]

Not really. Back movements are for back. Bicep movement are for biceps. Getting strong on back movements would give you a large back. Getting strong on bicep movements would get you large biceps.

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[quote]Impega wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
what are your back movements? getting strong on those would definitely allow you to up the bicep size.

Not really. Back movements are for back. Bicep movement are for biceps. Getting strong on back movements would give you a large back. Getting strong on bicep movements would get you large biceps.[/quote]

While this is true, I have found over time that getting my whole body stronger, yes even squats, allowed me to move more wt. in the barbell curl and other arm exercises which then lead to bicep and arm growth. If you don’t have a sturdy base how are you gonna curl big numbers? So yes get strong on those rows and chins sucka!

53

[quote]BenceJones wrote:
Impega wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
what are your back movements? getting strong on those would definitely allow you to up the bicep size.

Not really. Back movements are for back. Bicep movement are for biceps. Getting strong on back movements would give you a large back. Getting strong on bicep movements would get you large biceps.

While this is true, I have found over time that getting my whole body stronger, yes even squats, allowed me to move more wt. in the barbell curl and other arm exercises which then lead to bicep and arm growth. If you don’t have a sturdy base how are you gonna curl big numbers? So yes get strong on those rows and chins sucka![/quote]

That doesn’t change the fact that if you are doing back exercises for the purpose of growing larger biceps you are ass backwards and need to quit reading so many articles.

54

hahh I blame myself of reading too much… Though I gained about 2 inches in 7 months without direct arm work, my bicep is incredibly underdeveloped compared to my back… heck, I cannot cheat enough on chins to feel my bis working…

So few months ago started doing heavy curls, supporting my back to the wall and looking up with contracted scapulae… hmm the “biggest and most-shredded guy” in my gym does them this way, he even suggested it… then why should i listen for someone who obviously didn’t built his bis with chins… :S ? any reasons?

55

For those of you who claim your arms never get sore, I have a suggestion:

Step back from your training and look at how you are doing your movements. I used to be in the same boat, but a new training partner with an eye for subtleties in my technique fixed it. It takes some thought and an ego-check because your weights will be dramatically lower, but in my mind, there’s no point in using MORE weight on a LESS effective movement.

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I don’t do direct bicep work so it is underdeveloped, it is that simple…
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isn’t it?

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[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
nz6stringaxe wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
If you’ve been doing dips forever and they did jackshit, I’d honestly consider saying “fuck you, dips” and going the In-Human or Wide-RGB route in the smith so you can press towards your feet as well as up + PJR’s or EZ extensions lying on the flat bench from a dead stop behind your head or some such…

Also… If you still want to do dips, then you’ll just need to get stronger than using +80-120lb…
But I dunno, not my first choice when it comes to tricep training… Too hard on my shoulders (when doing them tricep-focused vs. chest focused) and they’ve never really done shit for me, despite hanging multiple plates from the belt and going anywhere from low to high in reps.

Many swear by the HS dip machine though… Could give that one a try as well.

And of course get bigger overall at the same time :wink:

[/quote]
Well, I’ve already switched mindsets to doing close-grip pressing, but I haven’t yet implemented it.

What are “In-Human or Wide-RGB” and “up + PJR’s”?

I don’t plan on going much heavier in dip loads. Like you said, the shoulder strain is pretty high with that much weight.

I’m also working on the getting bigger overall lol, mainly due to what I’ve heard Poliquin say about arm size relationship to total bodyweight. I just got worried when a bunch of guys in this thread said how heavy/big they were while also mentioning measurements of their relatively small arms. I don’t want to be gaining 40lbs without the expected 2-3in being added to my arms; I want to make sure I’m doing it right as those 40 are coming on.

58

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
brian.m wrote:
man, i’m 6’0.5", relatively lean (4-6 pack), 205 ish and my arms aren’t much over 15" right now, and i’m still getting my legs (a little over 26") and back bigger before i care about adding any size to them (well thats not completely true, as i’d like to get my tri’s stronger…but just because we’re talkign about biceps), …i must have some sort of fucked up idea of what looks like a balanced physique

I don’t understand how you can train your biceps yet not care about adding size to them, that just makes no sense to me.

Personally I train every bodypart so that I can get more size, but maybe I’m just weird.[/quote]

Count me in for being weird as well. I wanna be fucking huge personally.

59

[quote]hardcoreraymond wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
brian.m wrote:
man, i’m 6’0.5", relatively lean (4-6 pack), 205 ish and my arms aren’t much over 15" right now, and i’m still getting my legs (a little over 26") and back bigger before i care about adding any size to them (well thats not completely true, as i’d like to get my tri’s stronger…but just because we’re talkign about biceps), …i must have some sort of fucked up idea of what looks like a balanced physique

I don’t understand how you can train your biceps yet not care about adding size to them, that just makes no sense to me.

Personally I train every bodypart so that I can get more size, but maybe I’m just weird.

Count me in for being weird as well. I wanna be fucking huge personally. [/quote]

i am still training to get stronger, and eating to grow, as these are still some of my top goals. i just am not including bicep curls Currently, because i have a different ideal of what looks good on me, at my current level of “un-developement”.
i honestly dont see why this is a hard concept.

(and yes, later on i will train biceps, and will do them so they will grow and get stronger obviously, but until i get more meat on my back and shoulders, i looked more narrow and i dont need anything else that makes me look narrow or skinny!

60

[quote]brian.m wrote:
hardcoreraymond wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
brian.m wrote:
man, i’m 6’0.5", relatively lean (4-6 pack), 205 ish and my arms aren’t much over 15" right now, and i’m still getting my legs (a little over 26") and back bigger before i care about adding any size to them (well thats not completely true, as i’d like to get my tri’s stronger…but just because we’re talkign about biceps), …i must have some sort of fucked up idea of what looks like a balanced physique

I don’t understand how you can train your biceps yet not care about adding size to them, that just makes no sense to me.

Personally I train every bodypart so that I can get more size, but maybe I’m just weird.

Count me in for being weird as well. I wanna be fucking huge personally.

i am still training to get stronger, and eating to grow, as these are still some of my top goals. i just am not including bicep curls Currently, because i have a different ideal of what looks good on me, at my current level of “un-developement”.
i honestly dont see why this is a hard concept.

(and yes, later on i will train biceps, and will do them so they will grow and get stronger obviously, but until i get more meat on my back and shoulders, i looked more narrow and i dont need anything else that makes me look narrow or skinny![/quote]

It is a hard concept because you are claiming a goal of strength…yet actually avoiding an entire muscle group as if that makes sense.

Someone truly interested in strength would understand that the biceps DO help there as well. Good luck benching 400+lbs for several reps with tiny weak little biceps. It ain’t happening.

That makes me question whether you are actually making much progress at all.

It seems some of you LIKE muscle imbalances and actually try to get them by ignoring entire muscle groups based on what is “in” at the moment.