Biceps~Da Guns! Have you got 'em?
As far as bulking movements go, what do you find to be your staple exercises? The ones that give you the best results over time.
All input appreciated…
I dont do much direct arm work. I do chins and pullups. I train Renegade style. If I had to pick my favorite curling movements I would say #1-standing barbell curls
#2-scott curls
#3-incline db curls.
Just about the ONLY bicep work I do normally: Standing DB Curls. But if I want somethin’ more I add cable curls. And I only do 2-3 sets of each. My biceps resond quite easily to just about anything.
Best bicep exercises? Squats, deadlifts, bench press, pullups, rows, dips, close grip bench press, overhead press. Direct bicep work sucks ass! How many people do you know who are great squatters, deadlifters, bench presses, and pullupers(haha) and rowers. If you do all those well you will be big everywhere. Direct arm work sucks ass.
staight bar curls. also, try them with a severely wide grip (where your pinky is to the outside of the smooth mark on the bar about 1"). just do the bar, bent over slightly, it pumps the shit out of them for a final excersize… i’ll disagree with goldberg that you shouldn’t do direct bicep work, but i don’t think you need more than 3-6 sets total.
Close grip pullups with palms facing you.
Scott curls with an E-Z bar.
Preacher Curls
Although I don’t disagree with the contention that direct bicep work is probably misused, overused, and in some cases even abused, to say that it is useless or “sucks ass” is rather contrived and ignorant. Obviously, if one is an athlete looking to improve overall strength, power, or body comp, etc., than no, bicep curls are not the most effective tool in ones repertoire. However, if the goal is to improve ones appearance (i.e. “look better naked) or arm girth, direct bicep work can play an integral role in achieving this objective. Again, without question, compound movements are an invaluable resource for making the entire body grow but when a body part is lagging or you just want to become “jacked” in a particular muscle belly/region, more specific exercises are also quite effective / functional.
As far as BodyIQ’s question is concerned, I find all of the aforementioned compound movements mentioned by “Goldberg” quite gratifying but for more direct bicep work I’m quite fond of lying dumbbell curls and hammer curls on the preacher/scott.
Zottman Curls on a 45 degree preacher bench
Barbell curls are #1.
put your back to a wall and curl. this is called a strict or real curl. most people dont curl they do palm forward cleans and wonder why they have stick arms.
Snatch Grip Deadlifts, Barbell Shrugs, and just about any forearm exercise. Any bicep exercise will make ur biceps grow if your traps, back, and forearms give them a reason to grow.
cmon goldberg its getting old. Get your head out of your ass, the only excercises there that mgiht directly help bis are chins and rows (deadlifts could help indirectly). these are from ideal. Squats wont do shit for bi’s. He asked a question and it was a legitimate one, you guys dont have to preach every time…
well i lie my back against a wall and dumbbell curl, i find it more affective then regular curls or bench curls.
I’m with Goldberg (even if he did ask a girl if he could kiss her). Cleans, cleans, cleans. I’m not preaching, I have big ass arms.
There can never be enough anti-isolation propaganda! The closest I come to isolating by bis is close crip chins, but I don’t care how big they get, I want to do a 1 arm towel chin.
cleans also dont do jack for bis. Check out pictures of past ol champions…
Curls in the squat rack 
I’ve got to agreed with many of the posters that direct bicep work is over-rated and over-used. For the first time, I’ve done very little direct bicep work over the past year and my upper arms have grown more in that time than any that have in any previous year (and I’ve been training for alomost 20 years). Chinning and rowing movements should form the core of your bicep training.
Actually, if you're looking for increased arm size, the triceps have a lot more to do with it than the biceps do anyway.