Best Ways To Build Big Biceps

One of the first reasons a person (particularly males) steps into the gym is to build big biceps. But after an initial period of growth, they reach a plateau. Here are some of the best ways to keep your biceps growing.

Use BIG Movements That Involve the Biceps

Movements like chinups and rows use multiple joints, and the biceps participate in both of these movements. Due to the fact that multiple muscles besides the biceps are used, there is a “spilling” of tension from neighboring muscles into the biceps, which causes them to contract harder. This “spilling” is called “irradiation.”

Use a Variety of Grips

Use an underhand grip (as in regular biceps curls), a neutral grip (as in hammer curls), and an overhand grip (as in reverse curls). Why? You’re not just training your biceps. The different grips train muscles that work synergistically with the biceps, but nonetheless have the effect of making the biceps appear bigger.

For instance, there is a muscle beneath the biceps called the “brachialis.” When the brachialis gets bigger, it pushes the biceps further out, giving a larger appearance. The way to work the brachialis is by using a neutral grip.

Stretch Those Biceps

It should go without saying that you should use a full range of motion to overload your biceps. But exercises that stretch the biceps actively (like an incline curl) involve a greater number of muscle fibers. More fibers means more growth.

Use a Variety of Repetition Ranges

The repetition ranges you should use should vary from as little as 3 or 4 to as much as 20-25. Why? Different repetition ranges make muscles grow for different reasons. But the underlying concept is that they all make the muscles grow. Repetitions under about 6 increase myofibrillar hypertrophy. Repetitions of 6-15 or so increase sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. And repetitions over 15 or so increase capillarization, mitochondria and blood flow.

All complicated terms if you are unfamiliar with them, but going into detail is beyond the scope of this list. The key point to get out of this is that muscles can grow from a variety of repetition ranges.

Lose Fat

This one is a little curveball. Losing fat will not make your biceps bigger. In fact, it may even make them smaller. Why then, am I giving this advice? Losing fat makes your biceps LOOK bigger without actually being bigger. A defined person weighing 200 lbs. looks much bigger than the same person weighing 215 lbs. “soft-looking.”