It's really annoying when you're training hard and can't see the results. Every gym amateur wants to have good-looking biceps. Why some of us can easily achieve it, and others don't? We're all different and need something else to optimize our workouts. Here you'll find a few pieces of advice that should help you determine what you might be doing wrong. Spoiler alert - diet is crucial for muscle growth, so that's not optional. But if you've already taken care of that, some other mistakes might hold you back.
The muscles on the front of the arm are primarily responsible for flexing it at the elbow. The best-known and best-loved member of this group is the biceps brachii muscle, or as you probably know it - the biceps. However, it's not the only muscle involved in bending the arm. Apart from the biceps, there are coracobrachialis and brachialis muscles. Coracobrachialis is the smallest of the group. It assists in bending your arm but also takes part in adduction and rotation. Proximally, it attaches to the coracoid process of the scapula. From there, it runs to the medial humerus.
The brachialis is a strong flexor of the upper arm. It begins about halfway up the humerus. It attaches there in the medial and lateral intermuscular septum of the upper arm. On the other side, it attaches to the ulnar tuberosity. The brachialis is located under the biceps, which is why many people are unaware of its existence.
The biceps muscle is the largest and strongest flexor of the arm. As its name suggests, it consists of two heads: short and long. The long head is located on the outside of the arm, whereas the short head - on the inside. The proximal attachments of the long head are located on the supra-scapular cusp of the scapula and the articular rim. The short head is attached to the coracoid process of the scapula. They end with a common attachment on the cusp of the radial bone. Both heads can work together or separately. The simultaneous contraction of both heads of the biceps is responsible for flexing the arm at the elbow joint. In this movement, the biceps is supported by several accessory muscles. Namely, the coracobrachialis muscle, the supraspinatus, and the epicondyle. In addition to bending at the elbow joint, the biceps also mediate outward rotation of the forearm (supination). The independent work of the heads of this muscle is responsible for movement at the shoulder joint. The long head is responsible for the inversion and internal rotation of the arm. The short head is responsible for the adduction of the arm.
Before you start pumping your biceps, it is helpful to know how to measure them properly. That allows you to keep track of the progress. There are two ways to measure your biceps - at rest and during contraction. It is always easier if a second person takes the measurement. To measure your biceps at rest, stand up straight with your arms relaxed. Then wrap a tape measure around your upper arm. This should be at the midpoint between the elbow and shoulder. It is difficult to make a mistake in this case. A little more complicated is the measurement of the biceps during contraction.
If you want to take this measurement, you should sit at a table and rest your elbow on it. Then bend your arm, clench your fist and twist your forearm onward as far as it goes. That's called a wrist supination. Have another person wrap a measuring tape around the highest point of the flexed biceps at this time.
The best way to increase gains is to train with weight. That's a universal principle applying to all muscles. Exercises cause micro-injuries in your muscles. Don't worry about it, because they repair very quickly. What's more, after that, they become thicker and stronger. Training with loads intensifies micro-injuries in your muscles. That's why it is the most effective way to increase their size. That's why pushing your limit and training at 100% capacity is definitely worth it. So if you wonder how to make your arms bigger, add some weight to your training.
But there is one more thing. Remember that the biceps is not the only muscle of your arm. As you already know - brachialis is located under the biceps. Therefore, its proper growth pushes the biceps up and makes your arm bigger and rounder.
Every exercise for the biceps engages the brachialis to some extent. But some do it more extensively than others. So it is worth including them in your training plan.
Many people underestimate the role of a diet in shaping the body. If you want to optimize the effects of your workouts, an appropriate diet is a must-have. To make your muscles grow faster, you must provide them with fuel. For building your biceps, a standard mass diet should do the trick. First of all, you should take care of enough protein and carbohydrates. Poultry, red meat, fish, or eggs contain a lot of protein. Vegetarians can replace those with legumes or tofu. You can find carbohydrates in cereal products, rice, or groats.
A well-balanced diet should also provide all the necessary ingredients. That includes vitamins, fiber, and macronutrients that affect your health. That is why you must remember to add to your diet vegetables and fruits. The main principle of a diet for gaining mass is to provide your body with a calorie surplus. You can calculate your daily requirements using the BMR calculator available on my website. That will tell you how much you need to eat. You should also pay attention to what and when you eat.
Many people don't know how important it is to eat a proper meal right after a workout. During your training, you burn large amounts of calories. If you want your muscles to grow, you must replenish them quickly. It should consist of carbohydrates, which your organism quickly converts to energy, and proteins, which serve to build up muscles afterward. That's where protein shakes shine. But that's not the only way. Well prepared standard meal works just as well.
So you follow all the above tips, and your biceps still don't grow? Then there must be something else we should consider. Maybe you make some mistakes during your workouts. As a professional trainer, I often see repetitive mistakes among my clients. They aren't specific for the arm muscles but work here as well.
The 3. common mistakes by which the biceps don't grow:
Both professional bodybuilders and gym amateurs desire well-developed arms. But you should know that the biceps aren't the largest arm muscles. In fact, the size of your triceps has a greater impact on the arm size. The triceps muscle consists of three heads. It is located on the opposite side of the arm and is larger than the biceps. Its main functions include stabilizing the arm, elbow extension, and arm adduction. You can read more about the triceps in a separate article.
Arm muscles are a relatively small muscle group, so they recover quickly. If you want to increase the size of your biceps, training them 2-3 times a week is the best solution. Beginners should start with 2 exercises of 2-3 series. Alongside the experience, you will need more exercises and series to achieve the desired results. But don't increase the number of repetitions to over 12 in each series.
It's good to know how to combine the muscle parts training. Your biceps support other body parts in many exercises. They stabilize the movement, for example, when lowering weights during triceps, chest, or shoulder training. Thus such workouts warm up your biceps well, preparing them for isolated exercises. After that, you can perform 2-3 exercises for the biceps.
The most tiring for the biceps is back training. Exercises of this muscle part usually require pulling a weight. In most cases, you bend your arms under load. That extensively engages your biceps. Hence after the back training, you can perform 1-2 exercises for the biceps to finish them off.
But don't tire your arms before training the other muscle groups in which they participate. Otherwise, you can lose control of the weight and hurt yourself.
At a certain level of proficiency, regular training is not enough. When that happens you should introduce advanced training methods to your exercise plan. These are varieties that provide additional stimuli for your muscles' growth. It's good to know and test at least a few of them. Here are 2 most popular:
Weight progression
Increasing weight is a fundamental method to ensure muscle development. So I suggest trying this one first. Weight progression involves gradually increasing the load, which you can do in a variety of ways:
Personally, I'm a fan of the first one. After such a workout, I feel like my biceps are burning. Nonetheless, any progression works well.
Biceps & triceps superseries
A superseries means performing two exercises for the opposite muscles one by one. When it comes to arm training, that'd be biceps and triceps. For example, as one superseries you can perform bending forearms with a barbell and dips. After that, you should take a break. This method provides a much better blood supply to the trained muscles, which results in an increased muscle pump. You can find an example of training with the use of superset here.
This article should help your arm training advance to the next level. I gave you a few pieces of advice that have already helped many of my clients. Now you know how to improve your training and avoid common mistakes. Just keep in mind not to overtrain your muscles and keep surprising them. Also, take care of a proper diet. If you follow these tips, you will definitely see results. And when you feel that you need more, you know where to find me. I'd be more than happy to help you achieve your goals.
