# FITNESS and NUTRITION FORUM > WORKOUT AND TRAINING >  Biceps are lacking

## MMArmour

Biceps, no matter how strict my form on ANY drill i always am more sore in my forearms than the bicep itself. Are my forearms lagging and thusly being fatigued far faster than the bicep? What am i missing here? tris are overgrown compared to my bis. Any assist would be greatly appreciated.

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## trulbfan3

i can grow tris but hell i cant get biceps for shit...at one time my arms were right at 19 flexed and i swear my biceps could barely be seen lol and my forearms suck as well so anyone wana help???

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## SaSqUaDgE

Hey guys im the same way my tris are huge and can barely see my biceps and i would like a answer to this to. My bi workouts are pretty damn strict never could find out why they lack.

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## underworldmagic

Concentration curls, and preacher curls have always helped me gain size in biceps.

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## anabol1590

> Concentration curls, and preacher curls have always helped me gain size in biceps.


thanks for the help on this, this thread was helpful

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## kas3379

im not a huge guy but for my size my biceps are decent.. i superset concentration curls, single arm preacher curls (slow w/dumbbell) and standing curls against a wall (to keep my back straight)... if u superset them and get a solid 3 sets for each exercise, it always leaves me sore.

sometimes ill also do hammer curls

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## Deltasaurus

i go lower reps on bi's 4-7 1 set 2 failure, 2-3 exercises and mine are solid

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## PC650

my biceps started growing when i started using starigt bar curls with the last two sets too failure with force reps. seems like tri's are alot easier too build than biceps. i keep my range from 8-10

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## POPS

big bar curls all the way for sets of 6-8, last set to failure. Then Ill knock out some alt.dumbells with a moderate weight at slow tempo to finish....my.02..

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## liftsmore

Biceps are a smaller muscle so I actually started using less sets for them and then I started to see a difference. 

I also like supersetting different bicep exercises...burns like hell.

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## xlxBigSexyxlx

standing olympic barbell curls

incline db hammer curls, keep arms in, and feet close together

take the seat off the preacher curls and do them standing on the other side, letting your arms hang down where the seat would be.


also, in your back workouts, include bent over barbell rows and chin ups (palms facing towards you)

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## Okinawa_Power

I use Lower weight and higher reps.....I only do 3-4 exercises. I used to try to go heavy as hell and get about 4-6 reps....Now I don't worry about the weight and go for the feel and a major pump....They are starting to grow....slow and steady......

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## nonotone

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## urbanbody

Everybody is different of course, but try going heavy and see if this makes them grow if not switch it up till you find something that works. I had the same problem and just kept switching up workouts now it seems like I only do standing bb curls , preacher, and db curls. Believe me it took me forever to find this out.

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## hybrid83

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. As you can see from my pic I've always had a nice little rock. but when I put my arms to the side I look like gumby. I have the problem with the forarms. I swear theres no worse burn than forarm burn, and dont get forarm splints hurts like a sumbitch.

I know I'm never any help on here but I like to as they say in AA Share My Experience, Strength, and Hope ...LOL

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## swolnog

agreed straight bar worked for me too

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## SuperLift

I had the same problem a couple years ago.. I pretty much just gave up on them and didnt do arms at all.. Maybe a few sets of curls after back day and a few sets of dips on chest day..

Believe it or not after throwing my arm day out the window they blew up!

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## SuperLift

People always tell me my arms are huge then they are totally surprised when I tell them I rarely work them out maybe 1-2 times per month

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## graeme87

I start with heavy cheat curls 2-3 sets then move on to an isolation movement like preacher curls for 3-4 sets.

Also doing drop sets, and 21’s help with the pump.

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## baseline_9

All i can say is straight barbell curls, i start light for 3 or 4 sets to build up a gr8 pump and them wack the weight on for anoher 3 sets. I think the key is to get a good pump before going heavy, elbows in and kept back, finnishing on heavy sets with a few cheat curls

also like single arm preacher db curls, focusing on the eccentric (lowering part)

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## baseline_9

when ur 4arms are giving out i would use barbells, halves the time you grio the weight (that is if you are doing alternate db curls), or use writs wraps on db's. Ive done it. dont feel like a ***** puttin wraps on a 10kg DB, if ur workin ur Biceps and it helps fuk it! People wont laff wen ur arms have blownup will they

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## dj_pacman51

> I use Lower weight and higher reps.....I only do 3-4 exercises. I used to try to go heavy as hell and get about 4-6 reps....Now I don't worry about the weight and go for the feel and a major pump....They are starting to grow....slow and steady......


Same here. I'll do heavy sometimes but mostly its supersets and more focus on control and form. I got that nice big vein running threw my biceps now. I never had that b4. It looks badass now! lol.

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## ShredBundy

Ive been struggling with arms the past year or so too. I stopped making them a priority as I got older (got over the big chest and big arms/ego thing) and cant seem to find what works best for me. I am in tree service, so I curl logs all day. I thought training arms would over train them for sure. But im hearing mixed reviews here as expected.. some say high reps, some say low reps with heavier weight. Would it be wise to train arms twice a week? one being a light day, the other heavy? Maybe 3 exercises total for each?

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## 420daytona

I would suggest goin strict on form for the begginning reps, then when you feel you cant get any more, cheat for one or two more reps

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## Turkey

for me, weighted pull-ups add mass and strength

drop and supersets makes my arms burn and the veins pop out  :Thumps Up: 

keep your reps/sets low; if it's coming after a back workout that inc. pull-ups or rows, 6 working sets is all you really need; heavy, good form

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## thomaskstewart

> I had the same problem a couple years ago.. I pretty much just gave up on them and didnt do arms at all.. Maybe a few sets of curls after back day and a few sets of dips on chest day..
> 
> Believe it or not after throwing my arm day out the window they blew up!


Yeah... I totally agree... I do a descent arm workout on Sat but I try to make it more compound than isolation... plus its actually more geared towards getting a second light back and chest workout in for the week... 

Close-grip Decline Bench
5 X 5 with 1 min rest after 1st and 2nd set then 30 sec rest after 3rd and 4th
6-2-4 tempo
-At the top, I like to squeeze tight on my grip and act like I'm trying to slide my hands outward on the bar.

Weighted Dips
2 X 8-10 with 2 min rest
5-1-3 tempo with a 2 sec squeeze at the top

Skull Crushers
2 X 8-10 with 2 min rest
5-1-3 tempo

Weighted Chin-ups
5 X 5 with 1 min rest after 1st and 2nd set then 30 sec rest after 3rd and 4th
4-2-6 tempo
-On my last 2 sets: 4th and 5th reps, I mostly concentrate on the squeeze at the top and eccentric movement.

Incline Seated Dumbbell Curls
2 X 8-10 with 2 min rest
4-2-6 tempo 
-I curl the weight up towards my shoulder and until my elbow points out in front with my forearm twisting over. Some people say the weight is off because it's balanced by that point, but I don't care. I'm mostly concentrating on flexing my biceps as hard as I can. The weight doesn't mean crap as long as your muscle is peaked out.

Preacher Curls
2 X 8-10 with 2 min rest
4-2-6 tempo
-1st set is with a Dumbbell one-arm then 2nd set with a Barbell. Lots of negatives at the end.

Sometimes I like to throw on a set or two of Pressdowns after Skull Crushers just to top off my Tri's & like tonight when I finished my Preacher Curls I grabbed some Dumbbells and did a set of hammer curls, I think 8 reps then dropped those and grabbed a bigger dumbbell twice the size holding it with both hands Isometrically for a count of 15 secs squeezing the crap out of my Bi's...

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## thomaskstewart

> Ive been struggling with arms the past year or so too. I stopped making them a priority as I got older (got over the big chest and big arms/ego thing) and cant seem to find what works best for me. I am in tree service, so I curl logs all day. I thought training arms would over train them for sure. But im hearing mixed reviews here as expected.. some say high reps, some say low reps with heavier weight. Would it be wise to train arms twice a week? one being a light day, the other heavy? Maybe 3 exercises total for each?


You already train arms twice a week... do back train Bi's... do chest train Tri's then you add on an arm day and your training arms twice a week then some people train arms twice a week and now they are up to 3 times a week and don't know it... then they wonder why their not getting gains...

I say concentrate on Compounds... Compounds... Compounds...

Everyone is so concerned with their friggin arms that they forget about their legs chest and back...

I had a guy asking me about why his arms wouldn't get any bigger... His arms were huge compared to his skimpy chest and back... and man he was holding his body up with toothpics... hahaha

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## slimy

I have relatively big biceps. Haven't done a curl in years. Close grip pull ups. Wieghted. Then burn out set without weights. 

Like stated above, want big arms, drop "arm day". You will be amazed.

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## Hate Being Small

Once a month i shock my biceps i will do 1 day doing arms and the next day i will do my biceps again it's a good way to shock them i just do light weights to failure my biceps are slowly starting to look respectable but i agree triceps are much easier to grow

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## YoungBuck024

i have gotten the best bicep gains from my back workouts. I really emphazie my bicep by using a rep ranger of 10-12 with full range and really squeeze the bicep. Watch how arnold trains his back. Most of the time it looks like all he uses is his bicep in every back movement.

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## youngster26

straight bar all the way and chinups I find are good

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## bigslick7878

I do bi,tri and reverse curls all in the same workout. Dumbells for the tri and biceps and finish off with a barbell curl til failure.

Seems to hit the arms pretty good overall and I put an inch and a half on the bi's over a 6 week prohormone cycle. My arms are nothing to brag about either.

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## cherrydrpepper

> For me it seems like the bigger the muscle group - the heavier weight and lower rep count will make them grow, gave me an idea; I was doing biceps 9-12 sets, 8 reps real heavy before, switched to 12-15 with 10-15 reps not too heavy weight and more focus on doing it correctly while isolating the long head (arnold) - got an amazing pump and they started growing like crazy.


This is good advice. 

Depending on your split, preacher curls with ez curl bar and strict form got me good gains. Barbell 21's also but these attack the forearms like crazy. 

I try to alternate my workouts. Sometimes I do biceps on back day but not every week or I feel that is overkill to keep doing it over and over. A good back/biceps day that would nuke them for me: deadlifts, then do lat pull downs to your chest (in front) with strict form and contraction. Then do a row like exercise - bent over barbell rows, dumbbell rows, cable rows. Throw in back extensions (optional). Now standing preacher curls. End with dumbbell hammer curls seated strict form 15 reps or more burning out to failure.

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## lovbyts

This thread is worthless without pictures. those of you who say you have big arms can we see please?

I dont think mine look big but in some of my pictures they look pretty decent. I need more work on my triceps I think.

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## thisbmine

Yo Slimy - whats with taking your pictures in public bathrooms? :P

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