Written by Tim Rigby, M.A., NSCA-CPT & Brought to you by PVL Supplements
Summer is the perfect time to wear your t-shirt or tank top, bask in the blazing sun, and show off those awesome pipes you’ve been working so hard on, but what if you could ramp it up to a whole new level, and quickly add another full inch or an inch-and-a-half to your biceps muscles, during the course of just four short weeks? Whether you’re a novice who stands the most to gain, or someone already sporting 18-inch guns, it’s absolutely within your potential to soar to a whole new level of biceps size in short order.
To accomplish this, we’re going to take you off the beaten path and refrain from performing some of the exercises you’ve likely been hammering for a long time. Some of those classic movements (such as standing barbell curls and concentration curls) are staples in biceps workouts – and they’re certainly effective in their own right, when performed correctly. However, to introduce new forms of stimuli on both the long and short heads of your biceps muscles, we’re going to have you execute some different movements than those to which you’re accustomed.
For our purposes herein, we’re going to give a slight edge in emphasis to the long head, which is located on the outside of your arms. This head includes the celebrated biceps “peak”, which when flexed, looks just so damn good.
Here’s a summary of the workout:
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL 4 12, 12, 10, 10 1:15 mins.
ONE-ARM LOW-CABLE REVERSE CURL 4 12, 12, 10, 10 1:15 mins.
POWER RACK DRAG CURL 3 12, 12, 10 1:00 min.
EZ-BAR SPIDER CURL 3 12, 12, 10 1:00 min.
ONE-ARM PREACHER CURL 3 12, 12, 12 1:00 min.
How To Perform:
INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL
Grasp a dumbbell in each hand using a supinated (underhand) grip and set yourself into position, facing upward on an incline bench. Let the weights hang freely in your extended arms. Keeping your body motionless, curl the weights in an upward arcing direction, past parallel to the floor, then using control, lower to the bottom.
ONE-ARM LOW-CABLE REVERSE CURL
Attach a D-handle to a cable pulley in a low position and select your desired weight on the stack. Grasp the handle in one hand using an underhand grip. Turn 180 degrees and face away from the apparatus. Assume a split stance position with your back leg on the same side as your working biceps. Curl the handle for reps, then switch and work the other side.
POWER RACK DRAG CURL
Load a barbell to your desired weight and stand inside a power rack. Position the barbell through one side of the rack such that it’s on the outside, but in contact with the rack itself. Stand as closely as you can, then “curl” the bar vertically, with your elbows coming backward (there is no arcing path here). At the top, reverse direction and lower to the bottom.
EZ-BAR SPIDER CURL
Load an EZ-Bar to your desired weight. Grasp it with two hands using an underhand grip, and on the knurling on each side. Set yourself into position, facing downward on a decline bench, and let the bar hang vertically in your extended arms. When your body is fixed in position, curl the bar upward like a spider. After you reach the top, reverse the direction to lower to the bottom.
ONE-ARM PREACHER CURL
Set the stack to your desired weight and sit on the preacher curl seat. Make sure you’re sitting nice and high, such that your working arm does not lift off the pad during the exercise. You can keep some great isolation on your biceps by working one arm at a time. Curl the handle for reps, then switch up and work your other arm.
For ultimate success, perform this unconventional workout twice a week for four weeks. Since the reps performed are at the high end of the muscle hypertrophy range, you should be inducing some of the biggest biceps pumps you’ve ever experienced.
Speaking of pumps, if you want your biceps to expand to jaw-dropping size, make sure you use a top-of-the-line creatine supplement each and every training session. We strongly recommend you make 100% PURE CREATINE from PVL a staple of your biceps training to draw water into your cells, maximize volumization and optimize contractile strength. This superior brand is nano-micronized for unbeatable absorption and has no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners. Take it both before and after your workout.