- Compound exercises use a movement of the body that involves more than one joint, thus working several muscles and muscle groups. While you don't want to rely only on compound exercises to increase bicep mass, you do want to use them to improve what your other exercises accomplish. Compound exercises ensure that you are using all three muscles in the biceps in a full range of motion. For the biceps, the main compound exercise is a chin-up moving the elbow and shoulder joint. This works the biceps along with the forearms and back muscles. This helps you build bigger muscles because you can use heavier weight when doing compound exercises. Other compound exercises are rowing or lat pulls.
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When doing exercises that isolate the bicep muscles, be very aware how easy it is to cheat. You've probably seen someone at the gym doing a heavy weight of bar curls using his back to thrust the weight up. It is better to start light and work slowly to really feel the burn in the biceps. Basic bicep curls are done standing with a bar. This method controls the weight.
Concentration curls are done sitting at the end of a bench with your elbow braced against your inner thigh. This is done with a one-hand dumbbell slowly to work the center and outer bicep.
A preacher curl bench has the bar at knee level. You sit behind a slanted support pad, resting your upper arms against it as you curl the weight up. This prevents you from using any other muscle group except the biceps for complete isolation. -
For efficient growth, work the biceps the same day you work your back muscle group. Don't do the workout more than twice a week to allow recovery (building) time. Start your sets with a weight that allows you to reasonably do the set without failure--when the muscle can no longer perform. The last set should be done until failure.
A good workout routine for biceps does eight sets of bicep curls, five sets of preacher curls, and three sets of concentration curls. Do your first set at 70 percent of your maximum weight and add weight with each set until you are maxed in your final set. (Preacher curls are a bit different. They are more effective when you start with your maximum weight and reduce weight with each set by 5 to 10 percent.
