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Want to get freaky big biceps? You need to work on getting your bicep peaks.
This is how you train your bicep outer heads for that bicep peak....
To get big biceps there are 2 secrets that most beginners do not know, or rather, do not think about.
First is training your triceps, these make up 2/3 of your arm mass, therefore you should put more attention into growing them if you want big arms, but we will leave Triceps for another article.
Now the second secret to huge arms is to develop bicep peaks by working the bicep outer heads.
To see your bicep outer head, put your hand on a wall or something solid and turn awayfrom the wall - just like a chest stretch. Then look at your bicep, if you are lean enough (>15% bodyfat I guess) you will see a split in the bicep near where it inserts into the shoulder. There are two muscle sacks the comprise the biceps, we are going to focus on the outer most muscle sack, otherwise known as the bicep outer head.
Most people who have trained for a while have good bicep development but what seperates good from excellent is often that they never thought to target the outer heads specifically.
The Exercises I Do To Develop Your Outer Bicep Heads:
Close Grip Arm Curls
Hold the bar in close, I often use an E-Z bar for this (it is easier to stabilise with a close grip) and do these as you would 'normal' arm curls (see my other article on working the Inner Bicep Heads). This will cause you to work your outer heads a little more evenly.
Machine Hammer Preacher Curls
WTF? Did I just say machine curls?
Yes in this one case I find this THE most effective exercise for ME on this ONE particular machine. I can use this machine comfortably with a hammer grip. Now I do these slow (no I don't count, if you are counting 1,2,3 up 1,2,3 down then you are not concentrating on your muscles just do what feels right).
In fact I explained this to a friend the other day as flexing my arm with a weight in my hand. At the bottom of the movement my arm is flexed and I just move the hands up and down, feeling (there's that word again) the muscles I am working.
Don't worry to much if you do not feel your outer heads to start with, it takes time to distinguish them, but after 3 sets on this my outers are definitely burning like a ###### (insert favourite swear word).
Dumbell Hammer Curls
Same as above, do them slowly and strictly.
Concentration Curls
An old Arnold favourite, any wonder why?
Enough on the web about these already if you do not know how to do them.
My tips are to get a LIGHT weight, control the movement from start to finish, flex real hard at the top, and keep tension all the way through out the movement.
DO NOT jerk, sway your body, swing your arm back to get a pendulum effect, in other words do not cheat, no one else cares so you are only cheating yourself - rather a stupid thing to do since you know the truth deep down. Get a much lighter weight if you find yourself doing any of these.
Bicep Cable Curls (ALWAYS last)
If I ever see you doing these first I will personally kick your butt into next week.
Cables are OK for a pump, you will not build mass with cable anythings, always leave them until last exercise. I do not even count them in my sets. Sometimes I finish my workout and feel like doing a little more, or I want to really pump a body part (ie Arms just before I go to a casting) THEN I go to the cables to pump up or lactic acid burn that part, call me a masochist if you will.
Continue to focus on the bicep outer head for 3 months then check the results. Welcome to bicep peaks.
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