Get Big Biceps with these 6 Exercises
Get Big Biceps with These 6 Exercises
Bodybuilding is an Arms Race
While it may be true that bodybuilding is a physique contest and all the muscle groups are supposed to be developed in balance, there are certain body parts that you can and can’t get away with lacking. For example, you might win a smaller pro show with a relatively weak back, chest, hams, or quads. You can even win the Mr. Olympia with below-average calves (sorry Dexter, had to use that example). But two areas that you had better have built pretty damn well are the shoulders and arms. And of those two, arms are the only one you absolutely can’t ever hide. Even in the overhead abdominals and thigh pose, the only shot where the shoulders are hidden, your arms are still right there for all to see. If they suck, you are shit out of luck as a bodybuilder.
Dennis Wolf is all set with shoulders, as we know, but arms have been a little more of a challenge for him over the years. Obviously he has some very decent size and shape to them, but that’s not enough when you share the stage with arms like those belonging to gunslingers like Phil Heath, Victor Martinez, and Kai Greene.
Lagging in the Early Years
Dennis weighed all of 160 pounds at just under six foot when he started training. Having no clue what he was doing, he looks back now and realizes he was doing it all wrong. “I tried to look around the gym and copy what the bigger guys were doing, but most of them used terrible form and trained too heavy— so that’s what I did.” His shoulders and traps were primed to grow as soon as he touched the iron, regardless of his lack of good technique or a mind-muscle connection. Wolf’s arms lacked that proclivity for out-of-control growth, so it wasn’t long before they started to look pretty weak. “They were growing, but nothing like my shoulders,” he explains. “So I had those huge shoulders and then these very average arms. It was not a very good look.”
What’s Working for Dennis Now
Dennis has tried several varying training styles for his arms over the years— all the way from Milos Sarcev’s very high-volume approach comprised of giant sets that could be as many as 10 exercises in a row with no rest— to the Dorian Yates style of HIT training, with a couple of warm-up sets leading up to one all-out set to failure and beyond for each exercise. “They were all good workouts and they obviously have worked well for a lot of guys,” Wolf concedes. “But for me, I just wasn’t seeing the results I wanted.” What he settled on is really a happy medium: moderate volume and straight sets. He’s also distilled his roster of exercises into a shorter list of the ones he has found to be the most effective for him, based on his own unique structure and the results he's seen.Here’s the six biceps exercises he relies on.
1) Barbell Curls
Once Dennis mastered proper form on barbell curls, he found them to be the single-most productive exercise for his biceps. “You have to include the classic free-weight movements in your training if you really want to grow, and it doesn’t get more classic than this one,” he notes.
His rep speed is usually slow and controlled, but he will loosen up his form and blast out more explosive reps with very heavy weight occasionally in the off-season. Normally, he does 2 warm-up sets with 95 pounds for about 12-15 reps each, and then proceeds to perform sets of 12 reps with 135, 155, and 185 pounds. “At different times of year I will go higher on the reps,” he says. “I find that the muscle gets used to doing the same rep range after a while. Right now I am doing mostly sets of 12, but once I get back in my heavy off-season mode the reps will be lower.”
It should be said that for some trainers, sets as low as 8 reps will do little to stimulate the biceps. Try various rep ranges such as 6-8, 8-10, 10-12, or even 12-15 to determine what your own biceps respond best to.
2) Alternate Dumbbell Curls
Another classic free-weight movement for the biceps is the alternate dumbbell curl, and Dennis does it about every third or fourth workout. After a brief warm-up with a pair of 45s, he launches into 3 work sets with 65s or 70s at most. “I try to avoid leaning over too much into the working arm,” he notes. “That takes away from the range of motion. You won’t see me using 100s, because I like to get a full range of motion and squeeze the muscle.” Besides which, who does he have to impress? “I’m not a weightlifter and I never could be— my joints are too small! I train as heavy as I can, but only if I can still get that feeling in the muscle. If I can’t flex the biceps at the top of each rep, I will grab a lighter pair.”
3) Dumbbell Preacher Curls
The other biceps exercise Dennis credits with much of his size is the one-arm preacher curl. “When you have very big and strong shoulders like I do, they have a tendency to take over and rob the biceps from the work they need,” he tells us. “I found that with this exercise, I could keep my shoulder braced and take it out of the movement, forcing my biceps to be better isolated and do the work.” Wolf has gone as heavy on this exercise as a 75-pounder, but now that he’s bumped up his reps on biceps day to 12 and focuses more on a good contraction and stretch, he rarely goes heavier than 60-65 pounds.
4) EZ-Bar Preacher Curls
Dennis loves the preacher bench for the aforementioned reasons, but he also believes in constantly switching up his exercises to keep the workouts fresh and to avoid his biceps getting too accustomed to any one routine. He likes to alternate doing his curls on the preacher bench with either a dumbbell or an EZ-curl bar. “I like a pretty close grip on those to emphasize the long head of the biceps more, what they call the outer biceps,” he notes. “I used to go too heavy on these and was missing out on what they can really do for you. Now I take a weight I can control and get a full range of motion with and squeeze the biceps, and it’s made a big difference.”
5) Hammer Dumbbell Curls
Wolf does not ignore the brachialis on biceps day, recognizing that it’s a muscle that can add significant thickness to the upper arm— especially when the arms are viewed from the front in the “relaxed” stance. “A thick brachialis also makes the arms look so much better in the rear double biceps pose,” he comments. “And I do feel it can push up the outer head of the biceps so your peak looks higher, something I really need.” Three sets with a pair of 65s, using that thumbs-up hammer grip, takes good care of them. Lately he has been more partial to reverse curls using an EZ-bar for 3 sets of 15 to finish off biceps. “You can’t keep doing the same exercises all the time, or else the muscle gets used to it and you won’t see any more gains,” he explains. “I’ll go back to hammer curls sooner or later, but right now I’m getting a really great pump deep in the brachialis with reverse curls.”
6) Dumbbell Concentration Curls
Yet another useful biceps movement for someone with huge shoulders is the concentration curl, and Dennis does those, too. “I don’t know really if they can help you get a better peak like people say,” he admits, “I would like to think so! But they are very good for isolating the biceps and making them burn.” When he does these, it’s 3 strict, squeezing sets with a 45 or a 50.
Better Biceps to be the Leader of the Pack
Dennis knows that the mountain only gets steeper and more arduous to climb the closer you get to the top, and bringing up his weak points is the only way to keep moving upward. His lower lats, hamstrings, and calves are all priorities, and as good as his biceps might look here to you and me, he still sees room for improvement. “The size is OK but still not quite big enough to match my shoulders yet,” he opines. “And I really want the peaks to come up higher. I know your genetic shape is what it is, but I also know that building size in general on the biceps and also focusing on the brachialis in particular will help me push the peaks up higher.”
Dennis Picks His Top 3 Best Biceps Exercises
1. Alternate Dumbbell Curls. “This is the only exercise that works both functions for the biceps— curling up and twisting the hand. When you get to the point where you can handle pretty heavy weight in good form on these, your biceps will be a lot bigger than when you started.”
2.Barbell Curls. “Barbell curls are the classic mass builder, and I really do think the straight bar is more effective than the EZ-curl bar. If it hurts your wrists, try using wrist supports, either the ones that close with Velcro or the type that is like a knee wrap but for your wrists. If it still hurts, go ahead and use the EZ-bar. I’ve actually been doing those lately more than the straight bar because I was having wrist pain.”
3.One-arm Dumbbell Preacher Curls. “If you are like me and have overpowering shoulders, it’s important to find biceps exercises that take the delts out of the movement. The preacher curl bench forces you to isolate the biceps so it does all the work, and it’s been an important part of my biceps workouts for years.”
Top 4 Biceps Training Blunders
1. Training too heavy.“The biceps are not a huge muscle group. When you use so much weight that you need to use your back and it looks more like a deadlift, something is very wrong. Use less weight, do it right, and you grow more.”
2.Working arms 2-3 times a week. “You use your arms any time you work back, chest, and shoulders. If you add on to this by working them more than once a week, it’s too much for them. They are unable to recover and grow. I have tried working arms twice a week hoping for better gains, and I got no results.”
3.Doing too many exercises. “Biceps are not a big, complex muscle group like the back. You only need three or at most four exercises to work the biceps properly. Anything past that and you are just taking away from their ability to recover. Hit them hard with good form once a week with three or four exercises and no more than 12 sets, and they will grow.”
4.Training biceps after back. “The biceps get worked pretty hard from rows, chins, pulldowns, and deadlifts. If you try to do a bunch of curls after that, they are already tired and you can’t get a really good workout. The only people who should do this are guys who have biceps that grow very easily. Even then, they should only do two exercises. Most bodybuilders are better off training biceps with something like chest or shoulders, or even on a day that you only train arms and nothing else.”
Rise of the Machines? Not for These biceps!
Dennis Wolf uses almost exclusively free weights when he trains his biceps. “It just gives me the best and most intense feeling in the muscle,” he explains. Most machines he has tried don’t come close to the burn and pump he can generate with some good old-fashioned cold iron in his hands. There is really only one machine he does like for biceps, and that’s one that simulates the preacher curl. Dennis didn’t specify the make and model, but that’s probably for the best. “Some machines will feel right for some people and not for others,” Wolf noted. “You should really try them all and use only the ones that give you that perfect feeling in the muscle.” If no machines at your gym fit the bill, don’t worry about it. Free weights have worked just fine for many generations of bodybuilders, and something tells me they always will.
Typical Biceps Workout
One-arm Dumbbell Preacher Curls 3 x 12
OR
EZ-bar Preacher Curls 3 x 12
Standing EZ-bar Curls 3 x 12
EZ-bar Reverse Curls 3 x 15
Training Split
Monday: Chest and biceps
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Shoulders and triceps
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Back, traps, and calves
Sunday: OFF
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