Do It Right! 8-Time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney on Biceps Training
Do It Right! 8-Time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney on Biceps Training
Part 5: Biceps Training
So far in this series, we have covered the best exercises for back, chest, legs and shoulders, pointing out common technique errors and giving you tips on how to do them right. This time, we’ll talk about the right way to train another critical component of any great physique and one that’s probably the most popular body part of them all— the biceps!
If Your Biceps Are a Challenge, I Can Relate!
Biceps were something I had to focus on for several years. It wasn’t so much that they were small; it’s just that my shoulders grew so fast that they pretty much swallowed them up! I had to give a lot of thought into how I could get my biceps to match. One key was to prioritize them by training them first on the day that I worked chest and biceps. By hitting them when I was fresh, I was able to give them all my energy. Since my chest was always a strong body part, it didn’t suffer at all by being worked after biceps. The other part of the solution was to perform a solid routine that addressed all the components I was seeking in my biceps: mass, shape and elongation of the biceps, and peak.
Barbell Curl
The first exercise I would do for biceps was the barbell curl. After studying the routines and techniques to develop biceps mass, I found that the men with the best biceps did a lot of explosive, power-type of training for them. Cheat curls were done by most. The barbell curl isn’t meant to be done slowly and with a squeeze on each rep. We do that for other biceps movements where it’s more beneficial, which we’ll talk about shortly. I’ve seen guys do barbell curls with their backs against a wall and curling in slow motion, and that’s missing the point here. What you want to do is a “controlled cheat.” Lean forward slightly at the start of the rep with your arms almost but not quite straight, then explode up and rock back— but just a bit. There is no pause at the top or bottom, and your torso should have a slight rocking motion as you do your reps. The bar should come up to about your nipple line. It’s important that you keep tension on the biceps at all times. Never relax at either the top or the bottom of the rep. Barbell curls are meant to develop mass and power, so keep that in mind. It’s the meat and potatoes for biceps mass, just as squats are for the legs and bench presses are for your chest. Do four to five sets of six to eight reps, pyramiding up in weight on each successive set. Forget about doing sets of 12-15 reps, because again this movement is not suited for that. Finally, you’ll get even better results if you stretch your biceps between each set.
Preacher Curl
This exercise was called the “Scott Curl” for many years, a nod to the first Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott. Larry had some of the most beautifully developed biceps of all time, and he gave most of the credit to this exercise. Preacher curls will give you both size and shape. A cheating motion is perfect for barbell curls, but you must not do preacher curls explosively. The risk of dislocation your elbow or worse, tearing the biceps tendon, is much too great. You do want to keep tension of the biceps and never let the muscle relax, especially at the bottom. Therefore, don’t let your arm hang straight down; maintain a very slight bend. Here, you do want to squeeze and flex the biceps at the top of each rep. The standard way to do preacher curls is with your triceps up against a sloped incline. Some preacher benches give you the option of turning it around and using the side that’s perfectly vertical. That variation is sometimes called “spider curls,” and it offers a superior stretch and a more complete range of motion. You might have to stand up to do it. In addition to the enhanced range of motion, curling with your arms up against a vertical surface rather than an incline means you can’t possibly relax and rest for even a split second at the top of the rep— you are forced to maintain constant tension on the muscle whether you want to or not! Whichever variation of the preacher curl you use, aim for four sets of 8-10 reps. You can also alternate preachers with incline dumbbell curls every other workout. With those, you want to set the bench right between 45 degrees and vertical, somewhere around 60-65 degrees. Curl with both arms simultaneously in a rhythmic motion and squeeze your biceps at the top. You can supinate the dumbbells sometimes, or simply use a palms-up hand position the whole time.
Concentration Curl
Concentration curls are what I consider the “polishing” movement for biceps, isolating them completely with special emphasis on the short head of the muscle that’s responsible for the peaked appearance. My favorite way to do the dumbbell concentration curl is seated and with the triceps of the working arm locked up against the inner thigh. Your elbow should be below your thigh, so that the dumbbell comes close to the floor at the bottom of each rep. Make sure you have your leg back far enough so that you have room to perform the motion. This is a movement you want to do very slowly and squeeze the heck out of the biceps on each rep. It’s pure isolation, so heavy weights are not needed or desired. I myself used a 30 or a 35-pound dumbbell. One way I found to get the most out of concentration curls was to do the first four to five reps with a full range of motion, and then the remainder from halfway down to the top— and squeezing that biceps for dear life! These were almost in slow motion, flexing hard every inch of the way to the top. I didn’t do that at every workout, but usually every other workout. To make the set even more intense, I would also “spot” myself and give a good forced rep or two with the non-working arm. And just like I stretched the biceps between sets of barbell curls, here I liked to massage them to help flush out the lactic acid that would accumulate during each set. Since my left biceps didn’t have quite as good of a peak as my right, I would also do a couple more sets for it. Eventually, the peak came up on it to the point where you really had to look hard to notice a difference in shape.
Two Very Common Mistakes I Don’t Want You to Make
People email me to help them improve their training and nutrition programs all the time. One error I see that has to be corrected right away is to train the biceps with back. On the surface, it might make sense, since the biceps are used indirectly in all types of chins, pulldowns, rows and the deadlift. That’s precisely why you shouldn’t train biceps after back. It’s already been put through a great deal of stress from those heavy back exercises. Subjecting the tendons to even more stress with direct biceps training immediately after could prove to be too much for them. I also want to caution you against doing barbell rows with an underhand or curl grip. The argument for reverse-grip rows is that they put the biceps in a stronger pulling position. That’s true, but the fact of the matter is that the biceps are a relatively small muscle. They aren’t meant to be pulling hundreds and hundreds of pounds.
Make Your Biceps the Best They Can Be
My biceps came a long way from the time I was an amateur until I retired with eight Mr. Olympia wins. Still, I was never satisfied with them. You know how we bodybuilders are. A 20 or 21-inch arm is good, but then we want 23 or 24! By the time I had won my third Mr. Olympia title, they were at least good enough so that they did match my chest, back and shoulders. And since I retired at only 31 years old, I am confident that they could have improved more if I’d continued on. But give my routine and suggestions a try for yourself, and build the best biceps you can!
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