How do I get my Biceps bigger faster???

[Bargain_Junkie]

How do I get my Biceps bigger faster??? Is it safe to work them out 2-3 times a week or is that overrtraining? I want them to be a lot bigger. Which excersices work best for biceps?

[shabby]

A lot of people seem to have trouble targeting their biceps, and I think that's due to several factors: too much weight, poor form and lack of mind/muscle connection.

Try grabbing a lightly-loaded Ez-curl bar or a couple of very light dumbbells. Stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself perform bicep curls from the front and from the side: your biceps should be performing the bulk of the work--don't lean back or let your delts help with the lift. Your upper arms should not move from your side. When you perform the lift, focus on feeling your biceps moving the weight. At the top of the lift, pause and squeeze your biceps HARD. Slowly lower the weight, and watch your form.

Now, up the weight and watch your form carefully. Don't lower or raise the weight too far--you want to keep constant tension on the biceps. If your primary goal is to add size to your biceps, then do not use any body english or momentum to assist with the lift. Let your biceps do the work. If you break form, the set is over. I try to use a weight that allows me to do four sets of 8-12 reps with perfect form. Once I can do four sets of at least 10 reps per set with perfect form, I increase the weight on my next bicep workout.

I see a lot of people curling with weight that is way to heavy for them, and their form is absolutely horrible. When lifting with poor form, the biceps are only doing a fraction of the work and are slow to grow. Lift smart, not with your ego!

Once a week is more then enough, anything more is just overtraining. Your diet is the key also.

Taken from here (http://www.johnstonefitness.com/news/apr_2006_news_archive.php#04232006)

[dell]

Dumbell Hammer curls helps add size. You can either curl them up straight or curl them inwards toward your chest.

[Anteros]

Don't forget to work your triceps. Your tricep muscles are the biggest part of your upper arm and are very important for that "big bicep".

[Big D]

How do I get my Biceps bigger faster??? Is it safe to work them out 2-3 times a week or is that overrtraining? I want them to be a lot bigger. Which excersices work best for biceps?

Faster than what? What is your current routine for your biceps?

[gretzky99]

Dumbell Hammer curls helps add size. You can either curl them up straight or curl them inwards toward your chest.

I thought hammer curls works more on the forearms than the bicep?

[poedua]

Faster than what? What is your current routine for your biceps?

I agree. Good question...it'd be good to know how many sets, how many exercises that focus on biceps, how many reps to failure etc. etc. Also, what does he do for triceps etc.

Also, whether he is doing any heavy duty compound exercises to get the max release of hormones to stimulate muscle growth overall ...i.e sqauts, deadlifts, etc.

[poedua]

I thought hammer curls works more on the forearms than the bicep?

You might get some synergistic benefit to the forearms, but hammer curls primarily focus on the bicep.

Hammer curls will give your biceps the " look " of further height by stressing the brachialis muscles. Those are muscles that run under the biceps and down into the forearm. When you develop those muscles using hammer curls , the musclular foundation for your biceps gets thicker, which in turn gives the illusion of height or "peak "to your biceps.

Good forearm exercises have no bicep involvement whatsoever.

[shawn99]

Here's information from research paper that says, Continuous intensive isokinetic eccentric training performed with damaged muscles did not exacerbate muscle damage and inflammation after ECC1. Also, importantly, a muscular "adaptation effect" may occur as early as 24 h after ECC1 If your training once a week, your muscle have long adapted, and your back to square one.

[Title: Effects of a 7-day eccentric training period on muscle damage and inflammation.

Researchers: Chen TC, Hsieh SS.

Institution: Department of Ball-Related Sports Science, Taipei Physical Education College, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Source: Medicine and Science Sports & Exercise 2001 Oct;33(10):1732-8

Purpose: This study examined the effects of a 7-day repeated maximal isokinetic eccentric training period on the indicators of muscle damage and inflammatory response.

Methods: Twenty-two college-age males were randomly assigned to eccentric training (ET) and control groups (CON). The initial exercise was 30 repetitions of maximal voluntary isokinetic eccentric contraction (ECC1) on non-dominant elbow flexors with Cybex 6000 at 60 degrees.s-1 angular velocity. The ET group performed the same exercise for the following 6 consecutive days (referred to as ECC2 to ECC7) after ECC1. Upper arm circumference (CIR), range of motion (ROM), and maximal isometric force (MIF) were measured before, immediately after, and every 24 h for 7 consecutive days after ECC1. Plasma creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), leukocyte counts, and serum interleukin-1beta and -6 (IL-1beta, IL-6) levels were assessed before; at 2 h; and at 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 d after ECC1. Muscle soreness was measured before and for 7 consecutive days after ECC1.

Results: The ECC1 produced significant changes in most of the measures for both groups, with the exception of leukocyte counts. No indicators of increased damage were found from the second consecutive day of eccentric training to the 7th day for the eccentric training group.

Conclusion: Continuous intensive isokinetic eccentric training performed with damaged muscles did not exacerbate muscle damage and inflammation after ECC1. In addition, a muscular "adaptation effect" may occur as early as 24 h after ECC1, as shown by the ET group's performance for 6 consecutive days after ECC1.

Discussion: One of the most controversial aspects of HST is the suggestion that people train in a predominantly eccentric fashion for two weeks straight. Heresy! they shout. Then when you ask them why it's so bad to train a muscle more frequently or, heaven forbid, do negatives two workouts in a row, they say because your muscle can't "recover" that fast. This study calls into question the belief that muscles can't recover if trained again soon or even the next day.

They looked at a wide variety of markers for muscle damage including plasma creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), leukocyte counts, and serum interleukin-1beta and -6 (IL-1beta, IL-6). Although both groups experienced a significant change in all these indicators (accept leukocyte count), no indicators of increased damage were found from ECC2 to ECC7 for the ET group.

What about soreness? For both the group who only did one training session as well as those who did seven in a row, muscle soreness developed 1 day after the first eccentric training bout, and remained through the 3rd day, then gradually diminished regardless of which group they were in. The group that did the eccentric sets every day experienced the same progression and subsidence of soreness as the group that did only one set at the beginning of the week. The soreness level was almost back to baseline on 7 day for both groups.

The results of this investigation indicated that repeated bouts of the eccentric exercise performed on each of the following 6 days after the first bout did not affect recovery from the first training bout. This is in agreement with a substantial amount of other studies indicating that muscle adapts effectively to physical load even when the loading is frequent or even continuous. Keep in mind that we are only talking about the physical recovery of the muscle. We are not talking about performance. After all, HST is "Hypertrophy-Specific" by design.

So once again, HST turns out not to be so outlandish, but instead, simply a derivative of the research. The results and the science, speak for themselves.
Source (http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/HSreport/iss02/index.html#top)

[shawn99]

The increased delivery of amino acids from drinking the protein drink before training increased amino acid uptake into muscle by over 250%!

1. Tipton, KD, Ferrando AA, Phillips SM, Doyle D, Jr, and Wolfe RR. Postexercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 276: E628-E634, 1999

Source (http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/HSreport/iss02/index.html#top)


More from post 1.

Recent research however is showing us that putting off your next workout until your muscles have "fully recovered" may not be necessary or even desirable!1,2,3 In a study performed at the University of Alabama4, two groups of subjects performed the same periodized resistance training routine either once per week or three times per week. The results showed that muscle mass increases were greater in the three workout per week group, compared to the one workout per week group
Source (http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_artcls_trainingfreq.html)

[gordholio]

My mom has a saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day."
Anything worthwhile is always going to take time and work.

[Big D]

WRONG, don't listen to these guys. .....


What are you talking about? I didn't see anybody post anything about training options yet. There were some questions about hammer curls....is that what you're getting at?

[poedua]

WRONG, don't listen to these guys. Here's information from research paper that says, Continuous intensive isokinetic eccentric training performed with damaged muscles did not exacerbate muscle damage and inflammation after ECC1. Also, importantly, a muscular "adaptation effect" may occur as early as 24 h after ECC1 If your training once a week, your muscle have long adapted, and your back to square one.

[
Source (http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/HSreport/iss02/index.html#top)

Huh ?

Sorry...I have to agree with Big D.

You've lost me completely ......what exactly are " these guys " saying that you take such issue with ...." don't listen to "/ "WRONG " ?

Cite the " quote " one of us provided that is WRONG in your opinion, and we can address any concerns you have . :)

[Shaner]

Once a week is more then enough, anything more is just overtraining. Your diet is the key also.

Taken from here (http://www.johnstonefitness.com/news/apr_2006_news_archive.php#04232006)

Biceps absolutely need to be trained more than once a week, or you are going to get nowhere!!!

When my biceps were at their peak, I would train them as much as 4 times a week, and a minimum of 3. Biceps don't need as long to heal as most other muscles in the body.

Usually I would say diet is more important than the weight lifting part, but unless you are really huge, you probably don't have much fat on your biceps to begin with. The arms are one of the last places you will build fat.

Keep hitting the weights, that's all you can do. Cutting fat will help too, but hitting the weights is more important for your biceps.

Make sure you change up the exercises, the angles, the # of reps and sets you do. If you stick with the same routine every day, you'll eventually hit a wall. You need to shock the muscle.

For overall height, 21's and concentration curls are great exercises to do (google search if required). The concentration curls will really give you that peak on top of your bicep.

Also, I can't stress this enough, make sure you train your triceps almost, if not as hard as you train your biceps. A bicep is useless without a tricep. It may seem like more work to train triceps and biceps when all you want is larger biceps, but I promise you that if you don't train your triceps, you'll be fighting an uphill battle.

[Shaner]

WRONG, don't listen to these guys.

And you are who???

Last time I checked, Poedua has given great advice in this forum many times in the past. He knows what he's talking about and his advice should be taken seriously!

[Sonbuster]

steroids.

[shawn99]

Huh ?

Sorry...I have to agree with Big D.

You've lost me completely ......what exactly are " these guys " saying that you take such issue with ...." don't listen to "/ "WRONG " ?

Cite the " quote " one of us provided that is WRONG in your opinion, and we can address any concerns you have . :)

My apologies poedua and Big D, I was referring to the individual(s) saying that training once a week is sufficient.

[d0fuz]

working the bicep once a week is well enough. that is because u will be working them also on your back routines.

[Shaner]

working the bicep once a week is well enough. that is because u will be working them also on your back routines.

It is NOT good enough! There is a difference between working a muscle group and targetting a muscle group. If you want to build a muscle fast, you need to target it as much as possible. Targetting the biceps once a week is NOT enough and will get you nowhere.

I kind of know what I'm talking about, I didn't just read it out of a book, I actually lived it.

It was hard enough building my biceps when training them 3-4 times a week. It takes a lot of work to really build a muscle, nevermind building it fast like the OP wants to do.

[poedua]

working the bicep once a week is well enough. that is because u will be working them also on your back routines.

I think it's an area of considerable debate. Like you say, if you work all your muscle groups in one week, there's a lot of syngergistic contribution by all muscle groups being provided.

I think there are some bodybuilders today that advocate working one muscle group per week with a total set range from 12 - 14. One of my trainers was working on a Phd in kinesiology and seemed to know his stuff. He also competed in a natural bodybulding competition, traning with only working one muscle group per week. I thought it was impossible to do ...but he pulled it off.

I stand by what most of the literature says in that rercovery time is essential for muscle growth, with 36 hours being the minimum time needd and 48 hours being the most cited rest time needed between working a muscle group. So, three times a week is certianly more than enough IMO.

There also seems to be a case for 2 times a week - based on the science out there. This article reviews some studies and came up with the foillowijng conclusion based ourely on research findings.....

"The only research-based, quantifiable prescription for training frequency and volume can be found in recent meta-analyses on strength development [20,21]. Meta-analyses research can be very useful as it groups all the results from relevant studies on a particular topic and statistically, provides the conclusions of all this research. The reports on a dose-response relationship between training frequency,volume and optimum strength development provide some interesting results.

These studies report that trained or advanced individuals (as opposed to novices) obtain the best strength gains by using a high overload approach; 80 to 85% of the one-rep max (which would equate approximately to working with a maximal rep range of around 3-8 RM). Each muscle group should be trained twice a week with a total of only 4 to 8 working (non-warm up) sets per muscle group each workout [20,21]. Remember, optimum strength development is important; strength improvements clearly increase the potential for muscle mass gains.

This touches on your point - that muscles get worked in all exercises to some degree.....

Many bodybuilders and strength athletes fail to understand that it’s impossible to isolate muscles during training. Anyone that performs a training day that involves the chest muscles and another day devoted to the arm and/or shoulder muscles automatically ensures that these muscle groups receive two workouts a week. If you’re a bodybuilder that typically performs a “chest day”, a “back day” and an “arm day” each week then your shoulder muscles, (traps and delts) are worked at least three times a week no matter what exercises you perform. Same can be said for legs and back muscles. That is, the deadlifts you perform on “back day” will always involve the hip and leg muscles. The variety of squats you perform on “leg day” also recruit the back muscles heavily. Therefore, with regard to the current research-based prescription for optimum strength development, hopefully you can see how easy it is for bodybuilders to overtrain.

My personal experience is that when i went from working muscle groups 3 x a week and cut back to 1 x time a week, I saw significantly better progress in what i could lift - particularly in squat and bench. Mind you, when I went to 1 x a week, I cranked up my intensity and set count considerably, so that may have been the reason.

I think the most reasonable is still probably 2/3 times a week per muscle group.

http://www.ast-ss.com/articles/article.asp?AID=265

[UrbanPoet]

playng with body building symetry helps too.
Remember your triceps make up most of your arm. Itll make your biceps appear to be bigger.

blast your detoids. When your delts develop itll produce a sharp and detailed tear drop shape thatll help emphasize your Biceps.

[toalan]

okay do not flame me on this, but if you want something totally crazy, go find a friend who is about the same strength as you and arm wrestle him everyday. I have never done anything in the gym that has ever worked my biceps like a good old arm wrestling match.

[freethebees]

BULLSH8T

:lol:

Now that i have your attention, OP, listen up. Do what the guy said about the EZ curl bar infront of a mirror. But this time, when you're doing your reps, keep your wrists curled upwards, toward ur body, ALL the time. This isolates ur biceps more than any other muscle, and will get you faster gains.

Not sure where i read this but ever since i started doing the wrist thing, my biceps exploded and are more well rounded now.

[9mmCensor]

every other day.

Do you want strength or definition?

for strength do less sets but more weight (quicker) - makes you stong, increase the ammount you can lift
for definition do more sets but less weight (longer) - makes you look toned, increases your endurance

[bug]

Watch this video: CLICK ME (http://thetravisty.com/Saturday_Night_Live/wmv/Hans_and_Franz_featuring_Arnold_Schwarzenegger.htm )

[poedua]

for definition do more sets but less weight (longer) - makes you look toned, increases your endurance

Not again. >:(

More sets does NOT lead to definition...this is an old "gym" myth.

Only fat loss leads to definition...nothing else...definition has nothing to do with the number or reps or sets you do .

[Shaner]

Not again. >:(

More sets does NOT lead to definition...this is an old "gym" myth.

Only fat loss leads to definition...nothing else...definition has nothing to do with the number or reps or sets you do .

There's a lot of proven, experienced bodybuilders who would disagree with you, and I also disagree with you.

But, it's the same as the spot training thing. There's no proof one way or the other. I personally don't believe in spot training, but numerous professional bodybuilders swear it works.

[poedua]

There's a lot of proven, experienced bodybuilders who would disagree with you, and I also disagree with you.

But, it's the same as the spot training thing. There's no proof one way or the other. I personally don't believe in spot training, but numerous professional bodybuilders swear it works.

With all due respect Shaner, the high rep / definition myth can only be valid if you accept the theory of '" spot reducing ". And spot reducing simply cannot work - based on science. This high rep / definition myth, while one of the most enduring myths in bodybuilding, is simply myth. It doesn't work, and more it importantly, it can't work. This myth has been "de-bunked" in the bodybuilding / fitness literature time and time again - and appears so often it's the "grandaddy "of weight lifting myths.

Let me explain my reasons why the high rep/ defintion is a myth..then I''d welcome you to do the same - and supply your reasons why it is not a myth.

Here's why it's a myth.

Your notion that high reps will build “definition” seems to be based on 2 things based on what I've gleaned from your posts – and others - who won’t let this myth go.

- 1. You think the high reps will burn fat near the muscles that is the target muscle ( i.e a bicep or a thigh ). This is what is commonly referred to a “spot reducing “. This suggests that the muscles involved in the high reps exercise is actually use the fat surrounding the muscle that's being hit ( for high reps ) for energy. And this fat loss nearest to the muscle being worked with ( and caused by ) high reps is what causes the muscle to look "cut", & "defined"

- 2. You think that high reps will provide a higher level of “muscle tone “

I'll address both of these of these assumptions …and why I think both assumptions are wrong.

Spot reducing – This is the same notion that suggests that if you do 100 sit-ups or twist you’ll lose fat around your waist and love–handles ( i.e see those stupid ab machine infomercials ) . Well, it doesn’t work.

The simple fact is, no one single muscle group can burn enough calories to noticeably reduce fat. When you do lose fat, it comes from all over your body – there is no “hardwiring” in your body that says the muscle being worked has to use the fat closest to it for energy ( as you’re suggesting ). The selection process your body uses to mobilize fat for energy is based on genetic programming…and it starts from the last place your body stored fat as the first place it uses fat – not the fat closest to the muscle.. It has nothing to do with the muscle requiring the energy. It doesn’t come just from the one area you’re hitting with high reps – i.e. the bicep or thigh. You cannot target one particular area for fat reduction. So, despite what you may read or see on TV……. no single exercise will reduce bodyfat in a target “high reps “area.

There are 2 studies commonly cited that prove this ( let me know if you want the study references ) .

One looked at the fat deposits found in the right and left arms of advanced level tennis players. The hypothesis was that if spot reduction worked, the playing arm of each player should have considerably less fat than the inactive arm – due to the active arm’s exposure to high reps while playing. . In turns out, fat measures revealed no difference in fat deposits between the two arms. No change in definition.

The second study had men do a strenuous ab exercise program for a month. . Each guy performed a total of 5,000 sit-ups. Fat samples were taken before and after the program from their stomach, butt and upper back. They found that the same amount of fat dropped at all three sites - not just in the stomach which did the 5,000 sit-ups.. However, this may explain one reason why you think the spot reducing myth might work. If you burn enough calories, it will cause fat from your entire body to be lost, including the target high reps area.

So, if you want to get rid of unwanted fat – no matter where it is ( i.e bicep, tricep, back, leg , abs ) you have to do exercises that utilize as many of the major muscle groups as you possibly can - not just one muscle group. Things like running, jumping rope , cycling, eliptical machines, rowers etc. performed over an extended period of time. In other words…… cardio.

Muscle Tone - The definition of ” tone “refers to a state of contraction of the muscle. It’s the degree to which your muscles remain contracted ( i.e tensed ) when you relax. Nothing else. .If you do high reps with low resistance and low reps with high resistance…you’re going to get the same improvements in muscle tone. You can do 6 reps and get that tone or do 50 reps and get that tone. No difference.

Final Word – Forget high reps – it’s a myth - pure and simple. There are 2 very simple rules if you want to look “cut “, have “definition “and be “toned “ and have big muscles. It isn’t rocket science. The simple fact remains that the only way to get to the goals intended by these myths is to…

1. lose body fat: through smart dieting and calorie burning exercise, ( cardio ) you can decrease your body fat and increase your lean muscle mass

2. use high intensity progressive overload: overload your muscles to failure when training with as much intensity as you can – limit reps so failure kicks in around rep 8 or 9 . High reps of low intenstiy are a waste of time for significant muscle mass development. Unless you're training for muscle endurance ( i.e slow twitch ) But even in that case, the reps can't be in the 10's or 20's. They have to be in the hundreds - hundreds of reps - to develop slow twitch muscles for endurance ( i.e running )

So, in a nutshell, the notion that high reps will lead to muscles that look “cut“, have “definition“ and are “toned"........is simply a very very old myth.

[cryptblood1986]

want to know my secret? lol it's simple, 85 straight pushups then start curling 40 lb barbells

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1370/cryptblood19860mf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

this is me 1 year ago when I was in my top shape, but now I've lost 60% of that muscle due to horrible eating habits because of my full-time night shift job :(

Yep that's what you'd look like if you work out 2 years straight every day

[poedua]

want to know my secret? lol it's simple, 85 straight pushups then start curling 40 lb barbells

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1370/cryptblood19860mf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

this is me 1 year ago when I was in my top shape, but now I've lost 60% of that muscle due to horrible eating habits because of my full-time night shift job :(

Yep that's what you'd look like if you work out 2 years straight every day

What's with the photo ? Are we supposed to be impressed by that pic ( i.e "want to know my secret ")or something ...is that the idea ? :)

[UrbanPoet]

There's a lot of proven, experienced bodybuilders who would disagree with you, and I also disagree with you.

But, it's the same as the spot training thing. There's no proof one way or the other. I personally don't believe in spot training, but numerous professional bodybuilders swear it works.

Maybe it works for them b/c .... THEY ARE PROFESSIONAL BODY BUILDERs.
They take steroids.
They have trainers
They have doctors
they been training for 10+ years.

Sometimes some ppl are already big naturally... or they get big easily (good motablism or good body type)

Ever see ROnnie coleman (current 7 time mr olympia) work out? he has HORRIBLE form... on every excersize besides his monster squats, and dead lifts, he has HORRIBLE form.
It works for him... but would you recommend it for everyone else?

I get a 6 pack by eating junk food, and doing weighted situps and leg lifts twice a week. For some ppl... eating junk food willl send them into obesity!

[Bargain_Junkie]

Is it safe to work on biceps 2-3 times a week?

[travelmate]

Is it safe to work on biceps 2-3 times a week?

Not really... maybe twice max. Give at least 48hrs break in between if anything

[bdckr]

.
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So, in a nutshell, the notion that high reps will lead to muscles that look “cut“, have “definition“ and are “toned"........is simply a very very old myth.

Exactly right. Here's (http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Myths.html) a link to similar info on exrx.

[poedua]

Exactly right. Here's (http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Myths.html) a link to similar info on exrx.

Good link. Always a bonus to see the assertions made in the article supported by studies. This says it all IMO.....

" Performing lighter weight with more repetitions (15-20 reps, 20-30 reps, or 20-50 reps) does not burn more fat or tone (simultaneous decrease of fat and increase muscle) better than a heaver weight with moderate repetitions (8-12 reps). "

.....needn't say more.

[deep]

...Yep that's what you'd look like if you work out 2 years straight every day

I'd be considerably smaller than I am today.....and asian? That IS a tricky workout.

If you lost 60% of that....muscle.....you might not even exist anymore.

[marclebert]

don't know if anyone has said this yet- but chin-ups man. nothing is better!

marc lebert

[nubbie]

don't know if anyone has said this yet- but chin-ups man. nothing is better!

marc lebert
I'll second that, chin-ups / pull ups are a great form of exersise! You get awesome gains, pretty fast too.

[deep]

Chins/pullups ARE a great exercise, but they're not exactly ideal for focussing on your biceps.

[Big D]

If you lost 60% of that....muscle.....you might not even exist anymore.

lol

[Big D]

Chins/pullups ARE a great exercise, but they're not exactly ideal for focussing on your biceps.

I always did wide grip.....which took even more focus off my biceps....

[Shiifty]

Everybody's body responds differently, you have to learn how your body responds. Training once a week? 4 times a week? It all depends.

My best gains came with a 3 on 1 off cycle (working the entire body over 3 days, then 1 rest), so working everything about twice a week. Any more, I was fatigued and my body wasn't recovering. Any less, I felt "undertrained" if you know what I mean. I did pyramid sets, start off 12 reps, work down to 6, generally 5 sets per exercise, 2-3 exercises per bodypart. Some people prefer higher reps, it's up to you to find out what works for you.

For exercises, you need to work your triceps just as much, or more, to gain mass. And do heavy basic exercises like barbell curls with GOOD FORM instead of high-rep concentration curls, etc. I never found working my back fatigued my biceps too much either, that's doing lots of weighted chins, rows and deadlifts.

That's what worked for me anyways, your mileage may vary. :)

[Big D]

Everybody's body responds differently, you have to learn how your body responds. Training once a week? 4 times a week? It all depends.

My best gains came with a 3 on 1 off cycle.....SNIP.....


That's a good point. I've changed my routines a lot over time as well. I've done 3 on 2 off, 2 on 2 off. I've done the 9 week phased approach (strength phase, power phase, combined phase). Mixing it up helps to keep from plateauing IMO......again YMMV....

[Fire Man]

LOL

Why would you want to work your bicep only?