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Massive Biceps by George Petrides, Jr., CSCS

"Whatcha gonna do when the largest arms in the world run wild on you..." -the immoratal Hulk Hogan

Who wouldn't want to have the largest arms in the world? Among males, the most popular muscle group to work is the biceps. "curls for the girls" is a common saying in the weight room. Tough guys have been intimidating people with their arm size for years.

Remember the 24" pythons? In the millenium edition of The Guiness Book of World Records the current record for the largest muscular arms in the world belongs to Denis Sester of Bloomington, Minnesota with a measurement of 30 5/8 inches!

Though the triceps make up 60% of an arm's girth, you never see a guy flex his triceps when asked to "make a muscle." I am constantly asked for tips regarding biceps training. Let's face it, guys want thick, muscle bound arms.

Most fitness experts will tell you that to build mass one should use heavy weights for lower reps (somewhere in the 4-8 range). For some reason, this theory does not seem to apply to biceps training. Most routines you read about in the muscle mags have the lifter working biceps twice a week always staying in the 8-12 rep range.

Why are biceps different than any other muscle group? Wouldn't low reps/high weight training work for them as well as any other muscle group? The answer is yes! It seems that some lifters get great results always working their biceps in the 8-12 rep range, but the true "biceps behemoths" have always incorporated some form of mass training into their routine. Dorian, Nasser, and Arnold have all stated that they trained biceps in the 6-10 rep range at some point in their training.

I am a firm believer in hitting each muscle group hard once a week. You work the muscle to death one day, give it six days to recover then do it all over again. This way, the muscle is worked to failure then given ample time to rest and recover.

Though this has been my training regimen for quite some time, my biceps developement seemed to be at a stalemate (I was stuck at 17 1/2" for almost 2 years). I decided to give a two day a week biceps routine a try. The change worked! In about 2 months my arms grew one inch to 18 1/2".

Here is a sample of the routine I followed to gain 1 inch on my arms in 2 months:

Monday (heavy)	Straight bar preacher curls	135x3, 125x5, 115x6
	Standing straight bar curls	145x6, 135x7
	Machine curls	120x4, 110x5
Thursday (light)	Straight bar preacher curls	95x12, 10, 9
	Cable curls	60x12, 9, 8
	Alternating dumbbell curls	35x12, 10, 10

As you can see, Monday is mass and strength day. Thursday is "pump" day. On Monday, I don't always get a massive pump, but I know the muscle is getting stronger based on the increase in my curl strength. When a muscle gets stronger it will most likely get bigger.

On Tuesdays, my biceps get so "pumped" that I can barely brush my hair after a workout. There is so much blood pumped into my biceps after this workout that bending my arms is a chore for the rest of the day!

Try this routine with weights you can handle fairly easy for the first couple weeks. By week 3 start piling on the weights during Monday's workout. Don't be afraid to cheat a little on your technique but try to maintain 90% perfect form throughout the workout. If you do end up using a little body momentum on the curls, be sure to control the weight on the eccentric (downward) phase of the lift.

This downward phase, according to most exercise physioligists, is crucial for building mass. On Tuesdays go for the "pump!" Don't worry about how much weight is being used. Focus on flexing your biceps hard at the top of each rep and sqeeze as much blood into your "guns" as possible.

Nailing your arms with mass training once a week and pump training once a week should provide noticeable results within one to two months depending on your level of experience!

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