Best Biceps Exercises and Workout Program in the Gym to Build Big Biceps

Almost all women and men dream of having developed arm muscles.

And if it’s enough for girls to keep their top shape taut, then guys want to make their shoulders and arms massive and sculpted.

However, not everyone has the time and opportunity to work out in a fitness room. Then the problem of how to pump up biceps at home falls on the shoulders of novice athletes.

To do this, it is recommended to purchase sports equipment, draw up a competent training program, and follow the technique of performing the exercises.

Is it possible for a man to build muscle at home without dumbbells, barbells and horizontal bars?

Making your arms massive and sculpted without sports equipment is quite difficult. Although there are guys who manage to pump up their arm muscles without dumbbells, barbells or horizontal bars. They achieve such results thanks to genetics and body characteristics, but not everyone is so lucky.

If you don’t have sports equipment at home, you can pump up your muscles with the help of auxiliary materials: bottles of water, sand, backpacks, etc.

As you can see, it is very difficult to pump up a man’s arms without dumbbells. In order for muscles to grow quickly, they must contract with weight, so training without sports equipment will not be as effective as training with weights.

Ways to pump up your biceps peak

Photo: Peak biceps
The question of how to pump up the peak of biceps arises for many men who want to achieve a similar effect as quickly as possible. Many people are confident that by doing frequent and excessively long workouts, they can get the desired result. Some believe that genetics plays a huge role in this process. But, as practice shows, the truth is always somewhere in the middle.

You shouldn’t make a problem out of it if you have very long biceps, because the peak on them is very weak. But this can be corrected if you do the right workouts, which will make your shape not only voluminous, but also quite attractive.

Naturally, for those who have fairly short biceps, pumping up the peak will be much easier, but for this you should also follow some rules.

A huge number of bodybuilders who have set themselves the goal of creating beautiful and sculpted biceps try to include many exercises aimed at shaping this muscle group. But if we talk about pumping specifically the peak of the biceps, then not all exercises can always be considered effective.

In order for exercises for the peak of the biceps to produce the desired result, it is necessary to give preference to such a group of exercises as isolating ones. At the same time, we should not forget that their excessive use can, on the contrary, lead to a slowdown in this process.

How to properly pump up your arm muscles

Most guys who train at home without sports equipment complain that they are unable to achieve the desired weight for a long time. They claim that they do 100 or more push-ups, but their muscles do not increase.

To understand what the problem is, you need to delve into the anatomy of the arm muscles. The main muscles include: biceps and triceps, it is thanks to them that the arms become sculpted. The first muscle is located on the front surface of the shoulder, it is responsible for bending the arms, and the second is on the back surface of the arms, it helps to extend the upper limbs. The triceps are larger than the biceps, so when doing exercises at home, you need to work this area as well.

This is interesting! The triceps occupy 2/3 of the total volume of the arm.

It is also worth paying attention to the muscles of the forearm. As you can see, you need to evenly distribute the load across all muscle groups. This will help you get pumped up, toned arms and avoid injuries.

Beginners need to know that muscle fibers are divided into fast and slow. The former are responsible for speed and strength, and the latter for endurance. Between them is sarcoplasm (intercellular fluid).

Fast fibers increase rapidly, but slow fibers do not. To stimulate the growth of the latter, you need to perform weight-bearing exercises with a minimum number of repetitions at a slow pace. With the maximum number of repetitions, the volume of sarcoplasm increases.

Thus, it will be difficult for a guy to make his arms more massive without dumbbells and a horizontal bar. You need to focus on heavy weight exercises, and use high-repetition training as an addition.

During exercise, an athlete can create a load using his own weight, but without heavy sports equipment he will not see rapid progress.

How many sets of reps should you do for biceps?

The most important question that needs to be taken seriously, because for the growth of biceps it is necessary to perform a certain number of repetitions, and this is up to 8, in order to train the white muscle fibers, which in the human body are responsible for strength and growth, the red ones for endurance, they are less susceptible to increase .

Therefore, you need to train in this rep range. How many approaches should you do? Up to 6 – 8 approaches are considered optimal, this is the total amount if you train naturally, without the use of prohibited drugs or anabolic steroids! If you use them, then up to 10 approaches can sometimes be practiced, but there can be many different schemes depending on your preparation and goal.

And so we sorted out many very important questions on the shelves and now, as an example, we have compiled for you an approximate training program for biceps for strength and weight of the arms, for the gym, that is, on each day of training you can take these 2 exercises and train your biceps by including your main set of exercises.

Biceps training program for the gym for men

The Best Dumbbell Exercises to Work Out at Home

The best will help you pump up your biceps:

Stand straight, bend your legs slightly at the knees, and press your elbows to your body. Turn your arms palms up, lifting and bending them. If desired, the limbs can be bent one at a time.
Do not change your position, raise your hands to your shoulder without turning your palms with the apparatus (your hands are facing each other), and then lower it.
Sit on a chair, keep your back straight, press your elbows to your body, at the same time raise your arms up and then lower them. You can perform this movement while standing, just make sure that the body does not loosen.
Continue to sit, spread your legs wide, lower your hand with the dumbbell so that it touches the floor, and rest your other limb on the corresponding leg. Then bend your upper limb, fixate on a high point, then slowly lower it.

Pay attention to the technique, because it is important to perform exercises with dumbbells correctly, otherwise they will be ineffective.

Exercises with dumbbells for triceps:

Stand straight, raise your hand with the apparatus above your head, and grab your waist with your free limb. Smoothly lower and then lift the dumbbell by tensing your arm muscles. The element can be performed while sitting.
Lie down, raise your hands with equipment and tilt them slightly behind your head. Slowly tilt your limbs, moving only your forearm, the shoulder is not involved in the exercise.

These are the 2 most effective triceps exercises that can be performed with dumbbells, kettlebells or barbells. The main thing is to choose the optimal weight.

Exercises for men with a barbell:

Lie down on a bench, lower your arms with the apparatus to your chest, and then smoothly lift it up. The inclination of the bench can be changed to increase the load on different parts of the body. You can do the exercise with a narrow, medium, or wide grip: in the first case, the arms are developed, in the second, the back and chest, and in the third, all muscle groups are developed evenly.
Don't change your position. Raise your arms, move them slightly behind your head, tilt them, moving your forearm to work your triceps.
Rise up, lower your limbs with the apparatus in front of you, then smoothly lift, trying to touch your chest, then lower. The grip can be forward or reverse, and its width depends on the area you want to work.

Leg strength is very important for athletes, so many of them are interested in how to pump up their hamstrings. Exercises for working out the hips at home can be included in general strength training. To load the muscles of the legs, buttocks, back, and abs, you need to squat with sports equipment and perform deadlifts.

It is recommended to include exercises on the horizontal bar and with an expander in the complex.

Basic exercises for training biceps

To pump up your biceps, it’s enough to know and perform several basic exercises correctly:

lifting dumbbells, barbells;
"hammer";
curling arms in a machine (block), on Larry Scott's bench, etc.

They work the biceps with various exercises using sports equipment - weights, dumbbells, barbells, barbells, etc.

Dumbbell Raise

You can perform the exercise from sitting and standing positions. In the first case, the athlete works the middle and top of the biceps, pumps up the top of the forearm and trains the biceps for “thickness”. Procedure for performing the exercise:

Sit on a bench and pick up dumbbells with a neutral grip. The projectiles should not be too heavy. Lifting should be carried out without jerking.
As you inhale, lift the projectiles with your biceps muscles, gradually turning your hands toward the ceiling.

Important! The lower back is slightly bent, the elbows are fixed.

At the top point, stop for a few seconds, tighten the biceps muscles more strongly and slowly lower the dumbbells as you exhale, turning your arms in the opposite direction. After lifting, the palms should “see” each other.

Important! Lifting two dumbbells at the same time works the biceps most effectively.

Perform the exercise in 4-5 sets, 8-12 repetitions.

If you want to build up your biceps muscles, it is recommended to perform dumbbell curls from a standing position. Technique:

Take the starting position, legs apart, lower back slightly bent.
The dumbbells are grabbed with a neutral grip and held near the hips.
As you inhale, the projectiles are lifted to the shoulders. At a point near the level of the elbows, the hands are turned outward.
As you exhale, lower the dumbbells to their original position.
The exercise is performed in 3-4 sets, 8-10 repetitions.

Do not immediately start training for biceps by lifting heavy dumbbells. It is better to increase the load gradually.

Hammer exercise

This exercise allows you to pump up the lateral parts of the biceps and make its muscles thicker. Technique:

The shells are taken with both hands. The palms are located opposite each other. The grip is neutral.
The back is straight. The lower back is slightly bent. The gaze is directed forward.
As you inhale, one weight is first lifted to the shoulder of the same name. In the chest area you need to stop a little and tense your biceps muscles.
Next, the projectile is lowered to its original position and the load is lifted with the other hand.

Important! Some trainers advise performing the hammer exercise with both hands at the same time.

The hammer exercise for training biceps is recommended by many trainers. Before starting training, it is advisable to consult with an instructor - he will tell you which equipment is best to use.

We also recommend studying this topic:

Scott's bench

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Larry Scott Bench Curl

The exercise can be performed with either a barbell or dumbbells. The main thing is to install the stand correctly. Curling your arms on a machine allows you to pump up the middle and lower parts of your biceps. Technique:

the triceps are pressed tightly against the music stand, the feet rest on the floor;
shells are picked up with an underhand grip;
while inhaling, lift the weights;
when the forearms are in a vertical position, the biceps muscles are tensed as much as possible;
then the weights are smoothly lowered until the limbs are straightened.

Perform the exercise in 3-4 sets with 8-10 repetitions.

The Larry Scott bench is a must-have exercise machine for pumping up your biceps. The famous bodybuilder, after whom this exercise machine was named, achieved serious results in the field of pumping up the biceps muscles on this bench.

Lifting the bar

Lifting a barbell from a standing position is considered to be the main exercise for pumping up the biceps muscles. The optimal amount is 3-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions. Lifting procedure:

take the starting position;
pick up the barbell with an underhand grip;
as you exhale, raise the projectile to chest level, tense your biceps muscles, pause for a few seconds;
Smoothly lower the bar until your arms are fully straightened.

Important! When lifting the barbell, you need to watch your posture; you don’t need to bend your elbows and wrists.

Lifting a barbell from a standing position is considered the main exercise for those who want to build up their biceps muscles.

Effective loads without projectiles

Without dumbbells, you won't be able to pump up your arms quickly and effectively. However, training with your own weight will perfectly complement the strength complex.

Exercises at home without dumbbells:

Turn your back to a bench, chair or sofa, rest your hands behind your back, stretch your legs forward, focusing on your heels. Smoothly lower yourself and then rise by tightening your triceps.
Sit down, lean on your hands behind you, bend your legs, lift your pelvis. Move your arms and legs to imitate the walking of a crab.
Roll over onto your stomach, stretch your upper limbs forward, lean on your toes and palms. Smoothly raise your body as high as possible, then lower it. Helps pump up the forearm.
Stand in a straight plank position, lean on your palms, and lift and lower your body. Make sure your torso is straight. The movement helps pump up the muscles of the forearm.
Place your hands on the floor near the wall, raise your legs. First, stand a short distance from the wall, and then, moving your hands, lift your legs higher and higher on it to stand in an almost vertical position.
Place your hands on a sofa or bench and your feet on the floor. Push up, trying to touch your chest to the sofa, and then slowly rise up.

Push-ups will help make your arms more resilient, stronger and slightly increase muscle mass.

This is interesting! If an athlete is overweight, then you need to supplement your exercises with cardio training (jumping rope, running, cycling, intense walking). During classes you must follow a diet.

Ground pumping program

The following training program with dumbbells and barbells at home will help you achieve good results:

Lifting dumbbells for biceps with supination (reversal).
Arm bending without supination (“Hammer”).
Elbow push-ups.
Bench press due to the movement of the forearm.
Extension of arms from behind the head.
Raising the barbell for biceps with a reverse grip.
Bent over arm extension.

While performing the complex, you can use dumbbells, a kettlebell or a barbell. All elements are performed 6-12 times four times, and push-ups - from 12 to 15 times. Rest between sets is 1-2 minutes.

If desired, the complex can be supplemented with an exercise to pump up the leg muscles.

Mass exercises with dumbbells and other equipment at home will help strengthen your muscles in a week.

How to get results quickly: ways and means to increase the effectiveness of training

For training to be effective and safe, the athlete must follow these recommendations:

Train 2 to 4 times a week, combining exercises for fast and slow muscle fibers. On other days, work out other muscle groups (back, abs, legs), and also perform cardio exercises to reduce fat levels and quickly outline the relief.
Periodically change old exercises from the complex to new ones so that the muscles do not get used to the load.
Hone the technique of doing the exercises, when extending or lowering your arms, move as slowly as possible, do not lower your arms all the way so that the muscles do not relax, work at maximum amplitude.
Train until your muscles fail.
Periodically increase the weight of the equipment so that the muscles develop faster.
Train for 60 minutes with no more than 2 minutes between sets.
Maintain a sleep schedule. The athlete must rest at least 8 hours per day.
Replenish your diet with protein foods (lean meat, fish, eggs, legumes), complex carbohydrates (whole grain products), and fiber (vegetables and fruits).

By following these rules, the athlete will notice the first results within 4 weeks.

How to properly pump up your biceps

You can work your biceps muscles several days a week. Each athlete determines the number of sessions for himself individually, in accordance with his physical capabilities. To develop a competent training program, you should use the help of a professional trainer. Only an optimally designed and timely adjusted training regimen will achieve tangible results.

Maximum effectiveness can be achieved if you pump up your biceps at least twice a week.

The biceps muscle itself makes up only a small part of the arm. The main share of the volume (more than 50%) falls on the triceps. But it is the regular exercise of the biceps muscle that makes the shoulders expressive and gives them a spectacular, masculine profile. However, in order for your arms to look strong and strong, in addition to basic biceps exercises, you must not forget to pump up your triceps.

When working the muscles, you should completely focus on your own sensations. It is very important to feel how the body works and adhere to the correct exercise technique.

Main conclusions

As you can see, exercises with sports equipment will help you quickly pump up your arm muscles at home. Bodyweight movements will only strengthen your muscles and make them more resilient, but will not significantly increase muscle mass. Choose sports equipment with which you can do 6 to 12 repetitions, but with difficulty.

If it’s easy for an athlete, then you need to choose a heavier apparatus. Be sure to warm up before class and stretch your muscles after it. Combine elements for arms and back in one program. Don't forget to work other muscle groups for overall progress. Periodically add new exercises to the program. Eat right and get enough sleep.