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Better Looking Arms:

Train the biceps for size, shape and strength

Is there anyone who doesn’t appreciate great-looking arms? Hard sculpted biceps on men, and  gracefully lean upper arms on women? And wouldn’t you love them on your body?

The biceps, those two-headed (“bi”) muscles at the front of the upper arm that flex the forearm, are one of the smallest, yet most eye-catching muscles on the body. They are easy to train using most any pulling or curling exercise and it doesn’t take a lot of grueling work to see real progress.

Women can and should do these exercises without worry, since females typically don’t see a size increase in muscles from strength training. Since women have up to 30 times less of the type of hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy, they can lift for strength and shape, and not worry about bulk.

You’ve probably sat at a bicep curl machine at the gym and wondered what the big deal is. Yes, the machine is designed to isolate the muscle but, unfortunately, most people tend to let the machine do most of the work. As you brace your upper arms on the pad, and grasp the handles, you’re performing some fancy elbow-flexing to move the handles and the weight. But how much are you really benefiting from it?

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Have you ever slipped on a sexy strapless dress or muscle shirt, looked at yourself in the mirror, and realized that there’s still something missing?

Like muscles. That is, a noticeable show of sinewy muscles in your back, chest, shoulders and arms. Ones that are buff, beautifully toned, and make you look healthy. If you don’t see that reflection in the mirror, then that’s reason enough to start a full body strength training workout, one that is grouped into alternating days of: back & biceps; chest & triceps; quads; and finally, shoulders, calves & abs.

Whatever your goal, be it toning or power lifting or just keeping the flab at bay, it’s time to train your body to fire (contract) a higher percentage of muscle fibers at the same time, which in turn builds strength. Men who want to add size to their upper bodies need to encourage muscle hypertrophy which they can do through a low volume program of high intensity lifting -i.e., doing few repetitions (3-6 per set) while working with heavy weights. Guys who want to firm up but not necessarily bulk up, should concentrate on doing moderate sets consisting of more reps, doing 2-3 sets of each exercise. Ladies who want to tone and firm as well as get stronger, should do a higher number of reps (15-20) using lighter weights, and working more sets (3-4 per exercise). (more…)