Bicep Workouts for Women

Bicep Workouts for Women
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Most women envy lean, strong arms on other women, but developing large muscles may be difficult for some women. Because of this, it is important to understand what type of body you have before beginning a strength-training regimen for your arms, or any part of your body. However, once you understand and accept your individual needs for strength training and aerobic exercise, you will be well on your way to developing arms that will be envied by other women.

Understanding Your Shape

There are three major body types for women: those who have a natural athletic build who develop muscle easily, those who are naturally slim who have difficulty developing large muscles and those who are naturally curvy who can develop muscle easily but need to shed excess fat for their muscle to show. Once you understand which body type you have, the better you can shape your individualized strength-training regimen to fit your needs. Also remember that the number of sets, repetitions and the amount of weight you train with will determine what shape muscle you will develop. Generally, the larger weight you train with and the fewer sets and repetitions you perform will develop bulkier, more obvious muscles. However, use lighter weight and perform more sets and repetitions to develop lean, toned muscle.

Free Weight Biceps Exercises

Free weights not only develop the target muscle you train, it also uses secondary muscles to carry out implementation. This causes an even development of muscle around the target muscle for even more sculpted arms. Perform biceps curls, hammer curls, concentration curls and preacher curls with an appropriate amount of dumbbell weight for the type of muscle you want to develop. A barbell may also be substituted with biceps curls and preacher curls.

Body-Weight Biceps Exercises

Several exercises exist that tone and strengthen your biceps by using your own body weight. Under-handed pullups help develop your biceps during implementation. Grasp the pullup bar with your palms facing your body to work your biceps muscles. Another exercise that uses your body weight to develop your biceps is a body-weight barbell row. Lie beneath a barbell and grasp the bar so that your palms point toward your upper body, then pull your upper body toward the bar.

Biceps Strength-Training Machines

For beginners, strength-training machines are ideal because you only have to concentrate on strength, rather than form and technique. However, ultimately you will benefit from also performing free-weight exercises to help develop secondary muscles. Biceps curl machines isolate the target muscle to help you build your biceps muscle. Perform one to three sets of eight to 15 repetitions of this exercise, depending on the type of muscle you wish to create.

References

Article reviewed by Contributing Writer Last updated on: Jun 5, 2011

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