Using a combination of five exercises, a high level of intensity and plenty of rest will help you develop biceps size. Compound movements such as chinups and rows work your biceps through a large range of motion and allow you to use a great deal of weight. Exercises such as curls work your biceps directly, and allow you to focus more on your arms. Consult a health-care practitioner before beginning any strength-training program.
Program Basics
Train only once per week to give yourself plenty of rest. Start with chinups followed by rows. These exercises allow you to use the most weight over a large range of motion, stressing the larger muscle fibers that provide the most size and strength. Follow these with heavy barbell curls to work your biceps, hammer curls to work the supporting muscles of your biceps, and concentration curls to make sure you have completely exhausted your biceps.
Chinups and Rows
Start your workout by grabbing a chinning bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and your palms facing you. This grip more-heavily works your biceps than a palms-away grip, according to a 2010 study in "The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research." Perform two sets of as many repetitions as possible, going all the way up and all the way down. Follow chinups with barbell rows, gripping a bar in the same manner. Lean forward until your torso is at a 45-degree angle, and row the bar into your sternum. Do not bounce the bar out of the bottom of the repetition. Perform three to five sets of six to eight repetitions.
Curls
Grip a barbell with your palms facing up and your hands shoulder-width apart. Straighten your arms, then curl the bar up by bending your elbows. Lower the bar to full extension. Do not bounce out of the bottom of the repetition, and do not allow your wrist to bend. Perform three to five sets of eight to 12 repetitions. Follow these with hammer curls. Grip dumbbells in each hand with your arms down and your palms facing in. Without rotating your wrists, curl the dumbbells straight up, then lower to full extension. Perform three to five sets of eight to 12 repetitions.
Concentration Curls
Sit on a bench with your feet spread, holding a dumbbell in one hand. Brace the elbow of your working arm against the inside of your thigh and straighten your arm. Without moving anything other than your forearm, curl the dumbbell straight up, pausing and squeezing your biceps at the top by contracting the muscles as hard as you can, then lower under control. Take at least two seconds to go up and two seconds to go down. Perform three to five sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per side.
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