Grow Your Stubborn Biceps (SIMPLE FIX!) 

20 year old youtubers on Tren are like "I struggled for ALL 18 months of my lengthy training career to build biceps until I used these 5 simple NEEDLE TIPS then my arms blew up, my meat head face, my nipples and even my Bacne even BLEW UP!" Compared to Alex, a QUALITY source for advice: Alex is a lifetime natty whose arms were a weak point he struggled to overcome

Arm Training tips are always especially helpful when the message comes from a fella that struggled to grow them for so long. You’ve tried a lot in that regard

Dude just noticed how HUGE your shoulders got over the last months. Mad respect 🙏🏻🙏🏻

I'm determined to get 18 inch arms naturally. This information is gold! That first shot in the video displays how crazy good your physique is.

Brazilian here, your kind of content is really unique. The youtube fitness/bodybuilding community here in Brazil is Huge, but there's still very few drug free oriented channels, your content is really valluable, keep it lit!

Definitely need a part 2!! Awesome video as always mate

personally, as a calisthenics guy, I like to dedicate cycles focused on my weaknesses. If I would put loads of emphasis on my biceps, I would do something like supinated back lever pull-ups with bands (or curl, idk how you would call it), then an overhead focused pressing exercise, then something like a back focus exercise (front lever type stuff, not one arm pull-up, since there would be a lot of tork applied on the elbow), and then doing barbell ez bar strict curl, and finally, some concentration curls. of course, i would do some "impossible" dips, skullcrushers in a pike position... and of course a finisher with superslow reps.

Dude the quality of every new content...💪

Thanks Alex, your videos are inspirational, not just from a muscle building perspective.

we NEED a part 2 there's never enough content about biceps

Great video. I watched one of your old videos about heavy bicep and i agree. For a period of time i got caught up on this elbow positions and i neglected basic barbell and dumbbell curl for months. I saw some definition from my long head because i was doing alot of long head exercises or maybe because i was on a cut anyways i had no mass and recently i started doing barbell and dumbbell curls and i started to get some mass. My advice to anyone will be never neglect the bread and butter of the bicep and that is standard curls with barbell or dumbbells

Great video. I definitely focused mainly on compounds and arms/delts have always lagged because of this.

You’re my spirit animal Alex 🙏🏻

Really glad I found this channel - great advices - thank you Alex.

I will definitely try this out on my next legs day thanks Alex!

I’ll keep saying it, the realest on this platform😎👑

Great video & agree with what you said. The most effective ways I’ve found to build huge & strong biceps are: 💪 1. Do dedicated arm days (supersetting biceps & triceps exercises) 2. Include a good amount of isolation exercises 3. Stick to the 4-5 safest & most effective biceps movements & with proper form that keeps constant tension on the biceps 4. Push hard enough in all working sets to drive strength & size gains 5. Occasionally include some forced negatives on things like the preacher curl with a spotter assisting by helping to lift it up and providing extra resistance on the way down. 6. Progressive Overload intelligently with no ego lifting.

Dude your a legend! Thanks for all this great knowledge! I'm going to definitely apply all of this to my training!!!

Chest expanders and bands taught me so much on how to feel the muscle and proper rep control.

This is awesome. Arm training videos from NH, BOH and AL all within a few days. Now we have no excuse not to make inspiring gains this year!

I fucking love the arm videos man - these are very very helpful! I have noticed gains particularly in my tricep longhead thanks to your advice! We can never stop learning!

Definitely need a part 2 dude

My arms have always been my strongpoint but I'm glad I still watched it, there are always some training gems in every video you put out, whether it be about exercises or programming in general. The antagonist pairing you mentioned earlier on in the video almost flicked a switch in my head, I'm definitely incorporating that into my routine. Love the content man, keep up the good work

Great points Alex. Spot on about prioritizing biceps in the program. I saw the most growth when I placed them as my first exercise. No excuses at that point 💪

Looking forward to the forearm guide. Keep up the good work

The first time I took any of your advice was back in 2020 during quarantine with the bodyweight psychotic workout. The thing about you is that everything you recommend, you've done. And your methods are proven. You are very articulated and take this seriously. Also, no one asked you to do what you do, which is helping thousands of people like me in their training journey. You have impacted many lives. We are grateful to you.

Your biceps are looking great bro.

Good job Alex

Thank you. Very good point

I do bicep work at the end of my push day and tricep work at the end of my pull day. Give it a try. My bicep exercises are machine preacher curl (short head), face-away standing cable curl (long head), and reverse grip BB curl (brachialis). It’s working great.

I built my biceps on ring curls and pelican curls on bars and getting stronger on the ring curls till able to do elevated ring curls was a game changer.

I would really like a similar video on calves!

Curl. Got it. Thanks.👍

In my case it was biceps nerve squized under front delt. Brahialis muscles was spazmed and not allowing biceps to work. Also trigger point in biceps. Biceps was spazmed also. Also some problem in shoulder blade instability. Now after everything is fixed I am getting newbie gains in my biceps after 12 years of training.

I've found really heavy 90 degree static holds has really helped. A weight too difficult to curl, but can hold at 90 degrees for say 10 seconds. Same with a 90 degree hold from a pull up bar.

Although my short biceps(about 3 fingers (ish) empty space from the bicep to the forearm when flexed),i think that i gave them not care when working them out.Definitely I'll take into account your advices for growing them especially the short head. Many thanks and stay strong !!!

Dude has the best channel ever🙈🙊

You're looking great Alex

Yes! A part 2 would be appreciated.

I am enjoying your videos, you explain things so much better for me, I am 66 years old. thanks

I built most of my biceps size on good ol' preacher curls, dumbbell concentration curls and a TON of dumbbell hammer curls. I don't program barbell curls or even ez bar curls these days, but I'm fairly strong at them without really training them (1rm BB strict curl is about 125-130#). Not super impressive (still got work to do as always 👍), but it took quite a while to get there. Patience was key. I think the slow, consistent progression is a key message. Biceps are a small muscle, to be strong you have to spend a lot of time with good, basic hypertrophy principles and just keep at it. There will always be guys that let their egos drive their arm training. It just doesn't go anywhere other than tendinitis. Being fairly strict, good eccentric control, and listening to your body is key. Paying attention to your forearm imbalances can really help you avoid tendinitis. My pronator teres tends to get fairly tight and working on that helps a ton.

Unique exercise for biceps peak. Combine forearm supination and elbow flexion into a single movement by performing bicep curls with an asymmetrically loaded dumbbell. Use adjustable dumbbell with at least 50% more weight on the pinky side.

For anyone, look up Leroy Colbert. Natual with 21 inch arms. Says the same thing. Train arms first for bigger arms

Honestly, antagonist pairings could receive a video of its own!

The brachialis and using hammer curls are worth mentioning because they falsely push the biceps up giving the illusion of a higher peak. One of my favorites for biceps is sitting down on the ground with my elbows on a flat bench and legs underneath and using cable preacher curls. Lean back to make it harder and target the long head. Seems more beneficial than a standard dumbell curl, whereas at the top of the movement, it becomes much easier and tension is gone

Great video man, Im currently trying to grow past 17" arms that look a little small on my 6'4 frame. Gonna be using some of this in my workout today

It kinda makes sense to train biceps first on a pull day that way when you do pull ups/Rows the back has to do more work. Great vid!

Yeah my mind muscle connection favors the short head. So I have thick biceps but no peak. It has taken a long time to feel that outer head and work it. I've done the simple things you said but given my mind muscle connection, I'd do it with the inner head anyway. I finally figured out some things to help that connection to make it grow but I lose that connection easily.

I love training biceps. My biggest tip is to pretend you don't have hands or forearms. Just scoop the weight up with your upper arms. This helped me use my biceps more.

Pls do for calves 🙏 excellent vids btw 🔥

Expert advice

I have a 4 day upper lower split, i think I'm gonna integrate arms as starter for lower days and calves for upper. I would still feel weird to pre exhaust these muscles for my main lift. Let's get those gains ✌️🤘

First tip is priceless and probably why they're so stubborn. I literally am watching this as I'm chucking in some curls after a heavy bench sesh 😅🤦🏼‍♂️

I needed this Alex..thank you

Charles Glass recommendeds "Swoop curls" - where during a curl u bring ur elbows up, then bring the barbell to ur forehead. Seems to work!

my goal at a bodyweight of 143lbs is to be able to hit strict EZ bar curls, and dumbbell curls, and follow that up with 15KG weighted chinups for 3x10. I think this should bring incredible gains at my current strength level

I like chins super set with eZ curls rest pause. One all out set, usually get light headed after.

What about gymnast rings isolation exercises for biceps or straight arm exercises on rings

Alex you are the best on here after dr mike

Can you make a vid on bicep tranning with calesthenics or weighted calesthenics.

im a powerlifter but i go hard with isolation as well

Just get an arm day fellas

My dude is ripped again and big as fuck, youre getting the hang of it well, been watching you since forever and youve been constantly growing. Keep up the work And i just saw these rear delts, because i posted the comment in the beginning of the video, would be curious to see how you hit these bad boys to be so big and popping

This is very similar to Dante Trudell's advice. His base program has you train pecs, delts, back and triceps on day one, then biceps, calves, hamstrings and quads on day two*. Days one and two are alternated on an every other day schedule, such that each muscle is worked directly three times in a two week period. *The exception is hamstrings are done last IF your hammy move of the day is SLDL or Romanians. On leg day, he saves the hardest exercise for last. He also recommends alternating between a pool of three different exercises per bodypart over that two week period, which isn't too far from your double conjugate method. For example, day one A might be weighted dips, press behind neck, skull crushers, pulldowns and barbell rows. All of those would be done to warm-ups to failure set with two brief rests followed by rest pause mini-sets; e.g., dips to failure, stop to take 15 deep breaths, have another go at it to failure, take 15 more deep breaths, then give it one last shot, generally just eeking out a rep or two, then pecs are cooked, finished. On day one B, you might do Smith inclines in a similar fashion. And so on. The only exercises not rest-paused are done for two straight sets (pulls, rack pulls, any free weight row, hammy deads) OR quad exercises which are done for a heavy set of 6-8ish and a "widowmaker" set of breathing style squat variant or leg press wherein you take your usual 10-12 RM and take just enough breaths between reps to push out 20. It's a brutal way to train but, as I said, your ideas and his mirror one another. However, I will say his methods are geared toward the enhanced lifter (no pun intended). When I was "on," training to failure in DC type workouts was a boon...but as I get older, I think I would've done better as a natty if I didn't utterly destroy myself with the insane intensity crap.

This entire time I've been doing curls with my arms tucked straight out in front of me because I thought that was just *the* correct form, and always wondered why my biceps seemed thick but never super tall or peaked, I'm definitely going to try training with my arms angled from now on

It's all about that stretch

Please do a part 2

I remember I coded a robotic pair of arms that could curl more than me. That was a big wakeup call.

Alex do you think the easy curl bar hits the biceps differently

thanks for the tips mate, my biceps have barely changed size in so long, I do half ass my direct work I will admit, hence why my bis have always sucked

I personally love doing concentration curls supinated and hammer grip style. But the ultimate way to train arms is with arm wrestling training methods with added triceps work. Arm wrestlers have the strongest, biggest biceps and forearms pound 4 pound.

Great video as always. One thing that's helped me recently is pre-exhausting the forearms before bicep curls so they don't take over during my direct bicep work.

Needed this video right now. Just tried pre-exhausting my arms before an upper body day and it was was great. Can confirm its a good idea.

My arms respond well even without separate day but when I added a day of strictly arms with some shoulder work also, man did they blow up! Now it's time to switch to what you're saying here Alex💪🏽 Gonna do the chest with Bi and and back with Tri once this program gets stale. Appreciate u bro💯

thanks a lot !

Chin-Ups almost isolate the short head of the biceps from the long head due to the simultaneous elbow flexion and shoulder extension (the long head also contributes to shoulder flexion, so having the shoulders extend at the same time as the elbows causes the muscle’s length to remain about the same, so the body only uses this head for stabilization).

Hey quick question about cutting: Should I decrease Volume on a cut and train high intensity to maintain strength? What about lifting to failure on a cut, recommended or not?

You may have covered this in the video and I may have missed it, but what rep/set ranges do you recommend for the long head and short head exercises respectively?

Do you think specializing in the close grip bench would result in bigger triceps?

hey man would these bicep curls hurt the elbows for people over 60 years old or would it bulletproof them?

Why did you state concentric are more important in the cheat curls section? Is this true in the context of biceps? Matt wenning has said eccentrics are more important for muscle growth. Thanks Alex

Having a good should always bring up your arms. Develop shoulder makes your arm look better and it becomes more define. Alex is prime example since his shoulder developed his arms look bigger and more defined bicep and tricep both. Alot of people don't know that.

Alex, Jeff Cavaliere at Athlean X says the same thing U say about hitting the short and long head of the bicep in reference to where the elbow is at the start of the movement, meaning to hit the long head start with the elbow behind the body and for the short head start with elbow in front of the body, however he says the opposite of what U say about hitting the short and long heads of the biceps in terms of converging and diverging movements. He says to hit the long head U need to converge the arms on the way up (Concentric part of the movement), U say to hit the long head we should diverge on the way up and the opposite ways for the short head. He says we are hitting the head that is the most visible during the rep, meaning if we use a close grip we are hitting the long head as it is the most visible and if we take a wide grip we are hitting the short head as it is the most visible during the rep.. I'm just trying to make sure of the correct way to hit each head. My long head is stubborn so I want to maximize it's growth!!! I am confused, is this simply a case where two guys differ in their beliefs or do U think Jeff is just wrong on this topic? Thnkx, looking forward to your response

All I want to add to this is that even though I had a very rough first one year in my fitness/calisthenics journey (had some moderate rotatorcuff/shoulder problems, due to me being STUPID and training without preparation in dangerous settings), and I often switched between pushups and bench press, while progressing moderately, I have to say that the pushup numbers DROPPED the moment I started taking them seriously. Which means SLOW tempo, controlled descent, proper form, pause at bottom, etc. I always get frustrated when I remember how I could crank up 25+ sets of pushups when I was in "worse" shape. But then I must remind myself: nope, those were NOT proper pushups. I am also the guy who does 5-6 chinups currently, but one of those chinups are more proper than complete sets that I see strangers do. I might progress slow nowadays, but I enjoy it. I also ignored isolation work until this november. I finally faced the fact that low rep chinups will NEVER grow my biceps enough, and then I discovered that my biceps were not being worked by the curls because of other weak links/overcompensations. Since then, I started lowering the weight, added forearm-curls and hammer curls to the mix, and wrist extension work as well -and voile, suddenly I can feel bicep curls in my...BICEPS :D Doing a slower movement is always going to be preferrable compared to the alternatives, imho. I'm glad I stuck around. (Great channel btw, somehow your style is addictive :D)

what im asking myself (currently curling 20kg dumbells) is wether to do 3 sets of spider curls (short head) + 3 sets of face-away cable curls or 3 sets of normal standing curls + spider curls/ face-away cable curls (or maybe even 2 sets of each of those!?), tough choice

Just do arms on another day or on an off day. If you hit arms on a lower body or leg day or on an off day you’ll have no interference with the big lifts for back, shoulders, and chest

I'm gonna need that part 2 brother.

bro i swear this was much needed for me ...i use all the tips and suggestions from my next workout and update you after 4 weeks

I think you meant to say the long head is worked when the arms are in ..and the short head when the arms are angled out..

jesus, that delt looks absolutely nutty at 2:20

Hello Alex.what you think about 3x full body and 2.x gpp work-burpees-kb swings -kb suit case walk and some fluf stuf with bands ?

Alex could you please tell that in your "dumbell pressing secrets" video you told that training one arm at a time for flat bench and shoulder pressing overcome the biological law of accommodation can i do single arm for floor presses too? And can i do neutral grip dumbell for shoulders,flat bench , incline, unilateral neutral grip bench, unilateral neutral grip floor press etc. to overcome biological law of accommodation as u told that by doing a bring elbows close to the body and doing neutral grip joing angles are being manipulated? I hope you got the question

Part Two!

Leroy Colbert was the man... I used to binge watch his content, was so great! May his soul rest in peace

What’s your take on spider curls Alex?

I got lucky with long arms that have great insertions so my arms do fantastic on compounds alone but I'll add some of this to see how crazy I can get.

natural hypertrophy does narrow grip preacher curls, and the guys biceps are enormous, take Alex's word for it

Do you prefer straight or ez Bar curls?

If you can't afford an arm blaster (or don't want to use one), resting the triceps again the front of the lats will do the trick.

Why does external/internal rotation of the shoulders change the emphasis of the short vs long head tho? Genuine question. I know that the long head crosses both the shoulder and elbow joint therefore by flexing and extending the arms you change it's length, but what does biasing have to with internal and external rotation?