A Significant Blunder Bodybuilders Make When Attempting To Build Enormous Biceps

One of the most popular muscle groups that bodybuilders seek to improve is the biceps, with possibly the most common question asked of large weight lifters from curious onlookers being "how big are your arms?" Weight lifters will focus upon a wide range of biceps movements in order to improve the size and shape of their arms, but despite such an intense focus with isolation exercises, many weight lifters find that their upper arm size does not reach what they would consider to be an ideal level.

What is the seemingly secret method that many weight lifters avoid while attempting to build upper arm growth? Other than wasting time with a large number of exercises when only 1-2 are necessary for complete biceps development, the most common mistake is believing that impressive upper arm size is dependant solely upon biceps growth, while in reality, there is a much more important factor controlling upper arm circumference.

Most are unaware that the majority of upper arm size is occupied by the triceps, and since many weight lifters in hopes of producing maximum upper arm size concentrate solely upon a wide array of biceps movements, triceps are often neglected, which amazingly, has more of a negative impact on upper arm size than if a bodybuilder were to completely avoid direct biceps training. Since biceps shape cannot change regardless of the lifting technique or weight lifting exercise selection (this characteristic is contingent upon genetics), instead of wasting effort on a plethora of biceps exercises, choose the most effective movements (such as preacher and barbell curls) for the biceps, and focus an equal amount of volume and effort on the triceps to encourage far greater overall size improvement.

Even weight lifters who already feel as if they have nicely shaped triceps should not neglect direct triceps exercise in favor of extra biceps work, because improving triceps thickness by 1-2 inches will automatically result in an apparent biceps size increase, a fact that many weight lifters do not realize. Many seek to achieve a specific arm size, but since approximately 66 percent of the upper arm is occupied by the triceps muscle, logically, the triceps actually becomes far more important than the biceps in reaching this goal, despite many classifying this as a "biceps" measurement (nobody seeks to learn the size of a bodybuilder's triceps, when this is a more significant factor comprising upper arm muscle size). There is no effective way of measuring the biceps without also accounting for triceps thickness, and although this should seem obvious, there are many weight lifters who do not realize that producing massive triceps also provides an illusion of larger, thicker, more impressive biceps muscles.

Although the triceps occupy a greater percentage of upper arm volume than the biceps, a bodybuilder need not train the triceps with more sets (volume), as the heavier weight used during triceps exercises will address the size disparity. The goal is to train the biceps and triceps with an identical total number of sets, realizing that blitzing both for maximum growth will produce impressive upper arm mass. Those who have reached a long term plateau in biceps size may find that by training the triceps in a more balanced way, upper arm mass will begin to increase, and the added triceps growth will at least offer the appearance of improved biceps development.

Lastly, make sure that you avoid isolation movements for both the biceps and triceps, such as triceps kickbacks and concentration curls, as these are not geared towards impressive size improvements; instead, implement exercises that allow for heavier weight (such as close grip bench press and standing barbell curls) to encourage maximum size gains in the upper arm region. If you begin focusing on the triceps muscle with as much emphasis as the biceps, you will see that upper arm size will experience a renewed size improvement spurt that many will mistakenly assume is a result of added biceps mass.