If you’re living on planet earth you know that one of the most common and popular muscle groups to exercise is the bicep. Of all the muscles on the human body none are perceived quite as strongly as an instant indicator of the power and strength of the individual. It’s one of the first body parts most people notice. Most think that to build bicep mass that you need to do curls in the gym, but in actuality there are many different exercises that you can do to for bigger bulging biceps right at home, without the expensive weights and equipment. Check out these four exercises to maximize the size of your biceps.
Simple but effective exercises.
1. The Chin Up
The sister of the pull up. While pulling motions typically target the muscles in the back, they all involve the bicep muscle as well. This is particularly true for underhand grip movements like the chin up. The biceps get a great workout from this exercise. You can do this popular exercise right at home (or anywhere if you can find a good door frame or something to hang from) making it ultra convenient and easy to do consistently.
If hanging from doorways, tree limbs, overhangs, or any stable object doesn’t appeal to you, pull up bars can be bought in most sporting good stores or at virtually any major retailer. You can also find them online at low cost. Most can fashion right to your door frame or between it. Be sure not to hang it too low if you plan to keep it there, or you could wind up with a nasty bump. Also, you may have to bend your knees back in order to not have your feet touch the ground on the way down.
These exercises are simple and straightforward to perform. Grip the bar with both hands, palms facing you, and slowly pull yourself up until your chin reaches the top of the bar or your fingers. Don’t forget to exhale when you pull yourself up, and then inhale when you go back down.
2. The Bicep Curl
This is by far the most common exercise for building biceps, and can be done with or with out common weight equipment. Any type of heavy item such as a full book bag or a water bucket (or anything that has weight to it along with a handle or something to grip) can be used in place of the typical barbells or dumbbells. How many reps you can do and your intensity will all depend on your stamina, strength and endurance as well as the amount of weight you use. If you can’t find two items of the same weight just work one arm out at a time then switch. Make sure to be slow, controlled and concentrated when curling the weight for the biggest pump.
3. Inverted Rows
When you think of rowing exercises the back is probably the first muscle that comes to mind. You’ve seen people in the gym doing barbell rows or seated machine rows for their back. However, these are no ordinary rows. There’s a twist (literally) that makes all the difference and that twist comes at the wrist. Rather than taking the traditional palms down grip rotate the wrists and use a palm up grip instead. For the purposes of doing this without equipment, start by lying flat on your back on the floor. Make sure you have something stable within your reach that you can grab on to, like a coffee table or book shelf, bar, cross beam, chair or something similar. Once you have a firm grip with your arms extended straight out in front of you pull yourself upward towards whatever you’re using. When you get to the top, hold for a second or two before returning back to the starting position . Again, be slow, controlled, and concentrated during the movement. With bodyweight exercises that is particularly important as it can make up for not being able to increase the amount of weight you’re using. If you’re feeling the burn, you’re on the right track, keep pumping!
4. The Push Up
Are you shocked to see the push-up listed on a list of bicep exercises? Good. The goal is to get bigger arms, right? Guess what. The tricep makes up the majority of upper arm size, not the bicep. This exercise is included here for two reasons. First, the tricep is worked as a secondary muscle in the push up. The bigger your triceps are the bigger your arms will look. In addition to that, the biceps undergo a unique eccentric contraction during the push-up exercise that makes for a nice way to finish off a bicep workout.
Lie down on your stomach on the floor or flat surface and lift your body using your arms. Make sure your palms are flat on the ground. Throughout the movement, the only other things that should be touching the ground are your toes. Keeping your back straight do as many as you can in a smooth, even and fair-paced tempo.
Note: Always listen to your body, and never exert yourself beyond your limit because it can result in some serious injuries. Most of all, have fun during these exercises. Before you know it you’ll be as big and buff as the AAG guys.
