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How Often Should Biceps be Worked Out?

Bulk Supplements Direct

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When people start hitting the gym, they’re keen to see the benefits of their hard work in their arms. Buff biceps are highly sought after, as they highlight your strength and dedication to training.

 

But how often should you work your biceps to get the desired results?

 

To strengthen the muscles in your biceps, it’s essential to work them well at least two or three times every week. Bicep workouts should be one element of a broader exercise regime that focuses on all muscle groups in your arms and upper body for best results.

 

You should also make sure you’re gradually increasing the weights that you lift, as well as the number of sets and repetitions that you perform.

 

These are crucial parts of the muscle-building process and will give you the best chance of beefing up your biceps.

 

Here, we take a look at the benefits of strengthening your muscles and why more muscular arms can make your life so much better.

The Ultimate Guide for Arm Training

Why are muscle building exercises important?

According to WebMD, muscle-building exercises have a range of health benefits. These include better balance, improved blood-sugar control, bone strengthening, and improved sleep and mental wellbeing. What’s more, muscle-building is a vital component of any weight-loss regime, as building muscle helps you burn calories and improve your body’s overall shape.

What about working your arms in particular?

Research from the American Heart Association articulates that strength training exercises focused on your arms and upper body can boost your heart’s health. Having a more muscular upper body and arms also makes lifting in everyday life a lot easier and reduces the risk of injury. If you’re a keen sportsperson, bulking your arms and upper body will give you a competitive advantage and improve your performance. On top of all this, strong arms look great, too!

Understanding the composition of your arms

When training your arms, your workouts should be focused on strengthening all of the muscles within. The arms are made up of five muscles that can be split into two succinct groups:

 

1] Anterior: biceps brachii, brachialis, coracobrachialis.

 

2] Posterior: triceps brachii, anconeus.

 

To bulk your arms and increase your upper body strength holistically, you must develop a workout schedule that focuses on training each of the muscles within the arms. It’s not enough to focus on only one.

 

However, given the title of this post, our focus is exclusively on how to work your biceps brachii. Still, you need to be aware that strong arms come from working both the anterior and posterior groups regularly.

 

How often should I work my biceps?

To build your biceps and other muscles in your arms, you must develop a cohesive and easy-to-follow workout schedule. Resistance training should be carried out on a minimum of 2-3 days every week if you hope to see results. Feel free to increase your training days if you like, but it’s vitally important that you reserve a minimum of two days a week for rest days. This is vital for muscle recovery.

 

Specifically for your biceps, consider spending twenty minutes per session working through your exercises. You need to make sure that your reps and sets are appropriate, and you should be looking to gradually increase the weights you lift each session. Performing 2-3 sets of between 8-15 reps is relatively standard and is an excellent place to start when devising your schedule.

 

Let’s take a look at five exercises that are proven to help you strengthen your biceps.

 

Recommended Read: >>> Do Push-Ups Work Biceps? <<<

Five of the best exercises to work your biceps.

Now that you have a decent understanding of how often you should work your biceps let’s look at five of the best biceps exercises you can add to your workout. Most of these can be done without a great deal of equipment, so they can be completed on any gym floor or well-stocked home gym.

#1 - Seated dumbbell curls.

Grab a bench and sit up straight. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and let them hang at arm’s length by your sides, with your palms facing one another. Make sure you’re sitting as tall as possible, and without moving your upper arms, curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders. You should end with your palms facing your shoulders, then slowly return to your starting position.

#2 - Standing barbell curl.

Like seated dumbbell curls, standing barbell curls are a tried and tested component of many an exercise regime. First, pick up the barbell with a wide, underhand grip and make sure your feet are well spaced. Next, raise the bar to hip height and curl the bar up to your shoulders, squeezing your core as you do it. Make sure your elbows and shoulders remain stationary, then return to your starting position.

#3 - Decline dumbbell curl

By lying down, you use a lot more energy and stability when contracting your muscles, intensifying the workout. To perform a decline dumbbell curl, lie flat on a 45-degree bench, with your chest facing the floor. Keep your upper arms still, and bend your elbows, curling the dumbbells as close to your shoulders as possible. After a brief pause at the top, lower the weight back to the starting position.

#4 - Concentration curl

Bodybuilders use concentration curls to build significant muscle mass and often use particularly heavy weights to perform their reps. As such, grab a suitably heavy dumbbell, and sit on the bench, spreading your legs so the weight can be lifted between them. Next, rest your arm holding the dumbbell on your leg of the same side, and curl the weight towards your shoulders. Pause briefly at the top, and return to the starting position.

#5 - Bent over row

Just like a concentration curl, it’s a good idea to up the weights when performing bent over rows. Begin by holding a barbell at arm’s length, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Next, bend your knees and pull the bar towards your ribcage, squeezing your core as you do so. Pause briefly and then lower the barbell back to the starting position.

 

These five exercises are not complex, but you need to ensure your form is spot on to get the most out of them. As with all arm workouts, you should also gradually increase the weights you lift, so you work your muscles as hard as possible. Performing adequate sets and reps of these five exercises, two or three times a week, will yield great results when it comes to building your biceps.

Recommended Read: >>> Lat Pushdowns: The Secret to a Strong and Defined Back <<<

How often should biceps be worked out – FAQs.

Why are my biceps not any bigger than when I started?

If you’re not seeing any results after a few weeks, it could be down to the fact that you’re not lifting heavy enough weights. Remember, growth comes from breaking down muscle fibres, so you need to make sure you’re lifting decent sized weights if you want to build your biceps. Also, consider your diet and make sure you’re consuming enough protein, which is also crucial for muscle recovery and growth

How can I improve my form when working on my biceps?

Good form is essential if you’re to see results when it comes to weight training. If you’re unsure of your form, it’s a good idea to consult a PT or training partner to help you improve. Here are three of the most common mistakes people make when training their biceps that you will need to avoid to maintain good form:

 

Leaning back – this removes the tension from your biceps and increases the injury risk to your lower back.


Lifting from your elbows/shoulders – raising your elbows or shrugging your shoulders at the top of a curl isn’t beneficial. You will end up working other muscle groups instead of your biceps.


Swinging – If you find yourself swinging when performing bicep curls, your form is all wrong. You need to keep straight and disciplined to ensure the tension remains in your arms.

 

Can I train my biceps every day?

When you’re hoping for gains, it can be tempting to go all out and train a particular area of your body every day. However, this isn’t beneficial. Training your biceps every day gives your muscles no time to recover and grow, meaning you won’t see the benefits of the hard work that you’re putting in. Also, overtraining significantly increases the risk of injury, so you need to make sure that your workout schedule factors in sufficient rest days.

Final thoughts

If you want to bolster the strength of your arms and see results, you need to develop a comprehensive workout schedule. We recommend training your biceps in particular 2-3 times each week, but these exercises should be performed in conjunction with other arm exercises.

 

As we’ve introduced, there are five muscles in your arms, so if you want bulging biceps, you can’t afford to neglect any of your arm’s muscles. As with any other form of weight training, make sure you factor in a couple of rest days each week to give your muscles time to recover and grow.

 

If you do this and incorporate the five exercises introduced above into your weekly workouts, you should see excellent gains in your biceps in the near future.

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