Some might tell you that you only need two exercises total in order to build a muscle group. I disagree. I don’t think anyone should be limited to picking just two exercises for a muscle group because each one often has multiple muscle heads as well as multiple functions that can be targeted individually through exercise selection.
The chest is a great example of this; it has three heads as well as two separate functions. Some might tell you that all you need is a flat bench press and an incline bench press. You are only hitting two of the three heads of the chest with this selection and while you are pressing, you are not getting any adduction – another major function of the chest.
With the biceps, you have three major functions: supination of the forearm, elbow flexion and shoulder flexion. However, you are able to attack all three functions with just about any biceps exercise you do, since they are all a version of a curl. This means that you are not required to have a whole range of exercises, unless you are ready to take you biceps training to the next level.
But in the case of needing two exercises to build big biceps, this is simply what the absolute foundation of your biceps training should include. Not every single biceps workout needs to include both of these exercises, but a complete training plan will at least build off or include them at some point. As a matter of fact, these two biceps exercises were staples in my early training that helped me to build the big arms that I have today.
The first exercise up is the strict curl / cheat curl drop set. This is simple, stand with your back, butt, and head against the wall and curl the weight up without losing contact with the wall at any of these points of contact. Perform these curls to failure and then immediately step away from the wall. Here, you are to perform a set of cheat curls, allowing for a little momentum and cheat to get the weight up. Be mindful of the eccentric portion of the lift, however. You will want to lower the weight slow and controlled to get the most benefits out of the exercise.
This drop set combination is great for building big biceps because you are able to overload the muscles with heavier weight in both portions of the lift. Not only that, but the ability to take an exercise to and through failure is a key component to new muscle growth.
The next exercise requires nothing but a pullup bar and your own bodyweight. This is something I did fro ma very young age and I think was a major factor in the development of my biceps. The exercise is simply to flex your arms while holding the bar and sticking your head forward so that the back of your head is in front of the pullup bar. This will make sure that you are not only in elbow flexion and forearm supination, but you are getting shoulder flexion as well.
So what do you do from this position? Well, in order to build bigger biceps you can simply flex and hold there as long as possible and fight the negative. Fight the descent of your body through the entirety of the movement. The key here is to make sure that you are keeping an open angle, about 90 degrees, on your arms while holding the bar.
Similar to performing a chin-up, you don’t want to close the gap between your biceps and your forearms as you will start to activate your lats, which is something you want to avoid if you are looking to isolate and build big biceps.
Now, if you want to take your biceps training to the next level that hits every function of the biceps as well as targets the muscle from different angles, there are many exercises to choose from. I don’t think we should ever be limited to just two exercises for a muscle group, the biceps included. But you should at least start with these two exercises to build the foundation of your biceps growth.
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