“There will never be a time when anyone ever says their biceps are too big,” says Pro heavyweight bodybuilder Kuba Cielen. Many gym-goers struggle to beef up their elbow flexors because they lack proper training knowledge.
Cielen breaks down barbell curl mechanics, common mistakes, and essential habits to grow bigger biceps using scientific principles:
[Related: 4 Studies to Determine the Best Biceps Exercise]
Step 1: Exercise Setup Matters
Body positioning is key to optimizing biceps recruitment throughout each rep:
- Grip width: Cielen prefers a shoulder-width grip for comfort and range of motion. A narrow grip may reduce efficiency; going too wide could hurt the wrists.
- Arm position: Angle the arms slightly forward to maintain a deeper biceps stretch and larger motion capacity.
- Posture: Stand tall and engage the core to prevent momentum.
Grip width could significantly influence muscle activation patterns and hypertrophy outcomes. (1) This data involved back muscles but could also apply to the biceps.
Step 2: The Perfect Curl
Building big biceps involves more than moving weight from A to B. The details in between matter:
- Maximize range of motion: Shift the elbows forward while curling, stop at the nose, and squeeze as hard as possible. Lower slowly and fully stretch the biceps.
- Minimize momentum: Avoid excessive body movement so the biceps bear the stimulus.
- Eccentric control: Slower eccentrics may lead to greater muscle hypertrophy. (2)
“Get the most out of the least load,” Kielen emphasized. There’s no point in lifting big weight if you don’t feel the muscles working. Opt for a weight you can control for a two-to-eight-second rep duration. (3)
“Be able to stop your rep at any moment but still execute with a weight that will challenge you to failure,” Kielen recommended.
Step 3: Rep Range
While the data suggests muscle gains are achievable using a variety of rep ranges, Kielen recommends 10 to 15 reps with good form. This seems to be the most efficient rep zone by optimizing the resistance. (4)
Lifting too heavy increases injury risk and reduces the mind-muscle connection, while doing too many reps is less efficient. However, these rep ranges can still be used with good technique.
Step 4: Maximum Effort
Cielen believes, “There will never be a time when working harder isn’t going to give you more results.” It’s still possible to push too hard, so know your limits and watch for signs of overtraining. A good rule of thumb for most is to stop when the form starts to break.
Avoid junk volume. Aim for quality over quantity, increase the weight, reps, or time under tension with each workout.
Tension stays on your biceps every millimeter of the rep.
[Related: Is Training to Failure Better For Hypertrophy?]
Step 5: Adjusting Volume and Frequency
Increasing intensity via higher training frequency could be the solution for stubborn biceps. If you typically follow a push-pull or upper-lower routine, add a few intense sets of curls before push and leg days. Alternatively, biceps training can be spread across weekly programming for better prioritization.
Exercise selection influences biceps growth, though understanding training principles is likely most important.
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References
- Andersen V, Fimland MS, Wiik E, Skoglund A, Saeterbakken AH. Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Apr;28(4):1135-42. doi: 10.1097/JSC.0000000000000232. PMID: 24662157.
- Wilk M, Zajac A, Tufano JJ. The Influence of Movement Tempo During Resistance Training on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy Responses: A Review. Sports Med. 2021 Aug;51(8):1629-1650. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01465-2. Epub 2021 May 27. PMID: 34043184; PMCID: PMC8310485.
- Androulakis Korakakis P, Wolf M, Coleman M, Burke R, Piñero A, Nippard J, Schoenfeld BJ. Optimizing Resistance Training Technique to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy: A Narrative Review. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2023 Dec 29;9(1):9. doi: 10.3390/jfmk9010009. PMID: 38249086; PMCID: PMC10801605.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel). 2021 Feb 22;9(2):32. doi: 10.3390/sports9020032. PMID: 33671664; PMCID: PMC7927075.
Featured image: @kuba_sylvester_cielen on Instagram
