This question is asked mostly by men who are interested in making their arms big and strong. These athletes are easy to spot in the gym, because their favorite piece of equipment is a barbell. Their favorite exercise is lifting the barbell on the biceps. But it’s not the only piece of exercise equipment that helps build rounded, protruding biceps. Other biceps exercises and options on how to pump up your biceps are in this article.

Where are the biceps

When you strain your arm at the forearm, you see a small bulging ball. It comes in different lengths and structures. This is the extensor muscle of the forearm, that is, the biceps. It consists of 2 heads: external and internal. Underneath them is the brachialis, the flexor muscle. When we are doing arm exercises, when we lift weights we are using the brachialis, and when we straighten the elbow joint we use the biceps.

How to pump up your biceps fast: recommendations

• To pump up the round biceps, do exercises that isolate all other muscle groups as much as possible. The main load must go on the heads.
• The statement that supination (turning the hand) is mandatory for training biceps is not quite true.
• If you do the exercises correctly, the weight is of secondary importance.
• Most biceps training is easy to do at home.
• You don’t have to stand in line for a barbell at the gym at all, use a barbell or small dumbbells.

How to pump up your biceps: biceps exercises with different apparatuses

There are 3 projectiles for effective work with biceps: a horizontal bar, dumbbells, barbell. You can choose to train with one thing, but it is better to use different equipment on different training days. Exercise consciously, observing the technique of performance. When working out your biceps you should feel:

• Tension in the muscle, which is visible on the arm;
• A slight burning sensation in the forearm.

Chinning bar

To perform biceps pull-ups, take a reverse grip on the bar. The wider is the hand placement, the greater is the load on the external head of the biceps, with a narrow grip the internal one works better.

Count the number of times in approaches. There are 4 main approaches:

• Perform the first one to failure. Count how many pull-ups you did.
• Rest for 1-2 minutes. In the second approach, do half of the first.
• Rest for 3 minutes. Repeat the number you did in the first approach.
• Rest in 1 minute. Repeat the 2nd approach.

This is a serious workout for people with an average level of fitness. They do not need to use weights, their own weight will be enough.

Important: during pull-ups the broadest muscles of the back are also involved, so girls should not overdo this exercise in order not to overstrain themselves. If there are no other options, then use the chinning bar through training.

Dumbbells

Dumbbell lifts are performed both standing and sitting. Whichever position you choose, follow the general rules: hold the dumbbells with a straight grip (with the fingers pointing away from yourself).

• Press your elbows tightly against your body, make sure they “walk” during the workout.
• Keep your back straight, tense your arms at the elbow joint.
• Select the weight for yourself: for girls 1-1,5 kg dumbbells are suitable, for men – from 5 kg.

Standing comfortably perform the “Hammer” exercise. Take the starting position, legs slightly apart, elbows pressed to the body, arms with dumbbells down. Raise your arms one by one, but not towards yourself, but parallel to the floor (like a lever). Take two seconds to lift, two seconds to return to the starting position. At the fixation point, the elbow angle is 90°. If you can’t keep your back straight, stand next to the wall, with only legs and pelvis slightly deflected.

Another variant of training with dumbbells is sitting. Sit on a bench, chair or stool (if you train at home), bend your body forward, put your feet slightly wider than your shoulders. Elbow of the working arm rests on the inner thigh (do not stand on it), the arm is straightened with dumbbells. Without straining other muscles, smoothly lift the dumbbell. Fix in the upper point for a few seconds and smoothly return to the starting position.

At home, dumbbells can be replaced by something heavy, such as a water bottle or a book. But it is still better to work with professional equipment, as it is more comfortable to hold in your hand without straining the wrist.