Almost everyone seems to be looking on the web for the top bicep workout to help them increase the size of their arms in less time.  We all know that there are a lot of really good biceps routines on the web, I really feel that it’s important to prioritize your biceps training appropriately.  While it’s critical that you learn how to train your arms effectively, you really shouldn’t spend too much of your time in the gym training a small muscle group like your arms. If you focus too much on training your biceps, the rest of your muscle groups will suffer, and even your biceps will be affected negatively by too much attention.   If you keep over training your biceps and ignoring the rest of the muscles on your body, then your arms will begin to respond by actually getting smaller!

photo credit: Life of Sport

In comparison to some of the bigger muscle groups on your body, the muscles in your upper body are tiny. Even though there is no other muscle group on your body that will grab attention quite like a a muscular pair of biceps, one of the biggest downfalls of most guys is that they devote too much time to working on their arms and too little time training the bigger muscle groups on their bodies.

If you’re serious about building bigger biceps, then you need to prioritize your training in the following order (or at least somewhat close to this). First off target the larger muscle groups on your body and work your way down the list.

First train your…

• Legs – (quads/glutes)
• Chest – (pecs)
• Back – (lats)
• Shoulders – (delts)
• Triceps
• Biceps
• Calves

You’ll need to expend an bunch of energy hitting the bigger muscle groups hard and heavy.  If you do this, what you’ll find is that your smaller muscles (like your arms), will begin to get bigger incidentally without direct training due to the amount of muscle building hormones released by your body when you work your way through heavy sets for the bigger muscle groups on your body. So by focusing on the bigger muscle groups first and making them the focus in your training program, you will begin to realize an increase in the strength and size of your biceps.

Also keep in mind that when you perform many of the pulling type exercises that are the focus of your back training, you will be utilizing and in turn training your arms (usually with a much heavier weight than you usually would), so make sure to space your bicep and back workouts a minimum of a day apart.

Now that you’ve got your muscle building program designed properly and everything is in balance.  Then you’ll want to move forward and start working in a few basic bicep workouts.  Don’t make the mistake that nearly every guy in the gym makes and work your biceps non stop – it’s counterproductive to your goal of building bigger biceps and it will wear down your arms after too long.

In order to build bigger biceps, you need to pair down your bicep workouts to 1 arm workout per week.  That’s all the work your biceps really need to grow.  If you hit your biceps hard and heavy any more than this, they will lose size – so try not to do it!

Now that you understand how to properly prioritize your workouts and how often you need to be hitting your biceps, here’s a simple bicep workout that will help you pack on some size on your biceps quickly without taking up too much of your time in the gym.

Start out with a few minutes of light intensity aerobics.  I prefer 5 – 10 minutes of light jogging. Followed by a full body flex routine. A lot of guys only stretch out the muscle groups that they train each day – I really like to stretch out the all of the muscle groups each day so that I’m able to prevent any type of tightening up or injury.  After you get your stretching and warm up in, it’s time to jump into the weight lifting warm up sets below.

Quick Bicep Workout

First Warm Up Set:

Exercise: DB Curl – 1 set x 10 repetitions

select a training weight that allows you to move the weight quickly through a full range of motion.  I typically begin with 20 lb dumbbells.

Warm Up Set #2:

Exercise: Alternating DB Curl – 1 set x 8 reps

Again choose a weight that allows you to move the Dumbbells fairly quickly through a full range of motion, but make sure that it is heavier than what you started with. I like to jump up to 45 lb dumbbells here.

Rest for 1.5 minutes

Warm-Up Set #3:

Bicep Exercise: Alternating Dumbbell Curl – 1 set of 6 repetitions

*Perform this warm-up set with a weight that you can move though the full range of motion easily and under control, but this time begin to up crank up the intensity a bit. the goal is to complete 6 reps with a weight that is getting closer to your training weight, but light enough so that it doesn’t make your biceps tired before the workout even begins. I typically move up to 45 lb dumbbells for this set.

Now rest for 2 minutes

Keep in mind the goal of the warm up sets in this bicep workout is to simply get the blood pumping through your arms and to warm up your tendons and ligaments.  That’s the only goal of the warm-up sets. Make sure that you do not make your biceps too tired during the warm up sets by either using weights that are too heavy or by shortening the rest intervals. If you do this your biceps workout will suffer and as a result you will not be able to generate as much muscle growth as you otherwise would!

Now it’s time to jump into the actual training sets for the arm workout.

Exercise #1: DB Curl

After completing your bicep workout warm-up…

• Perform 2 sets x 6-8 reps

**Make sure to use a weight that you can control for at least 6 quality repetitions, but heavy enough that you can’t possibly perform more than 8!

• Rest for 2 minutes between sets

Bicep Exercise #2: – Dumbbell Incline Curls

• Perform 2 sets x 6-8 reps

Again make sure to use a training weight that allows you to complete the exercise with decent form, but a weight that’s heavy enough that you can’t perform more than 8.  that’s exactly how to get your biceps to grow.  If you train with a weight that’s too light, your biceps will not grow and if you train with a weight that’s too heavy you’re eventually going to hurt yourself.

When it comes to building bigger biceps, that’s really all there is to it.  Learn how to put your workouts in the right order to target the bigger muscle groups on your body first, and then move on to 1 solid bicep workout each week.  As long as your muscle building diet is set up right and you make it a habit to get enough sleep each night, you will build muscle mass quickly and your biceps will get bigger!

Issue #104 of the gain muscle mass help newsletter is good to go and full of some awesome muscle building tips that you can put to use right away! In this edition of the gain muscle mass help newsletter, I take a step back from the usual muscle gain tips and talk a bit about some of the things you definitely shouldn’t do if you really want to build muscle mass. Sure I have a lot of tips that can really help you out as far a packing on muscle mass, but lets face it sometimes the things you avoid are much more valuable than the things you actually do.

A lot of people really feel like they’re giving it their all but still not able to gain muscle mass and get into amazing shape.  I can’t tell you how many emails I get each week full of “sob stories”  talking on and on about how hard so and so has worked without being able to gain muscle mass.  While there is no doubt that building muscle mass is really hard work, and sometimes very hard to make happen, the truth of the matter is that  it absolutely can be done even without the use of expensive bodybuilding supplements!  Sure there are a lot of people out there who will try to convince you that you need to buy supplement “x” in order to build muscle mass, but it’s just not true.  All that it takes to get the ball rolling and start building muscle mass is a plan of action and a lot of heard work.

Stick with the bodybuilding basics here and focus on the things that matter…

1. A solid bodybuilding nutrition plan
2. A solid weightlifting workout plan
3. A well thought out rest and recovery strategy
4. A way to make you follow through with your plan

That’s really all it takes to build muscle mass! Until you get a good handle on the things listed above stay away from supplements and focus your efforts where you’ll get the biggest return for your investment.

Some Things To Avoid If You Really Want To Gain Muscle Mass Fast…

1.) Avoid not eating enough!  If you want to gain weigh and build muscle mass, then you’ve got to make sure and eat enough calories each day to make it happen.  I see too many guys in the gym who claim they can’t gain weight and build muscle mass regardless of what they try, when it really just boils down to them not eating enough of the muscle building nutrients to fuel muscle growth.

2.) Avoid not getting enough rest!  The only way your body will build muscle mass is if it has enough time to rest and fully recover between workouts.  Make it a point to implement a rest and recovery plan right form the start and avoid the over training trap that most intermediate level bodybuilders and weightlifters fall into.

3.) Avoid not structuring your muscle building workouts properly! Even if you’ve got your bodybuilding nutrition plan nailed down and you’re resting and recovering between workouts it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to gain muscle mass. In order to stimulate muscle growth, you’ve got to train properly plain and simple.

4.) Avoid not eating at the right times each day.  In order to fuel muscle growth, not only do you need to eat enough calories and muscle building nutrients, but you’ve got to make sure and consume them at the right times each day.  Your muscles need a constant stream of the muscle building nutrients in order to repair damage cells and grow.

I’ve also been spending some time over the past few weeks putting together some articles about one of the hottest topics this summer…getting six pack abs!  While everyone wants to build muscle muscle mass and get into shape nothing catches the eye quite like a killer set of six pack abs. Keep an eye out for the next edition of the newsletter where I dive into exactly what you need to do to get six pack abs quickly and easily !

In the mean time check out this article that abs expert Mike Geary just published.  It covers a few  very effective six pack abs exercises that most people completely overlook. Check it out here: 3 Unusual Abs Exercises

Well, that’s all for this edition of the gain muscle mass help newsletter.

Download the PDF edition of the Gain Muscle Mass Help Newsletter Issue # 104

Your Friend And Trainer,

Nick Andrade
Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Lifestyle And Weight Management Consultant
Author of : The Muscle Mass Advantage

The pectoral exercises that you pick for your chest workouts are definitely important, but how critical are they to the goal of sculpting a bigger more muscular chest?  If your goal is to build a bigger chest and gain muscle mass in the process, then the pec exercises that you choose are important to the process.  If you piece together your pectoral workout with exercises that don’t fit certain criteria, then you’ll ultimately have a hard time building up your pecs. In this article, I’m going to uncover the specific criteria that your pec exercises need to meet in order for you to stimulate some serious chest growth, as well as list a few of my favorite pectoral building exercises.

First things first.  In order to stimulate chest muscle growth, you definitely have to perform muscle building exercises that meet a few conditions. First, the pectoral exercises that you choose, need to allow you to actually target your chest muscles. If you choose pectoral exercises that place most of the emphasis on your shoulders, then your shoulders will be doing most of the work and in turn achieving the benefits of doing that work (you’ll stimulate muscle growth in your shoulders instead of chest growth). So you want to focus on movements that specifically target your pectoral muscles.  It’s ok if the pectoral exercises also incorporate your shoulders or triceps, but the main muscle group in the movement should for the most part be your pec muscles.

The second piece of criteria that the pec exercises that you choose for your chest workouts need to meet is that each of the exercise that you select need to allow you to move a fairly heavy amount of weight (this is the only way to build muscle mass).  Lifting incrementally heavier weights over a full range of motion is exactly how you stimulate muscle growth, so it only makes sense that if you’re wanting to add size to your pec muscles,  then you need to be training with heavy weights.

The third piece of criteria is something that most gym rats completely overlook.  You’ve got to actually like performing the upper body exercises that you choose!  If you hate the exercises that you put into your pectoral workouts, you’re not going to be able to hit your pectoral as hard as you’d be able to if you actually enjoyed performing the chest exercise in the first place, so make sure to stick with  a few of the chest exercises that you actually enjoy. Sometimes you’ve got no choice but to perform a few upper body exercises that you’re less than thrilled about, but try not to construct your upper body workouts around these pectoral exercises, instead find a few that you really enjoy and fit them into the workout.

Below are a few of my favorite pec exercises. After looking over this list of exercises, I can honestly say that about 95% of all of my chest workouts are composed of these highly effective pectoral exercises. Once in a long while, I’ll work in a few sets of cable crossovers, but that really about it.

9 Excellent Pectoral Exercises;DB Bench Press, Bench Press, Incline Press, Db Incline Press, Push Up, Chest Dips, Dumbbell Flyes, Decline Bench Press, DB Decline Bench Press.

If you’re one of the hundreds of guys out there who wants to sculpt out a bigger, more muscular chest, then make sure that your pectoral workouts are composed of the most effective pectoral exercises!  The majority of your pectoral  workouts should be designed around the short list of upper body exercises listed above.  If you follow no other advice than to simply make sure that your chest  workouts are designed with exercises that fit the requirements listed in this article, you will begin to build a bigger chest fast.

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In this episode of the Gain Muscle Mass Help podcast I talk about how you can build an insane amount of ripped and shredded muscle mass fast by sticking with a few basic techniques.  While there’s no doubt that there are hundreds if not thousands of fancy tricks you can employ to help you build muscle mass, the truth of the matter is that the fundamental principle of building muscle mass will account for most of your muscle gain, while the fancy techniques will only help to push you over the hump once you’ve built a decent amount of muscle.

If you’re serious about building muscle mass, then listen to this podcast and implement the tips today! After a few weeks of hard work, you’ll really be able to notice a difference in the amount of muscle mass you’ve gained.

The gain muscle mass help newsletter is ready to go with some awesome muscle building tips that you can put to use immediately to build more muscle mass and burn more body fat starting today. In this edition of the gain muscle mass help newsletter, I uncover what I believe to be the fastest way to build muscle mass naturally and follow through with some excellent resources to help you get it all figured out!

Now don’t get me wrong, there are literally thousands of tips and techniques that you can apply to your workouts to help push you to new muscle growth, but in all reality, there are a few things that I believe are more important to the process of building muscle mass fast than workout techniques. Sure training with more weight and cramming protein down your throat is an important part of the muscle building process, but let’s face it, the muscle building process can be very overwhelming if you’re not sure where to begin. I can remember wasting weeks of my life trying to figure out the best way to go about building muscle mass – an all the while not doing anything to move me closer to my goals. I’m not saying that it’s not a good idea to plan everything out, but the only way to actually build any muscle mass is to get into ACTION!

You’ve got to hit the gym and train with free weights first, fuel your body with the right combination’s of the right muscle building foods and second and learn how to allow your body to rest and recover fully between free weight workouts. That’s how to build muscle mass in a nutshell. I’ve been training to gain muscle mass and stay lean for over 18 years now and sometimes I take all of the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years for granted. Putting together an effective muscle building program is really second nature to me now, but I can remember the frustration of being really excited to get started, but not knowing where to even begin. What I realized after awhile is that you can completely bypass the frustration and shorten your learning curve by finding a complete bodybuilding program or system that addresses all of the components of an effective muscle gain program in one easy to follow package.

Then you can just get down to the hard work that’s required to make it all come together, without wasting any time. Just read through the program and implement what you learn with a sense of passion and commitment. If you do this I guarantee you’ll begin to gain muscle mass much quicker than you otherwise would. In my opinion, this is the fastest way to build muscle mass!

Where To Find The Best Bodybuilding Programs

Because I feel so strongly that finding a well designed bodybuilding program is the key to fast muscle gain, I thought that it might be a good idea to point you towards an area of the website where I review what I believe to be the most effect bodybuilding programs on the market today.   If you’re serious about building muscle mass and burning body fat as quickly as possible, I highly recommend checking out the bodybuilding program reviews section at http://www.gain-muscle-workout-less.com.  Look for a program with a style that you can identify with and get started towards building muscle mass today!

Of course you can always check out my muscle building system The Muscle Mass Advantage.  It’s a complete step by step system for building muscle mass quickly, easily and naturally.

Well, that’s all for this week!

Download the PDF edition of the Gain Muscle Mass Help Newsletter Issue #103

Your Friend And Trainer,

Nick Andrade
Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Lifestyle And Weight Management Consultant
Author of : The Muscle Mass Advantage