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Old 04-12-2008, 04:45 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles, which as I understand was once upon a time ago part of the United States of America
849 posts, read 1,038,190 times
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I added hammer curls to my routine a month ago, and have been seeing changes at a greater rate than when I started doing regular curls on a regular basis.

Interesting -- I wish I'd been doing hammer curls sooner.
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Old 04-13-2008, 03:59 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles, which as I understand was once upon a time ago part of the United States of America
849 posts, read 1,038,190 times
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Are there any other guys here who lift weights?
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Old 04-13-2008, 08:13 PM
 
Location: CNJ/NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince of Lombards View Post
Are there any other guys here who lift weights?
Sure.

Hammer curls are a nice variation when you want to do direct bicep work. I hadn't trained arms directly in ages: they get thrashed from heavy compound chest and back work.
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Old 04-14-2008, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Bike to Surf!
3,080 posts, read 11,031,925 times
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Variety is important. When I was actively training my biceps, I would do 4 sets of pull-ups, then 4 supersets of curls on the preacher bench combined with seated hammers. To finish up and burn out, I did 21's with a straight bar and then concentration curls with dumbbells.

Now I just do standing hammers, 21's, and seated concentration curls. For that all you need is a set of dumbbells.
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Old 04-14-2008, 01:57 PM
 
Location: SoCal - Sherman Oaks & Woodland Hills
12,974 posts, read 33,839,637 times
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Bicepts are the only areas that I rarely if ever train. This is because large bicep muscles greatly hinder a persons punching power. Since my life is dedicated to martial arts, I would never sacrifice performance for looks.

Its always good to attack the muscles by doing different types of exercises. Preacher curls, hammer curls, EZ curl bar, barbell curl, oversize barbell curls, inclined dumbbell curls, etc. All are great at building the arms.
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Old 04-14-2008, 05:42 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles, which as I understand was once upon a time ago part of the United States of America
849 posts, read 1,038,190 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBeez View Post
Bicepts are the only areas that I rarely if ever train. This is because large bicep muscles greatly hinder a persons punching power.
I did not know that. So, let's say somebody wants to develop their upper body with the sole intent of throwing the highest energy punches they possibly can -- which exercises would you recommend?

BTW, are all these guys focusing on biceps just doing it for the aesthetic appeal for the most part?
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Old 04-14-2008, 06:11 PM
 
Location: Bike to Surf!
3,080 posts, read 11,031,925 times
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Yes. Pretty much.

And big biceps can hinder your flexibility. (can't touch your shoulders) But we're talking about creatine-style steroid-fueled naval guns, not your average weightlifter or even gym rat biceps. I had zero use for bigger biceps other than looks (and to, ya know, curl even more weight). They do help a little in awkward lift-and-carry moving situations, but if you need big biceps to carry something, you'd better reposition it or get help before you sprain or throw out something in your back.

Then again, I don't need to go around punching people out all day.
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Old 04-14-2008, 06:56 PM
 
Location: CNJ/NYC
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Triceps > biceps. If I train for arm size I place more attention on triceps.

I agree that variety is important but I would stay away from burnout as described in post #4: it's too much and sounds like overtraining. The amount of food and rest necessary to fuel such workouts is insane. I imagine that this poster was doing so much bicep work within a day or two of back work...
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Old 04-14-2008, 07:50 PM
 
Location: SoCal - Sherman Oaks & Woodland Hills
12,974 posts, read 33,839,637 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TwiloMike View Post
Triceps > biceps. If I train for arm size I place more attention on triceps.
Triceps is the way to go for increasing arm size. Its also the area I concentrate a lot on because that is where you get a lot of your punching power from in the arms.
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Old 04-23-2008, 06:45 PM
 
2,776 posts, read 3,954,902 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBeez View Post
Bicepts are the only areas that I rarely if ever train. This is because large bicep muscles greatly hinder a persons punching power.
I don't know where you heard this but it is flat out wrong. What you are saying is simply a myth probably spread from one martial artist to another in your social circle.

It is true that you use other muscles in your arm more when you release a punch, but your biceps muscle does not get in the way of a well developed punch. For arguments sake let us just take a look at the hardest punchers who have ever existed... professional heavyweight boxers. You won't have to look at many pictures to see that these folks do not lack power, and most of them have very large biceps.

Bruce Lee lifted weights in his hey day and indeed his biceps were decently sized in proportion to his stature (indeed for his stature they were quite large). No one would question his speed and punch strength. Take a look at the top UFC champions... not the Gracie folks, but the real mixed martial artists dominating the sport today... they all have large biceps.

Indeed there is a difference between slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers, and indeed there are different ways to stimulate each, but directly working out your biceps will not cause you to lose punching power... guaranteed.

Back to the OP's topic - mixing up the exercise routine you use isn't just something to explore but if you want serious power or development of size, it is an absolute must. I use hammer curls, one arm concentration curls (with and without a twist movement at the end), two arm concentration curls, straight bar and ez-bar curls, and cheat curls when directly working out biceps. I also do sitting rows, lat pull downs, and a couple other exercises on my upper body training days. I don't do everything every upper body day, but I will pick out two or three of the biceps muscle targeting movements. A good guide to all the exercises you can use and should shuffle between would be Arnold's Encyclopedia of Body Building... he has published two, and I just have the old one... but either one mention nearly every exercise imaginable. If you mix things up and keep your body from getting used to a particular movement, you'll see size or power gains (whatever your goal) much faster than if you do the same thing day after day.

Last edited by belovenow; 04-23-2008 at 06:56 PM..
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