blast

The Bicep Activation Guide vol I

Maximizing Muscle Engagement for Results
IFBB PRO PETAR KLANCIR
INTRODUCTION

Get ready to blast your biceps because we’re gonna give you the most legit
biceps workout you’ve ever done.

We will lay out an entire program that incorporates exercises that not only
isolate your biceps but use and alter large compound movements to optimize
growth in the biceps.

Most programs only focus on small exercises for hypertrophy. While

understandable, in order to grow massive arms, you need to apply some
heavier loads.Still, we will lay out all the places other programs fall short, list
the top biceps exercises (many you likely have never heard of) and provide the
most complete bicep workout you’ve ever performed.

● Anatomy of the biceps

● The function of the biceps
● Important training variables to optimize bicep growth
● The best biceps exercises
● The best biceps workout program
ANATOMY OF THE BICEPS BRACHII
Before we get into training the biceps, let’s look real quick at the anatomy. In
order to fully train the biceps, you need to know the different parts and
understand how they function. Once you know the function, you can then
train them optimally .

The biceps brachii (or just biceps for short) consists of two heads (bi) that
merge into a single tendon. These two heads are separated into:

● ▶ Long head- originates from the supraglenoid tubercle of the scapula.

● ▶ Short head - originates from the coracoid process of the scapula.

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THE OTHER “BICEP MUSCLES”

While you’re here for the biceps, there are also two other muscles you should
be aware of as they work together with the biceps for arm flexion.
Furthermore, many people ignore these muscles, which only mitigates how
large your arms can grow.

Therefore, unless you really only care about the biceps rather than increasing
the total size of your arm, you need to know about these muscles:

● ▶ Brachioradialis - elbow flexor that sits on the posterior of the lower

section of the arm. In other words, it’s a “forearm” muscle that crosses
the elbow joint. Not only does it flex the elbow, but the brachioradialis
is also a pronator and supinator when the elbow is flexed at
90-degrees.

● Brachialis - it sits under the biceps but is actually the primary elbow
flexor. The single brachialis is estimated to produce around 60% elbow
flexion force. Considering there are three elbow flexors, that’s pretty
hefty.
TOP 3 BENEFITS OF BICEPS TRAINING

Training the biceps is a vital part of any training workout program. Obviously,
biceps training will create nice, big arms, but there’s actually a lot more to it
than that.

They also create strong, sexy arms. Here are some other benefits of biceps
training.

#1 IMPROVE YOUR PHYSIQUE

Maybe we’re not done with vanity. Every guy wants big arms, and that won’t
happen if you forget about biceps training. And let’s be honest, this is
probably the only reason most people specifically train the biceps, and there’s
nothing wrong or superficial about that.

We go to the gym to improve ourselves and our physique and that can’t
happen with skinny arms. Basically, if there’s a big gap in your sleeves, you
need to fill that out.
#2 DECREASE risk of INJURY
One benefit of biceps training that many people don’t think about is injury
prevention. In fact, even in a lot of strength-specific workout plans, there will
be some sort of elbow flexion purely for injury prevention.

Due to its positioning, the biceps and elbow are more prone to injury on
movements such as deadlifts. Having strong biceps is a great way to keep
your arms healthy and injury-free.

#3 IMPROVE OTHER LIFTS

As mentioned, the biceps are involved in just about every single pulling
movement. Therefore, having weak biceps will only decrease your
performance on these lifts.

It would suck to not be able to increase your back row because your biceps
are fatiguing too soon. Strong biceps mean strong pulling movements. We
recommend taking this one step further and also including moves that target
the forearms, like these dumbbell forearm exercises.

As your arms get stronger, so will the weight you can move in major lifts!
IMPORTANT TRAINING VARIABLES FOR BICEPS

USE A RANGE OF BICEP EXERCISES

As mentioned above, include other bicep-oriented exercises other than just
arm curls. Choose big compound lifts that will hit the biceps to a greater
degree. This means using a supinated grip (underhand) when possible. For
example, perform your rows with an underhand grip.

USE A RANGE OF loads

Similar to the above, you want to also use different loads with your training.
This is best done with the compound movements, BUT you can also use
lighter loads with the compound movements as well. If you’re thinking this is
similar advice to every other muscle, you would be correct. The biceps are just
another muscle.

USE A variability in your training

As seen above, the biceps are actually a bit complex with it being a two
headed muscle that crosses three joints. Therefore, in order to fully train the
biceps as a whole, you need to use variability in your training.

Personally, when we train biceps, we like to utilize variability with the smaller
exercise quite regularly. In other words, your larger compound exercises will
remain similar while you will use the smaller exercises to add the various
angles and stimuli.
USE different grips
Even within the different exercises, play around with different grips. In order
to train the biceps completely, you need to hit the brachialis and the
brachioradialis, which means you must use a pronated and neutral grip in
your training. Therefore, this isn’t so much a suggestion as it is mandatory. In
addition, you can also mess around with neutral and wide grips.

TRAIN AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK

For optimal training, you should train your biceps at least twice a week.
Studies show this seems to be the optimal amount of training for hypertrophy
and growth.

top 3 nextgen BICEPS EXERCISES

Along with your more traditional biceps exercises like the standing barbell
curl and dumbbell curls, we also wanted to introduce some more unique
bicep curls. You can incorporate these into your bicep workouts.

SPIDER CURLS
The spider curl utilizes dumbbells and is performed facing down on an incline
bench (chest to bench backrest). You let your arms hang down, shoulder
width apart, and then simply perform a curl while keeping your elbow
stationary. This bicep exercise will generate an insane burn as you cannot use
any momentum or muscles to assist in the lift. If you want a big biceps peak,
this is one of the best biceps exercises.
EZ bar 21' curls
The EZ Bar 21 curl is a variation of the traditional bicep curl using an EZ bar.
This exercise involves curling the bar only partially, stopping at the halfway
point for 7 reps, then completing the full range of motion for another 7 reps,
and finally performing 7 full curls. The EZ Bar 21 curl targets the biceps
effectively by engaging different parts of the muscle throughout the exercise,
promoting muscle growth and strength.

Biceps cable curls

Biceps cable curls use a cable machine to isolate and strengthen the biceps.
By gripping the handle with an underhand grip and curling towards the
shoulders, this exercise maintains consistent tension on the biceps, fostering
muscle growth and strength. Cable curls improve the mind-muscle
connection and stability, leading to better overall arm development.
nextgen BICEPS WORKOUT PROGRAM
So here is the best biceps workout to grow some massive arms. Keep in mind
that this is not biceps ONLY but biceps-centric. Again, the missing factor to
most “biceps workouts” is altering big pulling exercises to produce more
biceps activation.

WORKOUT #1:
● Chin-Ups 4 sets, Rep range 4-6, Tempo 5-0-2-1
● Seated Row (Underhand grip) 2 sets, Rep range 4-6, Tempo 2-0-2-1
● Lat pulldown neutral grip, 2 sets, Rep range 8-10, Tempo 2-0-2-1
● T-Bar Row, 2 sets, Rep range 10-12, Tempo 2-1-2-1
● EZ bar spider curls, 3 sets, Rep range 10-12, Tempo 2-0-1-1
● EZ bar reverse curl, 3 sets, Rep range 10-12, Tempo 2-0-1-1

WORKOUT #2:
● Chin-Ups 4 sets, Rep range 4-6, Tempo 5-0-2-1
● Bent over row underhand grip 2 sets, Rep range 4-6, Tempo 2-0-2-1
● Seated Row (Underhand grip), 2 sets, Rep range 8-10, Tempo 2-0-2-1
● T-Bar Row, 2 sets, Rep range 10-12, Tempo 2-1-2-1
● EZ bar 21’ curls, 3 sets, Rep range 10-12, Tempo 2-0-1-1
● EZ bar reverse curl, 3 sets, Rep range 10-12, Tempo 2-0-1-1

Click on the exercise to access instruction video

HOW TO FOLLOW THIS BICEP PROGRAM?
The program consists of 3 compound movements and 3 isolation movements
each day. Here is a further explanation of how to progress.

#1 You will simply attempt to increase the intensity for the compound
movements by increasing the load to invoke progressive overload. Therefore,
every week you will attempt to increase your weight. If you jump weights and
find that you can’t complete the rep range, simply take a rest and finish up.

#2 The T-bar row is a compound exercise but will utilize high reps. For
progressive overload, don’t really be too concerned with being exact. Your
main job is to just get a lot of volume, so bring it to an RPE9. If that’s above or
less than 12 reps, so be it.

#3 You will need to use the assistance for the chin-ups or add a
load-dependent on how your chins are. This can be difficult to judge daily,
which is why there’s a 4-6 rep range. However, your goal will be to either
remove assistance OR add load while you stay in that range. Further, you also
see the note about performing an eccentric after the last set. For this, you will
pull yourself all the way up and then come down as slow as possible (should
be at least 5 seconds). You can add a little extra load for this as well.

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