Bicep exercises can build superhuman strength using only your bodyweight
The one arm chin up
When you go to any gym and see the number of people doing bicep exercises you soon realise that the bicep is without doupt the number one most popular muscle to train. The first thing most new members do when they join a gym is automatically pick up a couple of dumbbells and begin doing biceps exercises even if they have not got a clue how to do them. The bicep muscle is almost like a magnet that attracts people to train it. The fact that the bicep is considered the number one muscle is displayed when people say to you, show me your muscles. Most of us will instinctively lift are arm and tense are bicep as if our life depended on it. So I think it is clear that most people who train desire big arms more than anything else. The biceps are also the muscles that people notice when you are out on the town in your tight tea shirt. They are without doupt the show muscles.
So what bicep exercises do you need to do to make them powerful, strong and toned?First rememember that two thirds of your arm muscle is actually your triceps so include exercises such as triceps press ups in your routine. And yes it is true! Your bicep only makes up one third of your arm muscles, so if you want big arms then make sure you also do plenty of triceps exercises.
However the number one bicep exercise is without a doubt the classic chin up.If you are wondering why it is because of the following reasons! The chin up is a compound exercise, which basically means it works other muscles as well as your biceps, particularly the muscles at the side and middle of your back. So what! - You might think - well it is a proven fact that the more muscles involved in an exercise the stronger your body becomes. The chin up also allows a full range of motion. This means your whole bicep muscle is exercised not just parts of it as can be the case in weight isolation exercises. The chin up is also a close chain exercise and without trying to get to scientific this means your body moves towards the resistance unlike say lat pulldowns which are an open chain exercise where the resistance moves towards the body. The Latest scientific research suggests that close chain exercises are far more effective for building power and core strength.
If you can not do chin ups.If you are unable to do a single chin up do not worry because there are several bicep exercises you can do to build the necessary strength. The first option! Is the negative chin up, all you have to do is stand on chair or training bench so that you are at the top of the chin up position and then take your legs of the chair and slowly lower yourself down until you arms are fully extended, then repeat if possible. The effect of this exercise is that after a couple of weeks of strengthening the muscles by doing negative chins you will build up the strength to be able to do your first proper chin up. The second option! Is to hold on to the chin up bar and simply hang there with your arms extended for as long as you can. This alone will build up both your grip and isometric strength to prepare you for proper chin ups. The only thing you need to be careful of is that you keep the tension on the shoulders when your arms are extended or you can strain your shoulder joints. The last of the bicep exercises you can do before starting proper chin ups is for poeple who have a training partner. All your partner needs to do is gently lift your legs as you begin to pull yourself up making sure they provide just enough assistance to help you perform the exercise.
Keep your body as straight as possible, although you might have to bend your legs at the knees if you are particularly tall. When your body is perfectly still begin to pull yourself up tensing your biceps as hard as possible until your chin is a couple of inches higher than the bar. Remember as your chin gets nearer the bar you will have to lean back slightly so that it glides past the bar and does not crash into it (not a nice feeling). Once your chin is a couple of inches past the bar begin to lower yourself back down slowly. The ideal speed is to lower yourself down twice as slowly as you pulled yourself up because this really stretches the biceps and stops you using your body’s momentum to perform the exercise. Avoid any swinging or jerking as this makes all bicep exercises less effective and is more likely to cause you injury. So remember straight up and then straight down.
The first option! Is to hold yourself at the top of the chin up position for 10 seconds on each rep. This will build your biceps with isometrics and makes the exercise a lot harder. When you can do these for 12-16 reps you are well on your way to success. The second option! Is to hang a strong, thick piece of rope from the bar and use one hand in the normal chin up position and the other hand to hold the rope. The effect of doing this is the arm that grips the bar has to work much harder to complete the rep. The lower down the rope you place your hand the harder the exercise will be. In fact, this is how you can train to do one arm chin ups (The hardest of all bicep exercises) The third option is to grip the bar with only one hand and use the other hand to grip the wrist or forearm of the arm doing the chin up (Any fan of the Rocky films will no what I mean). Once again, the lower down you grip the arm doing the chin up, the harder the bicep exercise will be. If you experience any pain in your elbows doing regular chin ups, experiment with different grips or invest in some gymnastic rings as these greatly reduce the stress on the elbow joints.
This is basically a reverse bench press.
Sinply grab the bar with your arms staight, your hands facing you and your legs directly out in front of you Then keep your body straight whilst you pull your chest up to touch the bar and then lower yourself back down. Inverted push ups are one of the easier bodyweight exercises for biceps but they are still one of the best exercises to add to your routine. If you can not do regular chin ups you will benefit from doing these first. If you find them easy then you can make them harder by doing sets of one arm at a time just make sure your arm is in line with the centre of your chest for balance. Once again you can make them more dificult by doing them one handed and holding the top position for 10 seconds before lowering back down.
ConclusionIf you doubt that you can build huge biceps using only bodyweight exercises consider the bodies of Olympic gymnasts, what stands out more than anything else is the powerful biceps they have built using there own weight as the resistance. So remember, the secret to your progress is to continually make your bicep exercises more difficult. It is only by repeatedly making your muscles work harder than they have done before that they will get bigger or stronger. Eventually it is possible for many people to do a one handed chin up which is the king of bodyweight exercises for biceps.
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