Want firm and toned arms? Want to wear sleeveless tops without fear of exposing your upper arms? Start by training your biceps, the show muscles on the front of your arms. The front and outer “sides” of your biceps respond well to curls performed with weights, either dumbbells or a barbell.
1. Dumbbell Curls
Sit on the end of a heavy bench with a moderate weight dumbbell in each hand. Your palms should be facing forward and your arm straight. Now focus on squeezing your left bicep as you slowly bend your elbow and “curl” the weight up to shoulder level. Pause at the top and then slowly lower the weight as you resist. Now focus on your right bicep and curl the weight. Return to the start position and continue to perform curls alternating left, right, left.
Never swing the weights or use momentum to “cheat”, if you feel the need to cheat, the weight is too heavy, drop down to the next available dumbbell. Your elbows should be “fixed” at your sides and only your biceps should be bringing your lower arm and dumbbell up. To add that extra effort and build showy biceps more quickly, squeeze each muscle as the weight reaches the top of the movement. For each curl, pause, squeeze (contract) and then lower and repeat.
Perform at least 10-12 repetitions for each arm, rest briefly and then do 10-12 more reps. Choose a weight just heavy enough to challenge you for the last two repetitions.
2. Concentration Curls
For added bicep definition, allowing the outline of your new muscles to be visible just below your skin, finish your arm training with concentration curls. Again, sit on the end of a heavy bench with a dumbbell in each hand with your palms up and bend forward at the waist and rest your elbows on your inner thighs near your knees. Lean forward, keep your back straight and curl one of the dumbbells up to your shoulder and chin. Pause, squeeze, and lower while resisting. Now curl the alternate arm in exactly the same manner and continue left, right, left.
Perform at least 10-12 repetitions for each arm, rest briefly and then do 10-12 more reps. Choose a weight just heavy enough to challenge you for the last two repetitions.
2 x 2 x 2 Arm Training
That’s it, only two exercises each performed two times (2 sets) every 2 days. Think of it as your 2x2x2 arm training. Any more exercises or sets would overtrain your biceps, they are relatively small muscles. For best results, maintain a slow tempo which will keep your muscle under more tension and make the exercise more effective, as will the pause and squeeze as the muscle is fully contracted.
Any additional arm training should focus on your triceps, the triple muscle on the backs of your arms.
