If you are familiar with my philosophy on
weight training and muscle growth you know that I am an advocate of heavy weight, low
reps, high intensity, and short duration, efficient workouts. In short, Max-OT™ or
Maximum Overload Training™.
If I've said it once, I've said it a million times - muscle
only grows to adapt to an ever increasing overload. The heavier the weight - the greater
the overload. The greater the overload - the larger your muscles will become. It's really
that simple and conversely, that difficult.
Okay, now let's outline a plan for maximum bicep
development. Are you ready?
First, warm up. Don't make this any more complicated or
fatiguing than it needs to be. Warming up is warming up. Nothing more - nothing less.
With a pair of light dumbbells do a set of Standing
Dumbbell Curls for 20 reps. This should be an easy 20 reps. Rest about 2 to 3 minutes and
grab a pair of dumbbells 10 pounds heavier and do another warm-up set for 12 reps. This
should be sufficient to warm-up this muscle group.
Now, grab a pair of dumbbells heavy enough that there is no
way you can do more than 6 reps. Max-OT requires that you perform between 4 and 6 reps.
This means that the weight is light enough to allow for at least 4 reps but too heavy to
allow more than 6 reps. This is the optimum weight and rep scheme for maximum muscle
growth from the standpoint of muscle fiber stimulation and hormonal response as well.
After your first set rest at least 3 full minutes. You want
to allow enough time for maximum recuperation in between to be able to handle the maximum
amount of weight possible. This means no super-sets, no giant sets, and certainly no
pre-exhaust sets. These are silly and counter productive to maximizing muscle growth. Sure
they sound cool but that's about where it stops.
As you begin your second and last set of dumbbell curls you
are going to add a little technique to increase overload intensity at the bottom of the
movement. Curl the weight as you normally would. Now, at the bottom of the movement you
want to act as though your are going to hyper-extend your elbow. Now don't panic, what you
are actually doing is flexing your bicep with your arm straight and elbow locked. Hold it
in this position flexed as hard as you can for 2 seconds. Repeat this for each rep. Talk
about maximum muscle fiber stimulation!
The next bicep exercise is the king of all bicep movements
- Straight Bar Curls. Make no mistake about it, if there is one exercise that produces
more muscle overload and muscle fiber stimulation this is it.
Your biceps are warmed up so no light sets here. You should
go straight to your heavy weight. You'll do 2 very intense sets. Starting with the first
set, use the Max-OT Bicep Hyper-Stretch. Remember, hyper-extend and flex for 2 seconds at
the bottom of each rep. The intensity increase will be felt directly and deep in the belly
of the bicep muscle.
Lastly, 1 set of heavy Curl Bar Bicep Curls. This should be
done the same way as the Straight Bar Curls. Again, heavy weight for 4 to 6 reps and
Hyper-Stretch at the bottom of each rep.
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