The Best Bicep Workout Strategy for Hypertrophy

 

While I’m here to bring you the best bicep workout for hypertrophy, we need to get one thing straight. Nothing in fitness is a guarantee. We at IIFYM want to keep it real. What works for me, might not work for you—and vice versa.

There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to fitness. Yet, one thing is for certain, and that is you need to put in the time and effort in order to see any change with your body.

Without exerting yourself, making your health and fitness a priority, and being consistent, you’ll never achieve the results you desire.

*It should be noted that we at IIFYM.com, as well as the author, would advise you to consult with your doctor before engaging in any new diet plan or exercise program, including the best bicep workout, found here on IIFYM.com

As always, I like to drop some knowledge for my IIFYM friends and give you a better understanding of the muscles involved so you can visualize each muscle working while completing the best bicep workout for hypertrophy provided in this article.

Anatomy of the Biceps

 

Biceps Brachii

The biceps brachii is given the name biceps because it has two heads, and brachii comes from the Latin word for arm.

The short head of the biceps attaches to the coracoid process of the scapula. The tendon of the long head passes into the joint capsule at the head of the humerus and attaches on the scapula at the supraglenoid tubercle.

Distally, the biceps attaches to the radial tuberosity. The biceps also connect with the fascia of the medial side of the arm, at the bicipital aponeurosis.

Brachialis

It arises from the distal, anterior half of the humerus and the intermuscular septa. It inserts into the coronoid process and tuberosity of the ulna over the elbow joint.

Pronator Teres

It arises from the distal end of the medial humerus and the medial part of the ulna. From there it inserts into the lateral side of the radius.

The secret to insane biceps growth

In all honesty, this section is like click bait on a YouTube video. There really isn’t any secret that I can tell you which will make your arms grow. However, there is one method that many have been using for years and found it to have given them the best results—and it’s called progressive overload.

One thing that you need to understand is that your body will not change unless you force it to. Even then, there could be some resistance before you start to see progress. The body is very finicky in that it likes to maintain in the same state.

Progressive overload is where you recruit a greater demand from the muscles with each workout.

It doesn’t want you to lose weight and on the flip side, it doesn’t want to add muscle mass either. It’s a well-oiled machine that seems to run in the background like your computer as you go on with your daily life.

When you want to experience growth, you need to force your muscles to adapt to the changes you need to take place by staying consistent and constantly pushing your muscles. When you do any type of resistance training, you are ultimately tearing down your muscle fibers.

 

 

Then, what you do is feed those muscles and give them proper rest in order for them to rebuild bigger and stronger.

When you do any type of resistance training, you are ultimately tearing down your muscle fibers. Then, what you do is feed those muscles and give them proper rest in order for them to rebuild bigger and stronger.

If you are unsure how to properly feed your muscles, the coaches at IIFYM.com can help you find a diet plan to match your goals. Another great tool found on IIFYM.com is the IIFYM macro calculator.

This quick and easy IIFYM macro calculator will lay out how many calories you need per day to achieve your goal—whether it be weight loss, increase muscle mass, or performance driven. From there you can even get a breakdown of your macros if you wish.

Demanding More Out of Your Muscles

As you challenge yourself through resistance training and the constant breaking down and rebuilding of muscle fibers, you’re going to need to apply more stimulus to the muscle in order for it to continually make a change. This is where progressive overload comes into play.

If you use the same weight, same reps, the same amount of sets each week, you are eventually going to hit a plateau where you won’t see any changes in muscle size or strength at all. With progressive overload, this can be achieved.

Progressive overload is where you recruit a greater demand from the muscles with each workout. Over time, this method will allow you to become stronger, build more lean mass, and improve your overall muscular endurance.

Utilizing progressive overload strategies

 

1. Increase the weight

It seems like such a simple concept, but you wouldn’t believe the number of people who go to the gym every day and do the same weights thinking that their body will change. It’s not.

When you do the same routine day in and day out your body will adapt and get used to the stimulus and no longer be forced to change.

Adding in an extra day of training for a body part can overload the muscle enough to aid in increasing size and strength.

You could have the best bicep workout in the world and see no results if you don’t switch up the stimulus.

To combat this, you can simply add 5-10 pounds to your exercises and push for the same amount of reps. You’ll feel a difference and will probably struggle, but eventually, the muscle fibers will get stronger and again you’ll be able to increase the weight to continually overload the muscle.

2. Increase the total number of sets completed

Another way to overload the muscle is by increasing the volume. Through adding an additional set to each exercise, you’ll increase the demand put on the working muscle and therefore will create an overload to force change.

If you didn’t want to add more sets to a particular exercise, you could always add an additional exercise to your workout routine and complete a few sets of the new movement.

3. Increase the total number repetitions completed

Similarly to the above, you can achieve overload without increasing the weight of an exercise. Sometimes the best bicep workout comes from utilizing a reasonable weight where you can get a great squeeze with each rep versus using a weight that you almost need to throw around and create momentum.

If you are completing sets of eight reps on all exercises, push for 10-12 reps instead. Maybe you’ll only be able to complete 10 reps this week.

 

 

Therefore, next week you can push for 11 or 12. The key is to keep pushing yourself to better a previous workout.

You can apply this principle before you ever have to increase the weight. Then when you hit 12 reps, you can bump up the weight and push for 8 reps of the new weight—eventually working your way up to 12 reps before again increasing the resistance.

4. Increase your training frequency

A technique often used for lagging body parts is to train a muscle group more often. Meaning, if you’re only training your arms once a week, twice a week might be just what is needed to force new growth.

Adding in an extra day of training for a body part can overload the muscle enough to aid in increasing size and strength.

Could this be the best bicep workout for you, personally? It very well could be. It’s just another option that you can add to your bag of tricks to promote growth.

5. Decrease how much time you rest between sets and exercises

You don’t need to change your sets, reps, weights, or how often you train if you don’t want to. A simple overload principle is to cut your rest periods. If you are resting 45-60 seconds between sets, cut it down to 15-30.

If you’re currently at 15-30 seconds, try super-setting exercises where you do a movement such as a dumbbell curl followed immediately by a dumbbell hammer curl. Then rest.

Simply cutting your rest periods short will allow you to do the same amount of total work per session, only in less time. This principle is also great if you need to get in and out of the gym quickly and are pressed for time.

The best bicep workout for hypertrophy

 

 

Below please find an IIFYM 4-week plan to put you in the best position for muscle growth. The best bicep workout for hypertrophy can be used by anyone. Simply use weights you can perform each exercise with using perfect form.

Each week utilizes the same exercises but has progressive overload techniques applied to constantly hit your muscles differently and force them to grow. Just because an overload technique is applied, that doesn’t mean you can’t add another.

For instance, if you can increase the weight, do so, regardless of if you’re cutting rest periods or increasing sets.

Week 1

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Standing Barbell Curl	8	3	30-45 seconds
Dumbbell Hammer Curl	8	3	30-45 seconds
Incline Dumbbell Curl	8	3	30-45 seconds

Week 2

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Standing Barbell Curl	10	3	30-45 seconds
Dumbbell Hammer Curl	10	3	30-45 seconds
Incline Dumbbell Curl	10	3	30-45 seconds

Week 3

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Standing Barbell Curl	10	3	15-30 seconds
Dumbbell Hammer Curl	10	3	15-30 seconds
Incline Dumbbell Curl	10	3	15-30 seconds

Week 4

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Standing Barbell Curl	10	4	30-45 seconds
Dumbbell Hammer Curl	10	4	30-45 seconds
Incline Dumbbell Curl	10	4	30-45 seconds

 

 

If you want to see these your biceps grow, you’ll need a good diet plan to help build lean muscle.

IIFYM.com has everything from IIFYM meal plans, to online coaching, to IIFYM Macro Blueprints and even recipes that you can utilize.

If you haven’t checked out the IIFYM.com programs, I highly recommend you take a few minutes to see how they can take your health and fitness to the next level. By utilizing the IIFYM plan (such as a Custom Macro Blueprint) and the best bicep workout, you’re setting yourself up for success.

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