# Bicep width



## just_lift (Jun 27, 2003)

What lifts will make your biceps thicker.


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## Fit Freak (Jun 27, 2003)

For overall development I like alternating curls and heavy barbell curls...as for working specifically on thickness do lots of hammer curls....try them using dumbbells as well as cables holding a rope attachment.


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## Mudge (Jun 27, 2003)

http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/BicepsBrachii.html
http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/Brachioradialis.html


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## neanderthal (Jun 27, 2003)

for biceps thickness i like to do preacher curls with a close grip. to the point where your hands are almost touching. this really hits your outter biceps


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## tjwes (Jun 28, 2003)

Incline curls,Wide grip barbell curls are both great for width .


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## Mudge (Jun 28, 2003)

Traditionally, using a wide grip requires utilizing the insides of the muscle to stabalize, and vice versa. So a narrow grip would be what is traditionally recommended, same for squats.


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## tjwes (Jun 28, 2003)

Mudge, What does that mean?Whether you increase either side of the biceps wouldn`t that make them wider.I must also respectfully disagree with you about wide VS. close grip.The wider the grip the wider the biceps will be.Wider grip =outside head .


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## Mudge (Jun 28, 2003)

I never said in the first place to change grips to make the biceps wider, which is why I posted the brach. IMO, to make the _arm_ wider just make it bigger. Your arm is not going to look big from front or behind until it gets pretty big, and the bicep hardly plays into this effect at all.


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## neanderthal (Jun 28, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by tjwes *_
> I must also respectfully disagree with you about wide VS. close grip.The wider the grip the wider the biceps will be.Wider grip =outside head .




no, your wrong.  wide grip will hit on the inner biceps. try it out with a bb and tell me where u feel it more. short grip hits the outter. i am right on this.


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## Fit Freak (Jun 28, 2003)

narrow grip will hit the inner portion more than wider grips...trust me

Now....to make the biceps appear thicker...other than the recommendation to get them larger overall including triseps growth you need to train the brachialis and brachioradialus...which is why I originally mentioned hammer curls...that is the foundation you shoud use.


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## Arnold (Jun 28, 2003)

I believe that bicep thickness comes with overall bicep development, saying that certain exercises will make them thicker is walking on the 'muscle shaping' line, which we all know is impossible. I also see bicep thickness as mostly genetic just as a bicep peak is.


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## OceanDude (Jun 28, 2003)

I am no expert here since I have a long way to go on bicep development still. However, I have experienced noticeable growth in thickness/width by doing combinations of exercises hitting both inner and outer heads in conjunction with intense isometric flexing against an immovable object (such as a horizontal bar) for 30-60 secs on each arm between sets. As well all know, to make your ???arms??? look larger overall, the biggest bang for your gym time is to get the triceps as large as possible since they represent 2/3???s of the total arm size in the classically proportioned male physiology. Also, I didn???t note anyone mentioning concentration dumbell curls. These can be a very effective exercise also for the bicep overall. Good Luck.


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## Mudge (Jun 28, 2003)

I like a bent over one arm concentration curl as a finisher sometimes. Very intense with a light weight, hold at the top.


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## tjwes (Jun 28, 2003)

Prince do you think you can isolate certain portions of a muscle a little more by changing angles or foot stance or grips?What`s your opinion on this ?Thanks.


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## Mudge (Jun 28, 2003)

Myself, I dont think you could call it isolation, but favoritism.


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## firestorm (Jun 29, 2003)

you can't spot reduce as well as spot induce(meaning a SPECIFIC AREA OF A SINGLE muscle or in this case 2 muscles.  The only way to make the bicep wider and or thicker is to make the 2 muscles bigger. It's shape is genetic and can not be altered other then making it larger.   The only prayer in giving a bicep the appearance of being thicker is to do hammer curls to prioritize the Brachialis  muscle. The muscle that runs down the outer arm.

Same goes for "How do you get one of those really high peaks"  you may never be able to get one of those major peaks because of where your bicep attaches to the bone and whatever other genetic reasons there may be.  I'm not saying you can't get 20 inch arms because maybe you can(maybe you can't either without drugs).   Take a look at Arnold for example.  At his best,, you can notice a difference in his biceps.  One bicep peaked much better then the other.  The inovator and master gun blaster, Larry Scott had huge arms but never had the peak of lets say an Arnold.  Oh well I'm done.


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## firestorm (Jun 29, 2003)

So as to not piss anyone off with my opinion, below I'm posting a routine for those that believe you can isolate a specific area of an individual muscle(s). give it a try:
Overall mass: 
1. Standing barbell curls 5 x 8 
2. Preacher curls 4 x 8 
3. Seated dumbbell curls 3 x 8 

Lower biceps: 
1. Preacher dumbbell curls 4 x 8 
2. Preacher barbell curls 4 x 8 
3. Standing barbell curls - 3 x 8 

Upper biceps: 
1. Seated supinated dumbbell curls 4 x 10 
2. Vertical preacher curls - 3 x 12 
3. Concentration curls - 3 x 12 

Inner biceps: 
1. Wide grip barbell curls - 4 x 8 
2. Inclined bench seated dumbbell curls 4 x 8 
3. Dumbbell curls (hold dumbbells as if you hold a barbell with so wide grip as you can) - 3 x 12 

Outer biceps: 
1. Very narrow grip barbell curls (up to 5 inch) (if you feel pain in your wrists using standard bar, use EZ bar) - 4 x 10 
2. Very narrow grip preacher curls - 4 x 10 
3. Concentration curls - 3 x 12   (also for PEAK)


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## Arnold (Jun 29, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by tjwes *_
> Prince do you think you can isolate certain portions of a muscle a little more by changing angles or foot stance or grips?What`s your opinion on this ?Thanks.



Absolutely not, it's physiologically imposssible. People think this because often times you will feel sore in different regions of a muscle due to using a different exercise or angle. Although it is true that more damage was done in that portion of the muscle, the muscle itself will still grow as a whole. To say otherwise would be saying that you could shape a muscle, which you cannot.


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## Robboe (Jun 29, 2003)

What a rather horrid thread.

Biceps = two heads.

Some of the advice in this thread defies basic physiology.


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## firestorm (Jun 29, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by The_Chicken_Daddy *_
> What a rather horrid thread.
> 
> Biceps = two heads.
> ...



Such as????


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## Mudge (Jun 29, 2003)

I believe in the case of chest, where the attachment points differ, that you can favor upper vs lower chest, which I know TCD disagrees with. If I stop doing upper chest work, I notice it within two weeks, easily.


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## Robboe (Jun 30, 2003)

Actually, my upper/lower chest stance has changed ever so slightly in the past 4 months.

Firestorm - your bicep will get wider as it gets bigger as a whole muscle.


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## Arnold (Jun 30, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by The_Chicken_Daddy *_
> Actually, my upper/lower chest stance has changed ever so slightly in the past 4 months.


LMFAO! How so?




> Firestorm - your bicep will get wider as it gets bigger as a whole muscle.


Yup, I think I said this already.


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## Mudge (Jun 30, 2003)

Yep people still ask how do I get a thicker arm, flat out make it bigger. Its not going to be that wide typically until it gets a bit large, thats just how it is. A 15" arm is not big.


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## Robboe (Jun 30, 2003)

Ok, maybe i worded my post a little incorrectly.

More accurately, my stance on inclines has changed. I now like them, or more accurately again, i like the cybex-esque incline machine press in my gym.


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## firestorm (Jun 30, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by Mudge *_
> I believe in the case of chest, where the attachment points differ, that you can favor upper vs lower chest, which I know TCD disagrees with. If I stop doing upper chest work, I notice it within two weeks, easily.



Yea but with Chest, we're not talking about just the Sternal Head  (the larger of 2 muscle groups that make up the pecs).
That muscle is the larger of the two and covers the greatest area of the pec area.

Incline benches and such angled excercise isolates the Clavicular Head(located at the upper pec region a BIT more then the middle chest without a doubt so you are NOT wrong and that point can't be argued.  
In short, Incline benches will make a noticeable difference in chest development because of the 2nd (forgotten about muscle) Clavicular Head.


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## firestorm (Jun 30, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by The_Chicken_Daddy *_
> Actually, my upper/lower chest stance has changed ever so slightly in the past 4 months.
> 
> Firestorm - your bicep will get wider as it gets bigger as a whole muscle.



Oh ok, you agree with me then,, I just wan't sure which side of the fence you were on regarding this issue.


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## firestorm (Jun 30, 2003)

> PRINCE WROTE:
> Yup, I think I said this already.



Yes you did as did I but  CD's initial post left me unsure whos advise sucked.

Chicken D  wrote:
What a rather horrid thread.

Biceps = two heads.

Some of the advice in this thread defies basic physiology.


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