Training

Big upper biceps are nice and all, but to be perfectly honest, they're nothing without a nice set of lower biceps to accompany them. Regardless of how high your biceps peaks might be, if your bicep bulk does not swell all the way down to your elbow, you'll appear to have only half an upper arm.

To avoid this funny-looking result, we've provided a three-step exercise to fully work your bis all the way around, down to your elbows, and back.

EXERCISE ONE: SEATED ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURLS

At the bottom, let the dumbbell twist slightly counterclockwise, so that the palm of your hand actually faces somewhat downward. As you curl, twist the dumbbell clockwise. At the top, get a further crimp for a peak contraction, but if you use such heavy dumbbells, you will be limited in the degree that you're able to twist them.

Keep your back perfectly straight, don't rock or lean, and press your elbows very tightly against your sides. Make every rep painfully slow so that the entire range of motion is effective. Also, never use the trampoline method of any exercise. Bouncing the weight is giving you only a partial workout, and defeating the purpose of each movement. Man up and suffer the pain of the weight burning your muscles. It's called "weightlifting" for a reason.

The next thing you want to keep in mind is to curl only as far as your elbow allows. If someone is curling to eye level, his shoulder is pushing the weight through the last 30 or 40 degrees; that extra margin is all rest for the biceps. When your upper arm is fixed against your side, the very top of your range of motion is at chest level, and your biceps remain under tension.

If you are using a significantly heavy weight, make sure your warm-up is virtually a workout in itself. First, curl a 20-pound bar for 10 reps then pyramid through 10-pound intervals of 10 reps each, finishing with a 70-pound bar for 10 reps. At that point, you're ready for your working sets.

Always take every set to failure; otherwise, there's no point in doing it.

EXERCISE TWO: CLOSE-GRIP CAMBERED-BAR PREACHER CURLS

Body position and grip are the important points to remember here. Don't drape yourself flaccidly over the preacher bench like a rag doll. Instead, lean your body forward to prevent yourself from leaning back and using your body for leverage. Your shoulders, arms and body are all fixed into position, which means that only your biceps can move the bar.

A wider grip hits primarily the brachialis and forearms. With an extremely close grip, range of motion is limited, but use all that your elbows allow.

Do four sets of these, all to failure, the first set for 12-15 reps and the last three in the six- to eight-rep range.

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