Increasing the size of the upper arm muscles, especially the biceps, is a high priority for most guys who weight train. The biceps are certainly one of the most popular muscles to train. This could be because people will notice if you have large biceps since they're so easy to show off. The biceps are also one of those muscles that are enjoyable to train. You'll get a nice pumped feeling in your biceps when you do exercises for them and it's much easier to get through a biceps workout than, say, an intense leg or back workout. Strengthening your biceps will also make you stronger on upper back exercises. Whatever the case, if you follow the best biceps workout routines you'll build more size in those muscles.

You need to perform certain exercises when you follow the best biceps workout routines. You also need to be sure that the biceps muscles are completely recovered from their last workout and that there's no soreness in them. The biceps assist on most major upper back exercises and if you aren't using proper form to target most of the resistance on the upper back, the biceps may work harder than needed. Because of this you should follow a push-pull weight training routine that has you training the biceps after the upper back during the same workout. Doing this will also allow your biceps to get warmed up nicely before you start training them, which will also save you time in the gym.

Most of the best biceps workout routines are started with good old-fashioned barbell curls. When you do heavy barbell curls you shouldn't be afraid to cheat a little bit after you get to failure. If you get 10-12 reps with good form on your barbell curls during a biceps workout, use a little body English to get a few more. This is a great way to boost the intensity of your biceps workout.

Dumbbell curls and hammer curls are 2 other exercises that should be part of the top biceps workout routines. Twist your wrist during dumbbell curls to get the most out of the exercise. Hammer curls will allow you to train the brachialis muscle that's located between the biceps and triceps. You can do your dumbbell and hammer curls while standing, seated, or lying on an incline bench to add some variety to avoid hitting a plateau.

Preacher curls are an excellent exercise for getting a nice stretch in the biceps. Don't try to use outrageously heavy weights when doing these as this exercise is more for lengthening and shaping the biceps muscles.

Nothing's better for finishing a biceps workout than a couple of sets of drop sets. Doing drop sets at the end of a biceps workout will allow you to finish off with a strong pump. The best biceps exercises to use for drop sets are dumbbell curls or cable curls.

When you follow the best biceps workout routines, there's no need to perform exercises for sets of less than 8 reps. Lifting super heavy weights for low reps is something you should do when performing major compound exercises involving many different muscle groups. All biceps exercises are basically isolation movements. You're better off trying for a strong pumped feeling in the muscles when you train the biceps. That being said, you still need to train with high intensity to induce muscle growth in the biceps.

Experiment with the exercises and amount of sets you do to figure out the best biceps workout routine for you.

This sample best biceps workout routine is a solid guideline to follow if you train the biceps muscles once every 5 or 6 days with a light, medium, and heavy workout scheme.

Light biceps workout (16-20+ reps per set)
1-2 sets of barbell curls
1-2 sets of dumbbell curls
1-2 sets of hammer curls
2-3 sets of preacher curls or other biceps exercise
1-2 drop sets of biceps dumbbell curls or cable curls

Medium biceps workout (12-15 reps per set)
2-3 sets of barbell curls
2-3 sets of dumbbell curls
2-3 sets of hammer curls
1-2 sets of preacher curls or other exercise
1-2 drop sets

Heavy biceps workout (8-12 reps per set)
3-4 sets of barbell curls
2-3 sets of dumbbell curls
2-3 sets of hammer curls
2-3 sets of preacher curls or other exercise
2-3 drop sets.