Hey, we all want our biceps to grow and we want to happen as quickly as possible. So what do we do? We end up spending endless hours in the gym cranking out the reps. And what happens? We get overtrained. Our arms get sore, and the amount of weight we can lift stops going up.

You know, one of the definitions of insanity is to keep doing the same thing that you are doing regardless of negative results. So let us step back from the issue and take another look at it. Close your eyes and picture body for a moment. Hopefully, it's not going to make you throw up. Now picture your arms as big and as bad as you want them to be.

Does that look right? Are you in proportion? This illustrates our issue. People want to treat their biceps, or their abs, whether chest with her quads as if it is a separate animal and the rest of their body.

But it's not. Your bicep workout will not produce results unless the rest of your body can support that growth. Yes, I know, you probably see someone at your gym has great arms and the rest of his body looks like crap. He is a genetic anomaly -- and you really want to look like him anyway? Wouldn't you rather be in proportion, with great arms that match the rest of your development?

The most common guideline is that you need an additional 20 pounds of mass for each 1 inch gain in your upper arms. I would actually modify this to state that what you really need is 15 to 20 pounds of lean mass in order to put an inch on your biceps.

And how are you going to get this lean mass -- you're going to hit hard on basic compound exercises. This means squads, deadlifts, bench presses and rows.

Gee, I am sorry! That is not what you wanted to hear is it? You were hoping to see yet another ridiculous article detailing endless variations on biceps curls, and I know why.

It's because biceps curls are easy. It's easy to crank them out, even when you're near your limit of repetitions or wait. I can hear you now: “Dude, those curls are about to kill me!” Well that's just BS. If you really think that you are doing a difficult bicep workout when you take a set of bicep curls to the limit, stop and think about how it felt the last time you took a set of squats to the limit.

Little bit different huh? And this is why you really do need to do the big layoffs to gain mass. The big lifts will get your body growing, and to the point where you are rolling enough weight, and doing enough chins that your body feels like it actually needs bigger biceps.

The point I am making is that the framework comes first. A painter does not just throw paint into the air and hope it somehow sticks to something to make a portrait. First, he gets his canvas ready -- and that is what you need to do as well.