The time is upon us, that’s right hot dogs, burgers, ball games, and yes the eventual trip to the beach. Whether your a father of two with a wife and a acid reflux problem, or a young single guy just getting away for a week, taking off that shirt can sometimes be intimidating. Yes, yes and there is always that "other guy" on the beach who looks like he lives in a gym and eats iron plates. I'm here to tell you that you can really give your confidence a boost and be proud to boast your unclothed upper torso without fear of occasional mockery by that damn smart ass kid next to your spot on the beach. Starting of course with the biceps! I mean, it's the first part of the body many people (especially many women) judge when they spot a guy on the beach. Of course this is not the only thing a possible lady friend will use to critique you but by God it does feel good to be confident in those guns!

Let’s get down to the niddy griddy here. Your gonna have to want to develop your biceps, of course everybody wants a nicer body but are you willing to do what it takes to develop those specific aspects? If you do want to change your physique a bit and are willing to put in some time then continue reading because I can lend you some helpful advice that has really helped me and I'm sure a lot of other guys over the years.

Let me first start by saying that everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) adapts to training and builds differently. The tips I give will not necessarily make you look like Arnold but they are a building block and a step in the right direction with regards to getting that nice beach body. If there is one thing I can tell you that is an absolute, it is that you must find what works for you, let me repeat that you must find what works for you (that applies to all bodybuilding routines). Some of these exercises might be great for you and others you may need to adjust to suite your body type. You must accept that some people have more genetic potential than others, but this is not an excuse to be thrown out to get a pass from the gym. EVERYONE can improve their biceps.

Let’s warm up shall we! When you first begin training biceps it's crucial to get at least 2 to 3 warm up sets in before you get to your work sets. I usually begin with dumbbells due to their range of motion and overall ability to add size to the bicep. Use a light weight, something you can do standing alternate curls with about 20 reps. Then move on to your work sets, its important to keep in mind proper form in the beginning as you want to isolate the bicep as much as possible.

When doing standing alternate dumbbell curls set you feet at about shoulder width apart. DO NOT lock your knees; keep a slight bend to aid in body flexibility. With both dumbbells hanging at your sides curl up (one at a time) keeping your elbow pinned at your waist. Keeping the elbow pinned makes the bicep work harder, something we want. Curl to the "stopping spot" of the bicep at the top of the rep. What is the "stopping spot" one might ask? To put it plainly, it is the point at which the bicep stops working. In other words it is the place at which any further motion will not work the bicep. Where is the stopping spot you may ask? Well this "spot" is at a different location for everyone so you must take it it upon yourself to find it. You may have seen people at the gym doing alternate curls until the dumbbell basically hit them in the face. This is past the "stopping spot", at that point the weight is just resting on you elbow. You may notice if you go past the aforementioned stopping spot that the tension on your bicep stops. This is the sign that you have gone past the stopping spot and are no longer working your arms. In short, you must always feel a tension on your bicep to ensure it is being exercised properly. Return the dumbbell to your side but at this point do not allow it to just hang, apply constant tension to it through the remainder of the set so as to maximize bicep muscle hypertrophy. You will want about 4-6 working sets of 8 to 10 reps as a good starting exercise. Remember adjust the weight accordingly, if 8-10 reps is relatively easy (i.e. no "burn") go up in weight. The last 2 reps should be agonizing; you should really feel it in the bicep to be sure you are developing bigger arms.

The next exercise to be done is the standing barbell curl. This is probably the best size building bicep workout you can do. Beginning with a barbell at your waist with a work set amount of weight (with your arms positioned slightly wider than shoulder width on the bar), curl the weight to your "stopping spot" then bring the weight back down in a controlled motion to about an inch and a half away from your thighs. Now, the two most important aspects of this curl I just mentioned but I will emphasize them because they are crucial. You must control the weight throughout the entire exercise, you cannot curl the weight up then just let it fall back down to your legs and expect to get a good burn. Also, you must never rest the bar on your thighs in the negative portion of the rep. If you do the bicep stops working and this results in less strain thus less muscle hypertrophy for your arms. Perform a total of 4-5 sets with 10-12 difficult (i.e. it hurts to move you arms) reps. If you have to reduce the weight to keep those numbers up that’s fine just do not sacrifice form.

The last bicep exercise will discuss is an exhaustion exercise. This final workout should take every last ounce of energy out of those bi's and send you home crying (but at least you know you’ll have something to show for it on the beach, right?). Cable curls will be your mortal enemy for many years if you stick with a bicep routine. Your bi's will already be screaming "enough" when you final get to this exercise. Starting in the cable machine pick a certain amount of weight that allows you to get to about 8 to 10 reps and no more. There are two different kinds of forms, back to and facing the stack. The stack of course are the plates you select, facing the stack requires you stand a couple of feet back facing the plate stack with your back slightly bent and perform the exercise (one arm at a time) with the same form as alternating dumbbell curls. However as you get tired you tend to use your back to complete reps. This is why I prefer the back to stack form. You place the center of your back against either the right or left metal column on the cable machine. You stand upright, look forward and curl the weight as you did when you curled the dumbbells. When you begin to fatigue however you are forced only to use your bicep which causes some major pumps. Perform these exercises for about 8-10 reps in 4-5 sets. After this your bi's have earned a little r&r if you know what I mean.

Biceps are the most overworked body part, so remember 3 good exercises like the ones above once a week is all you need. Do not over train them by working them everyday (as I used to do), they need time to rest. And obviously this is not an exhaustive list of bicep workouts but it's a great start. Also, this routine is useful to all people but especially those that are not familiar with lifting weights. I will post another page about true "bodybuilder" arms in which I post some techniques that Arnold himself used. Form will not necessarily be key here as we will be overloading the muscle. Anyway, this will suffice as a good beginners guide to getting those beach worthy "guns" ready for this summer. I will post some example videos at the bottom for those that need to see the exercises preformed.