Training at the Gym in Japan: Biceps

I haven’t been doing much training recently.  Before, I was going to the gym at least three times a week.  These days I go once, maybe twice, a week.

That said, one good thing about this decrease in gym time, is that my body has time to recover properly between sessions.  At the start of each session now, I have more stamina and power than when I was training 3 times a week.  As I’d thought, giving your body a rest is important.

During a recent gym session, I focused on biceps.

The most important thing when working on biceps must surely be ‘form’.  Of course the balance between your figure and body weight is also important.  Firstly though, I should say, if you’re training with weights that YOU think are not having any effect, then chances are, you’re wasting your time.

To a certain degree, equipment weight is obviously important, and you may think about increasing this.  However, it’s at that point when you can feel yourself starting to shake under the weight, that keeping a good, clean form is more important than anything else.

Of course, even advanced lifters, to support nerve fibers, will avoid weight that causes them to shake.  However, the purpose here is different.  For those who want to ‘bulk up’, you’re not going to achieve muscle growth this way.

To stress the importance of this, I’ve made a video to demonstrate.  In particular, pay attention to my elbow position and that fact that it doesn’t move so much.  (Try to be conscious of forwards/backwards elbow movement as being ineffective).  Filming your own exercises is a good way to check whether or not your elbow is moving.  If you don’t pay attention, you’ll be wondering whether, during this exercise, your elbow is moving or your lower back is moving.

My regular bicep training ‘menu’ at the gym:

16kg x 2reps

14kg x 5reps

12kg x 8reps

7kg x 10reps

5kg x 10reps

Recently, I haven’t been doing a fixed number of sets for the above ‘menu’.  Also, as in the video, I’ve been using an EZ Bar to mix things up.  For me, I set the weight in the 25-30 kg range.

On top of this, I use a lighter weight to do some arm curls, where I focus on lifting and lowering slowly.  It seems to be pretty effective so it’s something I recommend you give a try.

To develop moderate muscle mass will probably take at least 3 months so, even if you feel like you’re not seeing any change early on, it’s important to stay motivated and continue with these exercises.