The bicep muscle is easily one of the most loved muscles on the human body and thankfully so because it’s a vital part of how we function and how we move.
The outer bicep, commonly referred to as “the guns” bulges out from underneath the tricep creating an illusion that makes our arm look bigger than it really is.
Bigger arms equal more self-confidence and over time you’ll create stronger ties with your friends, family, and even strangers just by having bigger arms.
There are also multiple variations that can be performed for this muscle group such as concentration curls, preacher curls, hammer curls, etc., but today I will focus on how to work the outer head.
Inner Bicep Vs Outer Bicep
The bicep is made up of two different parts, the inner and outer head.
The inner head is more commonly known as the brachialis because it’s located underneath the bicep’s main part (outer).
This section of the muscle isn’t as popular as the other due to how difficult it is to contract and how unnoticeable its appearance actually is.
The outer or secondary head makes up about 70% of the total bicep and has a much larger appearance than its smaller counterpart.
Well…obviously!
But how does one work this bigger portion?
Isolation curls!
Isolation exercises are movements that only affect a single joint without involving any other joints or muscles, isolating just one area instead of working multiple at once.
This is how it works:
Start by picking up a dumbbell with your non-dominant arm and hold your arm straight down alongside your leg with your palm facing backward.
If this position feels uncomfortable, try using an alternate grip.
Now move the weight upward toward the ceiling until you can feel tension on the outer bicep then slowly lower the weight back down to the starting position in a controlled motion.
The whole movement should take about 3 seconds before repeating again for 12 reps or however many are comfortable.
Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions for each arm, making sure to keep everything else stable while you raise and lower the weight.
This exercise will not only help define that area but also add size too.
Reasons For Narrow Biceps
If your shoulders are wider than your biceps you probably suffer from a common condition known as “narrow grip syndrome”.
This is a disease that affects how men and women perceive how big their arms actually are.
It’s similar to how people see others who have slouched shoulders, the same effect happens with narrow grips.
Instead of shaping how it’s meant to be shaped, the shoulder area appears abnormally small due to how the arm will appear to be shorter by comparison.
To avoid this altogether simply invite a friend over to help evaluate how well your form is because honestly even I’m not being fully honest when I say these things about myself!
And remember, no one else can fix this problem except for yourself so always keep at.
Related Post: How To Build Muscle
Body Type
Body type is how you were naturally shaped by your parents.
There are three types of body shapes; endomorphs, mesomorphs, and ectomorphs.
Ectomorphs are naturally skinny people who lack the number of muscles others may have, which means they will need to work harder than most to see any results!
Mesomorphs are roughly in between where they can either gain weight or lose fat quickly but it’s mainly due to how their muscles develop based on how active they are.
Now let’s say you fall under the category of an endomorph…well what can I say except good luck!
Endorphins tend to carry more fat overall so finding a healthy balance will be a huge challenge for those trying to get ripped.
If you are an ectomorph, like me.
Building muscle anywhere can be a struggle, never mind just your biceps. Which is going to bring us straight into our next point.
Related Post: What Is Skinny Fat?
Not Eating Enough Calories
If you’re not eating enough calories then how can your body have enough energy to produce more muscle?
This is how it works; if you don’t feed your body what it needs to produce more muscle then how will that even happen?
It’s like trying to plant a seed into the soil and not watering it or adding any nutrients, how can that seed ever grow!?
So next time you’re planning on starting a workout program make sure you figure out how many calories your body uses in a day, eat about 200-400 calories extra for each day of exercise, and divide those calories up over five to six small meals so as not to disrupt the natural flow of things.
This way your muscles have plenty of energy to build themselves up without being hindered by poor eating habits.
Lack Of Protein In Diet
As I said before, building muscle takes a lot of work, and how you eat is how your body will respond.
Most people don’t realize how many grams of protein they should be consuming on a daily basis but it’s actually fairly easy to build up to.
For example, if your goal is to gain 20 pounds of muscle how many grams of protein should you consume?
Well, I’m glad you asked…it shouldn’t be less than 120g spread out over six meals so that’s about 20g for each meal!
Now how does this help grow muscles?
When you eat protein it breaks down into amino acids which are then able be used as building blocks by muscle cells.
Poor Exercise Form
This is one of the most common reasons why someone may not have results with something no matter how much they work out.
If your form during an exercise isn’t up to par how can you expect good things from working out?
For example, how will dumbbell bicep curls give any benefit if you have poor form?
The answer is it won’t because how can you isolate the outer bicep when it’s a bigger, stronger muscle that can easily take over even when you’re trying to work one specific area?
This is the same with every exercise in the book so how do we avoid this?
By either having a friend watch and help correct any problems with how you’re going about your workout or by simply looking at videos on how to correctly perform each move.
Too Much Focus On Inner Bicep
This might seem weird at first but how many people work on how to grow their inner bicep?
A lot.
Why do they only focus on the inside when there are two arms that need just as much attention?
I don’t have an answer for this but my guess is most want that nice peak in their biceps which requires you to curl your hands inward towards your face.
The issue is how can you expect to build up both sections if you’re constantly trying to curl one area with every set of every workout?
This puts way too much emphasis on how things look rather than how functional strength will benefit your body overall in different ways which, when looking good comes second, may be better off when it comes to building up an impressive physique.
Well, how do we go about making sure our outer bicep is getting the same amount of attention?
By simply doing your normal exercises but instead of curling with your palms up towards you, turn them outwards and curl like that.
It’s simple and easy to remember how much difference it can make in terms of how your muscles will grow in size and strength over time; all because you’re working for complimentary muscle groups instead of always focusing on what you want to see at the end of the day in the mirror.
Check out this video below. I tried doing 100 biceps curls a day, for 30 days. But with a twist…
Tips For Building Wider Biceps
I have 7 tips for you to build wider biceps, but don’t forget to hang around till the end so you can see the best exercises for building bigger biceps as well!
Hand Position
Many people neglect how important their hand positioning is during a workout and how much of an impact it can have on how your muscles will respond.
Keep your hands open during exercises like the preacher curl to put more emphasis on how wide your outer bicep is rather than how big they can be overall.
This helps stretch out how things look which, when done with the correct form, will give you better results in terms of definition even if you’re not trying to build up how much they weigh overall.
Forearm Position
Your forearm position is how you can make sure you’re getting the most out of how your muscles will grow and how they’ll look as a result.
Here’s how:
Lightly grip the bar and then spread your fingers apart as much as possible to give yourself that extra space which, when making sure to focus on how wide your bicep is overall, will help give them that fuller appearance.
This comes from how we naturally curl inward so opening up how our hands are spaced apart during exercises puts more emphasis on where we want those results to be visible; all thanks to how well this technique works for helping us lift with better form.
Mind Muscle Connection
It’s how things work in theory and how it applies to how you train during a workout.
When thinking about how your bicep should move throughout each exercise, where the tension should be focused on, how you should breathe as well as keeping track of how much time you have left before completing all sets for one muscle group, this can help improve how your muscles will contract which makes them stronger over time.
Elbow Position
Keeping how your elbows are positioned in mind during different exercises will make a major difference in how well your muscles will respond to how you’re training them.
If you want the best results, think of how it would be if someone had their hands wrapped around your bicep and how they were pushing down on you.
Keeping this mind alone can help build up how strong how your muscles are overall because this is key for learning how to break through any plateaus by focusing on improving how functional strength plays into things over time.
Get Your Grip Right
Being able to get your grip right at the start of how you’re about to lift weights is how you can keep track of how well your muscles are contracting which, when combined with how many reps and how much weight, puts less stress on how your joints will respond over time.
Train Right
When you have how your exercise equipment is designed to be used in mind, this alone puts less stress on how well your muscles will respond.
It’s how things are supposed to work and how it can help you out when working with great tools that are safe to use which makes all the difference during a workout.
Training the outer bicep muscle group at least twice a week can make sure you see results given how much attention it needs compared to other muscles of the body.
At the same time, how often you train them should depend on how fast these changes are taking place as well as how much recovery time you need between workouts for one muscle group compared to another.
Be Consistent
By thinking about how your exercises are designed to be done, how consistently you should train each muscle group, and how often should depend on how well different workout plans work for you.
It’s how these things combine over time that makes it easier to stick with how each exercise is supposed to be done; at least until how your muscles respond changes again.
This allows you to stay productive during a workout as well as make sure that your training doesn’t become too much for how your body needs in terms of rest and recovery from one session compared to another over time.
Other Techniques To Try
Keeping how your muscles are supposed to work in mind when completing a workout can make a major difference in how well they’ll respond over time.
You don’t have to stick with how things were done before if there’s a different technique that works better for how you want your muscle group to look and how it will continue working out even after you put the weights down.
Static Hold
Try how static holds can help improve how strong how your muscles are over time.
This is how holding each rep at the point where there’s tension on how well those muscle works makes a major difference in how you see results and how they play into how many reps and sets you do as well.
Static holds force your muscles to adapt which, when combined with the weight being used as well as how often you train them, allows things to work out without having to worry about winning or losing because it’s how those exercises are designed to be done from start to finish.
At some point, there comes a level of respect for an exercise that becomes important over time; especially after seeing how people have improved their strength by keeping what
Use Slow Eccentrics
Eccentric contractions are how you get your muscles to lengthen over time and how this plays into how well their strength will increase which can make a big difference in how things work out.
This is why using slow eccentrics during every rep is how it’s possible to get the most from how well your muscles respond while taking less time overall.
Keeping how long these reps should take in mind when focusing on how weak or strong how your muscle group looks compared to another makes all the difference in how effective any exercise routine has and how fast you’ll see changes if they’re done right.
Even at the end of the workout, there comes a point where doing one more set turns out better than cutting short how well these muscles respond to how often they’re trained.
Use Drop Sets
A drop in how much weight you use in how well how your muscles respond over time is now dropping down to a lower weight after the first set turns out better than thinking about how many reps each rep should be done.
This can make sure that your workout is more effective and that these changes take place faster when you put less stress on how often you train them.
At the same time, thinking about how long each rep takes during an exercise routine that works best for getting what you want or need can also turn into too much or not enough given how small these differences are when it comes to how well they work out.
It’s easy to get stuck in one style of training if there isn’t anything else being used to how well how your muscles respond and how long you’ll need to work with them.
The best results come from how a routine is being followed over time as opposed to how many reps of each exercise are done at one time during a workout.
Keeping these things in mind can make a big difference when it comes to how often you train each muscle group, how consistently you should train them, how long each rep should take, and how much weight is used from beginning to end.
Use Blood Flow Restriction
Using how blood flow restriction works during reps is how it becomes easier to how your muscles are supposed to work when they’re trained.
Exercises like the barbell curl are how well this technique can be used in how well how your muscles respond over time which can make a major difference when it comes to how often you train them, how long each rep takes, how many reps are done in total, and how much weight is used over time.
Keeping these things in mind will allow you to get better results while training less often than before.
A change of focus based on what your muscle group responds best to will keep it working out even after you put the weights down.
The 10 Best Outer Bicep Exercises
Many bicep exercises use the same muscles, but how many of them target your outer head?
If you’re not working your entire arm equally during every exercise, then how can you expect to get a balanced physique?
It’s important to remember that how much work it is done by different parts of your limb is based on how it is positioned.
These exercises target your outer bicep and will make sure all heads are getting an equal amount of attention.
Remember though, in order to see lasting results from any sort of arm workout you should be using a variety of rep ranges, sets, and weights when training with weights.
1. Concentration Curls
Concentration curls are the perfect exercise for isolating your outer bicep. This is how you do them:
– Grab a weight (dumbbell, barbell, or any other kind of weight you want)
– Sit down on an armless chair with feet shoulder-width apart and out in front; keep your back straight
– Rest one leg on top of the other so that one knee is bent up toward your chest which will help to support your elbow as well as give you more stability
– Hold the weight in the same hand as the knee that’s raised; let it rest right near shoulder height; make sure not to lean your upper body forward but also try not to hunch over too much either which could stress your lower back
– Hold your arm up at 90 degrees and keep it close to your body
– Lift the weight up with only one hand, making sure that you’re not swinging or using momentum; curl it toward your chest as much as you can before slowly lowering the weight
2. Hammer Curls
Hammer curls are similar to the concentration curl but the main difference is how you hold your arm.
Where you would normally hold your arm at 90 degrees, with hammer curls it’s more like 45 degrees in order to take the stress off of your elbow joint while still hitting the outer head of the bicep.
– Grab a dumbbell in one hand and let it hang down by your side with your palm facing in
– Keep feet shoulder-width apart and out in front; sit up so that back is straight
– Bend elbow so that weight hangs just below forearm which should be hanging perpendicular to the ground
– Curl weight toward chest making sure not to lean forward or backward when lifting or lowering weight
3. Reverse Grip Curls
This type of curl targets the bicep and forearm. This exercise is how you do it:
– Stand up and hold a barbell with an underhand grip (palms facing down)
– Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and out in front, knees slightly bent; lean forward just a little bit as to keep weight on heels of feet as well as maintain balance
– Curl toward chest as far as you can go before slowly lowering back down
Reverse grip curls hit muscles other than the biceps which works out forearms and is great for anyone who enjoys climbing or is looking to be able to lift heavier weights without straining their wrists.
An added bonus is that this variation allows for a better squeeze at the top.
4. Cross Body Curls
Crossbody curls allow you to work your biceps from a slightly different angle. This is how you do it:
– Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and out in front, knees slightly bent; lean forward just a little bit as to keep weight on heels of feet as well as maintain balance
– Hold a dumbbell in each hand so that one rests at either side of the waist
– Keep elbows close to sides throughout the entire motion of lifting the weighted bar up toward your shoulders until arms are straight but not locked; go as far down as is comfortable before slowly going back up
As you can see all these exercises involve using free weights rather than machines.
Machines isolate muscles but they aren’t always the best way to build them because some muscle groups require a few others to work as well.
Free weights allow for a wider variety of motion and more natural movements which helps stimulate muscle growth in a way that machines cannot.
The only real downside with them is how it can take longer to complete your reps because there’s no telling how the weight will be distributed until you lift it off the stand. But with these exercises, there shouldn’t be much trouble working out those muscles!
5. Cable Curls
Cable curls are another very common bicep exercise. Here’s how you do them.
– Adjust the bench in front of the cable machine so that there’s a V-shaped notch near where your feet will be placed; sit on the bench and grasp handles attached to the low pulleys
– Keep body upright and pull arm toward shoulder at a slight angle making sure not to let weight stack touch down between reps
– Curl up until elbow is close to the body, then slowly lower all the way down
Continuing doing this exercise for 10 reps.
Remember not to push or pull too hard with your back or arms when curling. It makes upper arms parallel to the floor. This is how you do it!
6. EZ Bar Curls
Opt for a lighter weight when doing this exercise so that you can curl higher than normal which lets you work the outer part of the biceps.
By rotating your wrists when lifting and lowering the barbell, blood also gets pumped directly through your hands rather than just going through your forearms.
– Keep feet shoulder-width apart and out in front, knees slightly bent; lean forward just a little bit as to keep weight on heels of feet as well as maintain balance
– Grasp the ends of an EZ bar with your palms facing up and elbows tucked in to your sides
– Curl the weight toward your chest, making sure not to arch your back when lifting or lowering.
7. Drag Curls
Like EZ bar curls, this exercise lets you get more stimulation on certain parts of the bicep which can make them grow faster without overworking other areas. This is how you do it!
One trick for this exercise is moving your shoulders forward and back while keeping your arms fixed and only moving forearms.
This gives you more work on your biceps and takes some of the strain off your back.
– Place feet shoulder-width apart and out in front, knees slightly bent; lean forward just a little bit as to keep weight on heels of feet as well as maintain balance
– Hold the bar with an underhand grip at your hip level with elbows tucked to the sides
– Curl the weight toward your chest until it touches your upper chest, making sure not to arch your back when lifting or lowering
8. Seated Incline Curls
Reaching this exercise is simple, just sit on the edge of an incline bench with your feet flat on the floor.
Make sure to keep your elbows fixed at your sides and curl the bar up toward your upper chest.
The only thing that should be moving is your forearms.
– Sit down on a 30-60 degree decline; use something like a smith machine or any other similar structure which holds weight for you if you need help getting into position
– Keep torso tight and place feet shoulder-width apart; lean back slightly as to maintain balance throughout the movement
– Grasp dumbbells in each hand using underhand grip; let them hang straight down beside thighs, palms facing inward toward the body
– Keeping elbows close to the body and upper arms fixed, curl both weights simultaneously toward shoulders; keep wrists straight and palms facing inward to the body as you curl
– Lower back down to starting position; do not swing or use momentum to come up
9. Preacher Curls
This exercise works the entire biceps and forearms, making it a great workout for those wanting to improve their grip.
– Sit at preacher curl bench with pad resting comfortably on top of thighs; grasp handles mounted on the machine and draw them together until your fists touch your shoulders
– Keeping upper arms stationary throughout the movement, curl the bar up as high as possible toward your shoulders; pause briefly then slowly lower all the way down to starting position
10. Close Grip Barbell Curl
This is how you do it!
– Grasp a barbell with an underhand, shoulder-width grip; let the weight hang in front of your thighs and keep your elbows fixed at your sides throughout the movement
– Curl the weight toward your shoulders while keeping wrists straight; when upper arms are parallel to the floor, slowly lower all the way back down until arms are fully extended There are so many different types of gym equipment out there.