Bicep Workout Tips

Try "Four Counts" as a shock to your bicep workouts

 

Are your bicep workouts getting stale? If so then "Four Counts" may be what you are looking for to spice up your bicep training routines. Now before we begin I would like to state that this is a great way to shock the muscles, I don't recommend you train this way every week.

One of my favorite shock routines I like to add to my training is program that I call "Four Counts". The "Four Count" principle is based on the speed of the repetition in a set. The mechanics behind "Four Counts" is simple: the positive movement of an exercise consists of two seconds while the negative movement of an exercise consists of four seconds. Let me use my bicep workout routine as an example.

Before I start blasting my biceps I like to make sure they are good and warm. After a light stretching session, I start my workout with barbell curls doing around twenty-five reps. I do two very important things when I perform this warm-up exercise; first I make sure that I control the weight in both the up and down phases (contraction and extension of the muscle). When I lift the weights I move them at a moderate pace to make sure that I am not cheating from momentum in my by the time the exercise is complete. I am striving for a burning sensation in my biceps so intense that if I set down the weights and walked out of the gym at that moment I would have felt like I got the greatest biceps workout in my life. Sounds crazy for a warm-up but there is a method behind the madness.

Now my second warm-up set gets a little more interesting. I now increase my weights and decrease my reps to fifteen reps. Since I am already fried from the first warm-up exercise, the second warm-up usually brings on the nausea feeling that sticks with me for the remainder of the workout. You are probably asking yourself what this has to do with "Four Counts", well I am about to get to that part.

One of the key elements I have found in getting the most out of my "Four Count" workouts is to fry the muscle before getting into the actual movement. My muscles respond better to the stress of a "Four Count" movement once I have put them into a pre-exhaust condition.

Once I have completely warmed up my biceps, I move into what I call my "real sets". In my "Four Count" exercises I only perform six reps per set. Now I am talking about six very strict sets. No swinging, cheating, forced reps, or begging for your mommy is allowed. As I curl the weight up to my chin I move the weight up within a two second time count. Not one-one thousand, two-one thousand but a one, two count. I make sure I flex the muscle at the top of the movement to force the contraction and then lower the weight at a four second time count. If you can do six reps on this workout plan with ease then you are doing too little of weight. I will perform an additional two sets with this same methodology as above. Once I finish my third and final set, I like to perform one more set of fifteen reps with lighter weight to completely blast out my biceps. When training my biceps, I only do the fourth set of high reps on my first exercise. My second and third exercises (preacher curl, dumbbell curl, whatever I feel like that day) usually consist of three "Four Count" sets.

I have had a lot of success using this type of training so give it a try for a few weeks and let me know what you think. As I stated earlier, that is a great way to shock your bicep workout routines.