Do This EVERY Day for BIG Biceps!

Here is something easy you can do every day for big biceps. All it is going to take is a minute or two in total, and it has the potential to totally change the way your biceps look and what you get out of your bicep workouts. It all has to do with getting a better mind muscle connection with your bicep muscle.

Let me start by telling you a little story. When I was growing up, I used to tag along with my older brother for his workouts. He was four years older than me and didn’t really want me hurting myself working out. Not to mention, I was a bit too young to be lifting weights any way. So, he gave me a little 5 lb Marcy dumbbell and told me to stay safe.

There weren’t a lot of exercises I could effectively do with that little of a weight, so I wound up doing a whole bunch of curls. What I learned from doing curls with that little dumbbell however would change the way my biceps would develop not just then but in all the years after. Am I saying that lifting 5 pounds was the key to bigger biceps? No not at all. What I am saying however was that learning how to make that light weight feel heavy by slowing down every rep and contracting my biceps through the rep allowed me to build the mind muscle connection that is necessary for building big biceps - and is often missing in those who struggle to build theirs.

Ask yourself how your arms felt during your last set of either barbell curls or dumbbell curls.

Were you just worried about getting the weight from the starting position to the end position or did you focus more on the quality of the work being done by the biceps in order to get you there? There is actually a simple way to determine which one you did. Ready? Tell me whether you were counting the reps when you did them. If so, then there is a high chance that you were not focused on the quality of the contraction but more the quantity.

In order to get your biceps to respond best to stimulus through your bicep workouts you have to be mindful of getting them to participate in each rep without substitution. This means, learning how to squeeze and contract the biceps through all three parts of their contraction pattern. Flexing the elbow, supinating the forearm and flexing the shoulder or slightly raising the elbow at the end.

This phenomenon has actually been backed up recently with some research coming out of Stanford University by colleagues of Dr. Andrew Huberman. They found that the ability to contract a muscle to the point of discomfort was a positive indicator of one’s ability to grow that muscle. If you lack the ability to create the strength of contraction needed to feel uncomfortable, then this was a sign of a lack of a good mind muscle connection and even the most stimulating of biceps exercises will become more challenging to translate into results.

My early years of lifting were comprised of just two exercises for my big biceps development. The heavy eccentric barbell curl and the chinup. Doing both of these exercises and really only these two bicep exercises was enough for me to build up the strength, size and definition of my arms. That said, many others can do the same two movements and not have any appreciable gains to show for their effort.

Now I can tell you this, I did not have good biceps genetics to speak of. Nobody else in my family has the type of biceps development that I do. It was literally the practice I got at an early age to ingrain the type of motor recruitment necessary to a strong muscular contraction. This led to faster bicep gains as I broadened my training focus.

So how do you get the same to happen for you? Practice.

Try attaining a complete biceps contraction 2-3 times per day for 4 reps of 10 second holds. Bend the elbow by acting as if someone asked you to flex for them. Supinate the forearm and try to increase the intensity of the contraction in the biceps muscle as you do. Finally, raise the elbow up just a bit and see if you can further intensify the cramping feeling. At this point, hold the squeeze as hard as you can for 10 seconds.

The goal is to get the ability to move towards a contraction discomfort over time so you can start getting your biceps to respond neurologically and ultimately lead to getting big biceps.

If you want more videos on biceps workouts and how to get bigger biceps and triceps, be sure to click the link below to remember to subscribe to our channel here on youtube and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

[hubermanlab]

Thank you for the kind mention Jeff. As a long time follower of your channel and practitioner of the tools and information you provide, I'm honored to be mentioned but above all, I so greatly appreciate the incredible work you do: I've learned so much from Athlean-X about training for strength and hypertrophy, adjusting posture, rehabilitating back pain, flexibility and on and on.
I know I am not alone in my gratitude to you and your team. Thank you!

[rudranshputhan]

This man has got a solution to every problem related to fitness. Jeff is the reason I became a fitter person and started eating healthy

[JustAmaanFitness]

Athlean X is a great coach! Wish I could meet him when I grow up.

[GoldenMushroom]

This is actually a really good point. My buff friend would often say that even if he wasn’t lifting weights he would sometimes flex or tense up his muscles or body just for the sake of it. It’s definitely about maintaining that mind/muscle connection

[dimitarvasilev]

Jesse, if you're reading this - you're as much of an inspiration as Jeff at this point, show up more in the videos! Especially to us hardgainers.

[nikharrison]

You should do a complete video on establishing a mind muscle connection for each muscle with emphasis on ones that tend to be under activated like the glutes.

[maalikfazal]

Jeff, do one for traps, shoulders, forearms, abs and obliques.

[noldfragoso]

Congrats from Brazil thanks for this class

[Theoartizt]

I tried the exercise and did feel the discomfort will doing them sitting down on an office chair at work. Thank you, Jeff!

[hittheground]

Jeff got me in every way in terms of workouts using weights and without

[debratav]

These are the gems I look from your videos to pick and I do since long as my fitness education ritual

[TheNiveaman]

WORD.

After several years of training in my youth I also realized that almost all of my training was what I now call "empty reps". The reps and even the muscle & strength gains were there ... but man, does it make a difference when you start putting your mind/your mental focus into every inch of every movement. And in the best case you even equalize your breath to every (full-range ;) ) contraction & extension of the muscle.

So much more gains. So much more control. So much more fun. And it even - at least in my experience - acts as a meditative practice. More mental clarity, relaxation & focus even outside the bounds of sports itself. Cause your nervous system doesn't care if you sharpen your mindfulness by focussing on your breath or anything else.


So guys, put the mind in the muscle. It works wonders!

And just like Jeff said, if you get lost in a train of thought or anything else: no problem!

Just bring back your attention and with every time you do it even this will get easier and easier as your focus gets stronger and stronger and more relaxed at the same time.

Highly recommend

Cheers, keep it up guys ✌🏼

[thebearded]

I train both break dance and bouldering, and i can tell you that theres a massive difference in performance with and without mind-muscle activation warmups before a hard workout.

[IntegraDIY]

Make one for huge triceps? Front delta and biceps are usually over grown like in my case. I’m working on rear delta and triceps, but triceps seem to be difficult, but then again I’m only doing over head extensions 😫

[erniedawg]

This is the best tip I've ever heard. Thank you.

[asparagusmelontoast]

This video really pushes the idea of no pain no gain with focusing on making discomfort in the curl and contraction of the muscle. Simply genius

[dannyspitzer]

I have a good connection with the biceps, as do many of us... but most of us probably need to do this with our other muscles...
Great content Jeff !

[rrralpop]

Thank you so much Jeff. I still can't believe these contents are real on YouTube for everyone to learn.
No homo but I love you Jeff, you are a blessing to this world

[athleanx]

*NOTIFICATION SQUAD GIVEAWAY* - Alright guys, I’m giving away a complete 30 Day Workout program to 100 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! Remember, this is NOT THE FIRST 100, but those randomly selected within the first hour the video is published. Click the link to see if you’ve won. No strings attached! 

If you don’t win, no worries, you’re not going away empty handed. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…

[mclanesmith]

I noticed the mind muscle connection yesterday while at the gym. When I was running everyday I could flex my calves and control them completely but now running a few times a week I've lost a lot of it