Full Plateau Breaking Biceps Routine!

As you all know, my Push/Pull/Legs Cheat & Recover Program is cutting edge when it comes to overloading any muscle group for growth. This is because it doesn’t so much focus on the concentric part of the repetitions, but instead relies on HEAVY CONTROLLED NEGATIVES to tear down the muscle fibers and FORCE GROWTH. The cheat reps alone take advantage of 2 out of the 3 mechanisms of building muscle, and those are Muscle Damage & Mechanical Tension. But what about the third one, Metabolic Stress?

Well, that’s what the recover part of the sets are for in the Cheat & Recover program. However, if you’re not quite ready for Cheat & Recover (and I don’t recommend that program unless you’ve been training for at least 6 - 8 months), then you can still train with a technique that utilizes all three muscle building mechanisms, and that technique is called GIANT SETS.

Giant Sets

Giant sets are a super high intensity technique of overloading where you perform 4 or more exercises in a row with no rest, and with varying rep ranges, to take advantage of overloading and metabolic stress at the same time. I’m going to share with you a full routine of giant sets for biceps, which can be combined with your back or triceps workout.

To perform this workout, you’re going to crush 2 – 3 giant sets of 4 exercises, resting only 1 – 3 minutes between sets (there is no rest between exercises). You’re going to utilize the first two movements to lift as much weight as possible for 8 repetitions, then you’re going to lift as heavy as you can for the last two exercises, for a total of 20 reps per exercise.

Exercise #1: Barbell Curl (8 Reps)

When you perform this movement, you want to have a neutral-width grip, and keep your elbows in front of your hips during the concentric and eccentric phases of the movement. Also, you have to brace yourself and keep that core nice and tight. You’re not overloading with cheat reps here, but you are lifting as heavy as you can for 8 repetitions. Make sure you take in a breath before you start the movement, keep that core tight, and also make sure that you’re not using any momentum.

Exercise #2: Incline Dumbbell Curl (8 Reps)

If you’ve never done an incline dumbbell curl before, this exercise is very intense, and you’re not going to be able to curl the same amount of weight that you do with a standard dumbbell curl. I suggest you lift about 10lbs – 15lbs lighter than that to start with, and see where you go from there.

When doing an incline dumbbell curl, the most important thing that you have to keep in mind is that you have to lower the weight AWAY from your body. That means you have to tuck those elbows back as far as you can while lying on the incline bench. Your arms should be going away from you on the way down, and should still stay basically in that same position on the way back up. Make sure you are lifting as heavy as you can!

Exercise #3: Incline Dumbbell Spider Curl (20 Reps)

To perform this movement, obviously again you need an incline bench, and you’re going to need some lighter weights because you’re doing a total of 20 repetitions. A benefit of using the lighter weights is that you’re going to be able to keep your elbows nice and high for the majority of these reps. Also, when you’re performing this movement, yes you’re going all the way down and all the way up while trying to keep your elbows as high as you can. But when you get to the top of the movement, you can try to take advantage of that shoulder flexion for a bit more biceps engagement, by bringing the dumbbells up and past your head as far as you can.

Exercise #4: Concentration Curls (20 Reps Per Side)

This is going to be the final exercise you do before you start your giant set all over again! These are called concentration curls because in the seated position, with your elbow jammed into your thigh, your leg is going to basically hold your arm in place so that you can just focus on lifting and flexing at the elbow, targeting those biceps as hard as you can. As you come up to the top of the repetition, do your best to turn your hand in for a bit more biceps engagement, and make sure you control the weight on the way down.

Remember that for this exercise, you are doing one arm at a time, so don’t forget to do 20 repetitions for BOTH ARMS! As soon as you complete the concentration curls, that completes 1 set of your giant set. You’re then going to rest for 1 – 3 minutes, then you’re going to complete the giant set once or twice more (3 times total).

Conclusion

There you have it, that completes your biceps workout! You can use this as a stand-alone biceps workout, combine it with your back workout on back day, or with your triceps workout for a full arm day. And don’t worry if it feels like this workout was much quicker than your normal routines – it’s supposed to be! If you’re reducing total workout time, by increasing intensity, then it’s the perfect equation for building muscle and busting through a plateau!