something is wrong with my biceps

This is something i noticed at the gym today. I have been hitting the gym and lifting for awhile now, and no matter how hard i try, i can not lift more than 30-35 pounds when i do bicep curls. I dont know what it is. If i go more than 35 my muscles just completely fail on me. I try and try and try to push myself to do more than 35 pounds, but im beginning to think that it cant be done.

are there any exercise afficiandos here who can give me some protips on getting my bicep curl weight up?

You most likely plateaud. Switch up your bicep routine and start supersetting.

Do you me ever, you've never been able to lift those pounds?

Could be to a plethora of reasons, plateau, burn out, not enough practice.

It takes approx 2 weeks before muscle mass starts increasing with lifting, that is with lifting 3ish times a week, if you aren't that conistent, you shouldn't be able to see much of a difference, so you'd need to be doing bicep curls about once a week. Also your diet can affect it, depends if you are getting enough protein for a positive nitrogen balance (Most Americans get enough protein daily though).

The bicep is also a very awkward muscle, the fulcrum is not at the elbow, so it makes it harder to lift higher weights.

Don't take creatine though, and if you can avoid it, supplements as well.

Do you me ever, you've never been able to lift those pounds?

greenskittles

i mean the maximum i can lift is 35 pounds. i cant get past that weight

Could be to a plethora of reasons, plateau, burn out, not enough practice.

It takes approx 2 weeks before muscle mass starts increasing with lifting, that is with lifting 3ish times a week, if you aren't that conistent, you shouldn't be able to see much of a difference, so you'd need to be doing bicep curls about once a week. Also your diet can affect it, depends if you are getting enough protein for a positive nitrogen balance (Most Americans get enough protein daily though).

The bicep is also a very awkward muscle, the fulcrum is not at the elbow, so it makes it harder to lift higher weights.

Don't take creatine though, and if you can avoid it, supplements as well.

Zlurodirom

I go about 3 times a week. and I eat a protein rich diet (eggs, fish, steak, ect) with alot of water, green tea, and muscle milk shakes

Maybe you haven't been at it long enough. Maybe you need a break but there is certainly no reason you should be able to life more and more. We all can gain mass until we are 90.

You might want to switch up your routine. When I got to a point I couldn't lift anymore on my chest workouts, I just changed it up, took a little rest from chest workouts and before I knew it I could go further.

I wasn't trying to get bigger like you seem to be though, so after a certain point where I was fine with my body I just mostly tried to look the same instead of getting more muscular. As such its been a while since I really brought up my weight limit and I can't offer you too much advice on lifting more, but I'd check out fitness sites, maybe ask a trainer at the gym for suggestions (where I workout, they're usually happy to give free tips).

This is how I thought this topic was going to be:

Topic: "Something is wrong with my biceps"

I click topic.

Post: "They are too small"

What does your entire lifting routine look like? And if it's bench and bicep curls 3x a week you deserve to be punched.The_Zoid

ill do a 15 minute warm-up walk on a treadmill, then move to bench, then pec flys, then ill move onto some back/shoulder work outs with some various machines (low rows for example), then ill do lat pull downs, then ill get to biceps and triceps, and ill end it with sit-ups and other core exercises

and why would i need to be punched? xD

[QUOTE="The_Zoid"]What does your entire lifting routine look like? And if it's bench and bicep curls 3x a week you deserve to be punched.Neo-ganon

ill do a 15 minute warm-up walk on a treadmill, then move to bench, then pec flys, then ill move onto some back/shoulder work outs with some various machines (low rows for example), then ill do lat pull downs, then ill get to biceps and triceps, and ill end it with sit-ups and other core exercises

and why would i need to be punched? xD

You'd probably need to be punched because bench and curl are the basic lifts that people do to try to get strong that don't know much about lifting.

What's with your lack of legwork? Trying to become top/heavy? Also doing the same exercises every day 3x a week is liekly going to cause a burnout. If you don't have other routines, you need to switch it up a tiny bit more.

[QUOTE="Neo-ganon"]

[QUOTE="The_Zoid"]What does your entire lifting routine look like? And if it's bench and bicep curls 3x a week you deserve to be punched.Zlurodirom

ill do a 15 minute warm-up walk on a treadmill, then move to bench, then pec flys, then ill move onto some back/shoulder work outs with some various machines (low rows for example), then ill do lat pull downs, then ill get to biceps and triceps, and ill end it with sit-ups and other core exercises

and why would i need to be punched? xD

You'd probably need to be punched because bench and curl are the basic lifts that people do to try to get strong that don't know much about lifting.

What's with your lack of legwork? Trying to become top/heavy? Also doing the same exercises every day 3x a week is liekly going to cause a burnout. If you don't have other routines, you need to switch it up a tiny bit more.

my lower half is fine. im working on chest, shoulder, and arm workouts for now

The biceps are a differnt from other muscle types you need to do more reps to get a difference in strength and mass. The common weight lifter does around 8 reps when it has to be around 12 reps to be equivalent to those 8 reps for your bicep. Trust me, when I was big in to I was maxin out at 65lbs 5x in each arm with almost perfect form

[QUOTE="Zlurodirom"]

[QUOTE="Neo-ganon"]

ill do a 15 minute warm-up walk on a treadmill, then move to bench, then pec flys, then ill move onto some back/shoulder work outs with some various machines (low rows for example), then ill do lat pull downs, then ill get to biceps and triceps, and ill end it with sit-ups and other core exercises

and why would i need to be punched? xD

Neo-ganon

You'd probably need to be punched because bench and curl are the basic lifts that people do to try to get strong that don't know much about lifting.

What's with your lack of legwork? Trying to become top/heavy? Also doing the same exercises every day 3x a week is liekly going to cause a burnout. If you don't have other routines, you need to switch it up a tiny bit more.

my lower half is fine. im working on chest, shoulder, and arm workouts for now

If you're not working out your lower half, I doubt it is "fine". It is known that if one person works only a single part of the body (unilaterally), it will not grow much larger than the other side. So if you just did bicep curls with one arm, it would not grow that much bigger than the other arm that is doing nothing. The same is possible for the legs. In addition there is a kinetic chain of movment through the body, if you don't workout the rest of the body, sometimes it will affect other parts of the body. For example if you have poor walking form it may start to hurt your back/shoulders. Another example is the throwing motion seen by baseball/football players, notice they all are told to plant their legs and generate power throughout the body, they don't just throw with their arm, they generate power throughout the body. If your body feels out of proportion, it may not allow you to gain that much more strength in other portions.

This is how I thought this topic was going to be:

Topic: "Something is wrong with my biceps"

I click topic.

Post: "They are too small"

Pikdum

I thought he was going to say too big, make the guys envy him and impress teh ladies.

[QUOTE="Neo-ganon"]

[QUOTE="Zlurodirom"]

You'd probably need to be punched because bench and curl are the basic lifts that people do to try to get strong that don't know much about lifting.

What's with your lack of legwork? Trying to become top/heavy? Also doing the same exercises every day 3x a week is liekly going to cause a burnout. If you don't have other routines, you need to switch it up a tiny bit more.

Zlurodirom

my lower half is fine. im working on chest, shoulder, and arm workouts for now

If you're not working out your lower half, I doubt it is "fine". It is known that if one person works only a single part of the body (unilaterally), it will not grow much larger than the other side. So if you just did bicep curls with one arm, it would not grow that much bigger than the other arm that is doing nothing. The same is possible for the legs. In addition there is a kinetic chain of movment through the body, if you don't workout the rest of the body, sometimes it will affect other parts of the body. For example if you have poor walking form it may start to hurt your back/shoulders. Another example is the throwing motion seen by baseball/football players, notice they all are told to plant their legs and generate power throughout the body, they don't just throw with their arm, they generate power throughout the body. If your body feels out of proportion, it may not allow you to gain that much more strength in other portions.

I still go on runs and jogs. im not keen on doing squats with waits though.

[QUOTE="Zlurodirom"]

[QUOTE="Neo-ganon"]

my lower half is fine. im working on chest, shoulder, and arm workouts for now

Neo-ganon

If you're not working out your lower half, I doubt it is "fine". It is known that if one person works only a single part of the body (unilaterally), it will not grow much larger than the other side. So if you just did bicep curls with one arm, it would not grow that much bigger than the other arm that is doing nothing. The same is possible for the legs. In addition there is a kinetic chain of movment through the body, if you don't workout the rest of the body, sometimes it will affect other parts of the body. For example if you have poor walking form it may start to hurt your back/shoulders. Another example is the throwing motion seen by baseball/football players, notice they all are told to plant their legs and generate power throughout the body, they don't just throw with their arm, they generate power throughout the body. If your body feels out of proportion, it may not allow you to gain that much more strength in other portions.

I still go on runs and jogs. im not keen on doing squats with waits though.

Well I wasn't entirely serious, pretty sure that not lifting legs will not negatively affect your upper body. either way it's weird that you're concerned about your upper body so much more than the lower body. Biceps are considered one of the most useless muscles too. Squats are quite rewarding once you start to do them, it just takes a little motivation. The biggest problem is that you don't seem to switch up your routine, try that a little and take some time off bicep curls, maybe do some pull/chin-ups, and start up again after about a week or so.

You most likely plateaud. Switch up your bicep routine and start supersetting.

ScottMescudi

first off, go to www.scoobysworkshop.com it helps IMMENSELY. don't listen to the "take a week off." you most likely are over training and need to do a 5 day split. you dont need to take a week off for rest. try pyramiding, forced negatives, or drop sets. all help bust through a plateau. btw, 35 lbs isnt bad! but seriously, go to that website and study the HECK out of it. that man knows what he's doin.

edit: also, how old are you?

i would be 19 years old, good sir

*clicks topic*

*reads Tc's workout routine* :( *loses faith in humanity*

Ok TC that is a typical noob routine you are doing, i mean seriously your not working legs? i dont care if you think your legs are too big then just do light workouts to keep them toned, you know that legs release a crap load of hormones after each workout and these hormones will help with other muscle development.

Also theres an unofficail rule about how the rest of your body will not want to progress unless your legs do,

Ok back to your biceps, you want to devote a day to them and stop with this stupid whole upper body workout 3x a week, heres something,

Chest and triceps - monday

Back and Biceps - Wednesday

legs and shoulders - Friday

simple as that, but mack sure you work your less dominant muscle first i.e. work your biceps first to their breaking point and mix it up with preacher curls, barbell curls ect. then when you do back its less of your biceps doing the work and more of your back.

but if all that still doesnt work for you then i reccomend you get this book thats called, "The Matrix Principle" its a body building book that has some great workouts in it that use a different form of lifting,

Because of that book and its workouts i have gone from 184-186 pounds to 217 pounds in 6-7 months and at that time i had reached a plateau and this book helped me get over it.

*clicks topic*

*reads Tc's workout routine* :( *loses faith in humanity*

Ok TC that is a typical noob routine you are doing, i mean seriously your not working legs? i dont care if you think your legs are too big then just do light workouts to keep them toned, you know that legs release a crap load of hormones after each workout and these hormones will help with other muscle development.

Also theres an unofficail rule about how the rest of your body will not want to progress unless your legs do,

Ok back to your biceps, you want to devote a day to them and stop with this stupid whole upper body workout 3x a week, heres something,

Chest and triceps - monday

Back and Biceps - Wednesday

legs and shoulders - Friday

simple as that, but mack sure you work your less dominant muscle first i.e. work your biceps first to their breaking point and mix it up with preacher curls, barbell curls ect. then when you do back its less of your biceps doing the work and more of your back.

but if all that still doesnt work for you then i reccomend you get this book thats called, "The Matrix Principle" its a body building book that has some great workouts in it that use a different form of lifting,

Because of that book and its workouts i have gone from 184-186 pounds to 217 pounds in 6-7 months and at that time i had reached a plateau and this book helped me get over it.

sonofsmeagle

Um...sounds like your just an average guy in the gym. 35lb dumbell curls are respectable but if you look around you next time your there most guys aren't curling 45lb dumbells and above(at least not properly). Most are in the 30-40 range. So yeah, your just average.

If you want to get stronger though you have to push yourself. Not only are you lacking a solid routine but you need to ratchet up your intesity a bit.

*clicks topic*

*reads Tc's workout routine* :( *loses faith in humanity*

Ok TC that is a typical noob routine you are doing, i mean seriously your not working legs? i dont care if you think your legs are too big then just do light workouts to keep them toned, you know that legs release a crap load of hormones after each workout and these hormones will help with other muscle development.

Also theres an unofficail rule about how the rest of your body will not want to progress unless your legs do,

Ok back to your biceps, you want to devote a day to them and stop with this stupid whole upper body workout 3x a week, heres something,

Chest and triceps - monday

Back and Biceps - Wednesday

legs and shoulders - Friday

simple as that, but mack sure you work your less dominant muscle first i.e. work your biceps first to their breaking point and mix it up with preacher curls, barbell curls ect. then when you do back its less of your biceps doing the work and more of your back.

but if all that still doesnt work for you then i reccomend you get this book thats called, "The Matrix Principle" its a body building book that has some great workouts in it that use a different form of lifting,

Because of that book and its workouts i have gone from 184-186 pounds to 217 pounds in 6-7 months and at that time i had reached a plateau and this book helped me get over it.

sonofsmeagle

[QUOTE="The_Zoid"]What does your entire lifting routine look like? And if it's bench and bicep curls 3x a week you deserve to be punched.Neo-ganon

ill do a 15 minute warm-up walk on a treadmill, then move to bench, then pec flys, then ill move onto some back/shoulder work outs with some various machines (low rows for example), then ill do lat pull downs, then ill get to biceps and triceps, and ill end it with sit-ups and other core exercises

and why would i need to be punched? xD

You get better muscle growth by doing cardio at the END of your workout, not before. Though I suppose that's barely considered cardio so for you it probably wouldn't make a difference.

Squat more. Honestly your workout is not the best simply because you're focusing on your bicep curl max. Its just not important.

If you want to get bigger or stronger, learn to squat and deadlift, work on increasing your bench, and ffs don't train your biceps more than you are now. That is actually counterproductive to building bigger biceps

Scoobie's workshop is decent to get some ideas on how to train and eat, but dont take what he says as gospel. Also consider using a program such as a standard 4 or 5 day split, or Stronglifts or Rippetoe's Starting Strength.

Happy training.

[QUOTE="Neo-ganon"]

[QUOTE="The_Zoid"]What does your entire lifting routine look like? And if it's bench and bicep curls 3x a week you deserve to be punched.October_Tide

ill do a 15 minute warm-up walk on a treadmill, then move to bench, then pec flys, then ill move onto some back/shoulder work outs with some various machines (low rows for example), then ill do lat pull downs, then ill get to biceps and triceps, and ill end it with sit-ups and other core exercises

and why would i need to be punched? xD

You get better muscle growth by doing cardio at the END of your workout, not before. Though I suppose that's barely considered cardio so for you it probably wouldn't make a difference.

Also, everybody else already answered why you plateued. You HAVE to mix up your workout routine. Think of it this way. When you really push your muscles, they tear and then rebuild themselves. Well if you're constantly working the same muscle group it has no time to repair and thus you get no results from your workout. Rest and Diet are 80% of your workout. The actual weight training makes up for surprisingly little of your overall results.

[QUOTE="sonofsmeagle"]

*clicks topic*

*reads Tc's workout routine* :( *loses faith in humanity*

Ok TC that is a typical noob routine you are doing, i mean seriously your not working legs? i dont care if you think your legs are too big then just do light workouts to keep them toned, you know that legs release a crap load of hormones after each workout and these hormones will help with other muscle development.

Also theres an unofficail rule about how the rest of your body will not want to progress unless your legs do,

Ok back to your biceps, you want to devote a day to them and stop with this stupid whole upper body workout 3x a week, heres something,

Chest and triceps - monday

Back and Biceps - Wednesday

legs and shoulders - Friday

simple as that, but mack sure you work your less dominant muscle first i.e. work your biceps first to their breaking point and mix it up with preacher curls, barbell curls ect. then when you do back its less of your biceps doing the work and more of your back.

but if all that still doesnt work for you then i reccomend you get this book thats called, "The Matrix Principle" its a body building book that has some great workouts in it that use a different form of lifting,

Because of that book and its workouts i have gone from 184-186 pounds to 217 pounds in 6-7 months and at that time i had reached a plateau and this book helped me get over it.

junglist101

This is something i noticed at the gym today. I have been hitting the gym and lifting for awhile now, and no matter how hard i try, i can not lift more than 30-35 pounds when i do bicep curls. I dont know what it is. If i go more than 35 my muscles just completely fail on me. I try and try and try to push myself to do more than 35 pounds, but im beginning to think that it cant be done.

are there any exercise afficiandos here who can give me some protips on getting my bicep curl weight up?

Neo-ganon

It sounds like your biceptual.

Tell some of the larger more muscular guys in the gym that your biceptual and can they give you any help with it.

Must be a plateau, there are a few things you can do.
You can take a week off, just to let your muscles rest or you can change your workout. That means that you will change your amount of sets or reps or you can start dropsetting, supersetting,...

You most likely plateaud. Switch up your bicep routine and start supersetting.

ScottMescudi

Scoobie's workshop is decent to get some ideas on how to train and eat, but dont take what he says as gospel. Also consider using a program such as a standard 4 or 5 day split, or Stronglifts or Rippetoe's Starting Strength.

Happy training.

R3dx3

[QUOTE="R3dx3"]

Scoobie's workshop is decent to get some ideas on how to train and eat, but dont take what he says as gospel. Also consider using a program such as a standard 4 or 5 day split, or Stronglifts or Rippetoe's Starting Strength.

Happy training.

surrealnumber5

Scooby who?

Squat more. Honestly your workout is not the best simply because you're focusing on your bicep curl max. Its just not important.

If you want to get bigger or stronger, learn to squat and deadlift, work on increasing your bench, and ffs don't train your biceps more than you are now. That is actually counterproductive to building bigger biceps

R3dx3

[QUOTE="surrealnumber5"]

[QUOTE="R3dx3"]

Scoobie's workshop is decent to get some ideas on how to train and eat, but dont take what he says as gospel. Also consider using a program such as a standard 4 or 5 day split, or Stronglifts or Rippetoe's Starting Strength.

Happy training.

tenaka2

Scooby who?

It probably has to do with your diet. Are you eating enough protein? One gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day is recommended (Though I find that anything over 100 grams of protein per day works pretty well). Those whey protein shakes are great - drink one immediately after your workout and it gives your muscles that initial blast of fast-absorbing protein they need, then eat a good meal an hour or so after your workout. Go over to bodybuilding.com and they've got a huge selection of protein shake mixes.

The most overlooked fact with bodybuilding is that if you don't eat enough to give your muscles the fuel they need to grow, then they can't grow.

As far as your bicep curls, just eat, work out, and it will take as long as it takes.

You could also employ a bit of cheating as well. Put a few more more pounds on the bar and use a bit of swinging to get it going. You'll be able to do a few rep's that way, and it will put it into your head that you CAN do it. Of course maintaining strict form should always be standard practice, but to get over a plateau a little cheating can be helpful.

[QUOTE="sonofsmeagle"]

*clicks topic*

*reads Tc's workout routine* :( *loses faith in humanity*

Ok TC that is a typical noob routine you are doing, i mean seriously your not working legs? i dont care if you think your legs are too big then just do light workouts to keep them toned, you know that legs release a crap load of hormones after each workout and these hormones will help with other muscle development.

Also theres an unofficail rule about how the rest of your body will not want to progress unless your legs do,

Ok back to your biceps, you want to devote a day to them and stop with this stupid whole upper body workout 3x a week, heres something,

Chest and triceps - monday

Back and Biceps - Wednesday

legs and shoulders - Friday

simple as that, but mack sure you work your less dominant muscle first i.e. work your biceps first to their breaking point and mix it up with preacher curls, barbell curls ect. then when you do back its less of your biceps doing the work and more of your back.

but if all that still doesnt work for you then i reccomend you get this book thats called, "The Matrix Principle" its a body building book that has some great workouts in it that use a different form of lifting,

Because of that book and its workouts i have gone from 184-186 pounds to 217 pounds in 6-7 months and at that time i had reached a plateau and this book helped me get over it.

junglist101

It probably has to do with your diet. Are you eating enough protein? One gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day is recommended (Though I find that anything over 100 grams of protein per day works pretty well). Those whey protein shakes are great - drink one immediately after your workout and it gives your muscles that initial blast of fast-absorbing protein they need, then eat a good meal an hour or so after your workout. Go over to bodybuilding.com and they've got a huge selection of protein shake mixes.

The most overlooked fact with bodybuilding is that if you don't eat enough to give your muscles the fuel they need to grow, then they can't grow.

As far as your bicep curls, just eat, work out, and it will take as long as it takes.

Jackc8

*clicks topic*

*reads Tc's workout routine* :( *loses faith in humanity*

Ok TC that is a typical noob routine you are doing, i mean seriously your not working legs? i dont care if you think your legs are too big then just do light workouts to keep them toned, you know that legs release a crap load of hormones after each workout and these hormones will help with other muscle development.

Also theres an unofficail rule about how the rest of your body will not want to progress unless your legs do,

Ok back to your biceps, you want to devote a day to them and stop with this stupid whole upper body workout 3x a week, heres something,

Chest and triceps - monday

Back and Biceps - Wednesday

legs and shoulders - Friday

simple as that, but mack sure you work your less dominant muscle first i.e. work your biceps first to their breaking point and mix it up with preacher curls, barbell curls ect. then when you do back its less of your biceps doing the work and more of your back.

but if all that still doesnt work for you then i reccomend you get this book thats called, "The Matrix Principle" its a body building book that has some great workouts in it that use a different form of lifting,

Because of that book and its workouts i have gone from 184-186 pounds to 217 pounds in 6-7 months and at that time i had reached a plateau and this book helped me get over it.

sonofsmeagle

I rather like my workout plan though. it really works well for my schedule, and im definately feeling and seeing results

except for my biceps obviously. i might just take a break with biceps for awhile

Some ideas that have worked for me:

1. Try doing curls earlier or first during your routine so you can devote more energy to them.

2. Try isolating your brachialis more by doing preacher curls in addition to regular curls.

3. Try doing a small amount of additional weight even if you fail after 1 or 2 reps, then continue with your normal weight.