Not comfortable with biceps exercises

[Korr]

When I work my tricepses and chest, I know how to push my muscles and I can tell when I worked them right. However, I have yet to find a biceps exercise that I can say I mastered. I don't feel the target muscle work. I suffer from sudden depletion; 7th rep is fine, 8th rep is fine, 9th rep is inexplicably hard. Usually it takes ages for me to go for the 10th, 11th reps, which I do before adding weight.

I've tried a number of them. With free weights (alternating/simultaneous dumbbell curls, hammer curls, ez bar, etc.) I feel to much tension on my entire arm near the end of the reps. I don't come near tiring my biceps. I thought that it was caused by the weights hanging on my arms throughout the exercise, so I switched to the cable machine.

On the cable machine the tension is no more a problem, but the cable curl (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/CBCurl.html) seems to involve too many other muscles. I feel the upper body get involved too much (this also happens with the EZ bar). I run out of breath. The biceps is still not pushed enough.

One move that I am relatively happier with is http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...acherCurl.html even though it hits the brachialis. I don't use a pad. I just squat and rest my elbows on my knees. Doing this move by the time I get to the 9th rep, I know for sure if I can do one more, maybe 2 more.

Am I doing something wrong ? I pay attention to my form, posture, etc. but nothing helped yet.

Thanks.

[nate]

do some widegrip pull ups or even some deadlifts and some rows. you feel that **** garenteed....

[candyass]

Stop working your biceps for a while and focus on your back. Almost all back exercises work the biceps as well, so you wont be negelcting them. Another thing you migh consider doing is upping the weight and dropping the reps. Try going for 6 reps with a larger weight instead of 12.

[Vas85]

great advice given by the others here, backwork is inevitable to getting bigger arms, there is that principle others state here, 10-15lb's of muscle mass is another inch on the arm, so whether you gain that by leg work or backwork is upto you, but what you can try is lower your maximum that you're lifting and try some classic Concentration Curls, LEAN ur elbow onto your quad, and then you curl, its like having ur arm stuck to a wall which means you can't cheat and i feel it targets the bicep's very nicely.

[Todd]

I'd say yep, up your overall daily calorie intake a bit with more clean nutrient intake. What Vas said is true, you have to put on more lean bodyweight before you can add more bicep mass. Every 10 pounds or so should add about an inch....it does work, that's what I've found to be true.

As far as feeling exercises working, you just have to find which ones allow you feel the muscle working correctly, and then hone in on your conentrations skills for each rep. Don't let anything distract you and use the exercises that allow you to use the most weight while feeling the correct muscle work.

[jimmyv]

Just as an experiment... try doing standing straight barbell curls with very, very little weight (say, 60% of what you've been using for working sets). Be meticulous with form (keep your back straight, focus on not using your body to swing the weight) and do a set until you're tired. Did you feel it more in your biceps that time?

The trick with biceps exercises is that they're some of the easiest to BS your way through -- I can "curl" probably 40% more than I can curl properly. You see people at the gym all the time doing these weird pronated-grip clean thingies, thinking they're hitting their bis. It's kinda funny.

[scud]

Try to hold the contraction hard at the top of each rep for one or two seconds this really tires the biceps