Smash and Grow 3 Exercise Bicep Workout

I have genetically freaky triceps. Because of how large and full my triceps appear, I am hit with the same assumption over and over again on social media:

Dude, your arms must be at least 19 inches!

They aren't. Not even close. It's called the illusion of size. Because of how naturally full my triceps appear, they make my arms look much larger than they actually are.

The truth is this: My arms are only 17.5" at 18% body fat. If I were to get lean and mean, say 12% body fat, I'd probably be lucky to still have 17 inches.

Related: Best Biceps Workouts for Exceptional Arm Size Gains

But one fact about my arms isn't smoke and mirrors. My bicep aesthetics and size are naturally awful. Sure, when my arms are hanging at my side my biceps look impressive. I have long biceps, and they look darn good when I'm not flexing them.

But when I flex and perform a double biceps shot... Good lord! My bicep size looks pitiful.

Recently that started to change. I decided to break free from the same old, same old bicep exercises and try something different. And guess what? It worked. My biceps are looking better than ever.

The three exercises in this workout aren't magic. Let's get that fact out of the way right now. With that said, they will stimulate your biceps in new and challenging ways and may just provide the stimulus you need to improve your overall arm size.

Smash and Grow Bicep Workout

This workout can be performed every 5 to 7 days based on your current split or approach to training. We will be forming three exercises:

• Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curl - Go hard and heavy, but make sure to emphasize the "feel" of the biceps contraction.
• Seated EZ Bar Cable Curls - Sit on a seated cable row machine. Using an EZ bar attachment, curl the bar towards your nose. Again, focus on a quality contraction. Also, return the bar to its starting point in a very controlled manner.
• Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down - Reps will be performed in a very controlled manner. Focus on getting an intense contraction with each rep.

You want to make every set count. To do so, make sure to push every set for as many reps as possible, stopping that set when you:

1. Feel like you might fail on the next rep. There is no need to train to failure.
2. Or, feel like your form is breaking down.

The goal is to take every set to the limit in a safe manner. This will allow you to recruit a maximal amount of muscle fibers.

Add weight when you reach the "Rep Goal" for each exercise. What the heck is a rep goal? A rep goal is the total number of reps performed for all sets.

You will add up the reps performed for each set of a given exercise. If this total meets or exceeds your rep goal, add weight to this exercise the next time you perform it.

For example, let's say you are performing hammer curls with 45-pound dumbbells and your three sets look like this:

• Set 1 - 13 reps
• Set 2 - 10 reps
• Set 3 - 8 reps

Your rep goal total would be 31.

13 + 10 + 8 = 31 total reps

Because this number is equal to or greater than your Rep Goal of 30, you would move on to the 50-pound dumbbells the next time you perform hammer curls. Easy.