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I have seen videos about how to grow a bicep-peak.I have done a lot of those workouts. My biceps have become bigger but don't show a great peak. Is this a genetic issue? Or something else?

My question then is, which are the best workouts to obtain a peak?

MJB
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e.p
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  • You can only have a bicep peak if your bicep muscle is really short, if you have a long bicep you will never have a peak. –  May 02 '18 at 07:25

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Your definition of 'big' is subjective. I can't really say until I see a picture but I believe it's your body fat % that preventing you from seeing your peak if its not a genetics/lack of development issue. It differs for everyone but your peak might not be showing up due to a higher body fat %. Do you have vascularity in your arms (might not be the best indicator because this could be a genetic factor as well)? Try feeling your bicep out at peak contraction and see if you actually feel a 'peak'. If not try more isolation work with strict form contracting till you feel that peak area burning. But in my opinion the best option would be to decrease body fat.

mobcity zkore
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    I've got around 17%-18% bodyfat and my biceps peak shows.... the reason is simply because my biceps are incredibly short and with long tendons, if they were longer my arm would be fuller but without a peak. –  May 02 '18 at 07:22
  • No I haven't body fat to much – e.p May 02 '18 at 07:23
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    @Unbesiegt That's definitely true. That's a point I didn't elaborate on at all when I mentioned genetics. OP look up muscle bellies. If you have a long muscle belly it's hard to show that peak but you can definitely build it up and add size to your arm. Considered an advantage on the bodybuilding stage. At the end of the day however, those bellies come from genetics. If your muscle belly is long, like unbesiegt said, you wouldn't show that peak. – mobcity zkore May 02 '18 at 08:15
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It is possible to get a decent bicep peak even if you have long arms. I'm 6'2 with a very long reach and people often comment that my biceps look decent.

A lot of the issues working biceps are not getting a full contraction due to the exercises you choose - things like standing or seated dumbbell curls aren't actually that good because once the dumbbell is at the top of the rep (forearm vertical), your bicep isn't under tension anymore because all of the weight is going down your arm and effectively it's your shoulder and core muscles keeping it in place.

Some better exercises for keeping tension at peak contraction:

  • Standing cable curls.
  • Close-grip pull ups
  • Bent-over concentration curls
  • Single-arm cable curls

You can also try doing standing curls with your elbows further back (not in front of or inline with your body) as this will ensure that at the top of the rep your biceps are still engaged.

Also, wrist rotation can help emphasize the short head of the bicep - you've probably noticed when you tense them, that if your palm is upwards the peak is more visible than if your palm is down or to the side. When doing curls you can either do "hammer curls" where the dumbbell is side-on (palm inwards, thumb up) which works the long head of the bicep, or you can curl with the palm upwards (thumb away from the body). If you really try and get your palm past horizontal at the top of the rep, you'll feel the extra squeeze at the peak.

Will Appleby
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  • I would argue that the brachialis and the brachioradialis do about 70% of the work from 90° up to full contraction while the biceps gret the most work from bottom to 90°. Try doing partial curls from 90° to full contraction, you will feel it only in your forearms. Then try curling from bottom up to 90° you will only feel it in your biceps. Learned this from Jeff Nippard. So focusing on full flexion is bad advice for growing big biceps, it will only grow your forearms. –  May 02 '18 at 10:35
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When you want to develop a certain body part then look up to specific sports that have developed them. Olympic gymnasts have the biggest biceps in the world, they have biceps bigger than their heads. enter image description here

How did they get their biceps so big? The answer is weighted stretch, as you see they do a lot of iron cross work that stretches the biceps with the entire weight of their body. enter image description here

So if you want really big biceps start incorporating weighted stretch... either negative pelican curls on rings, Planches or iron crosses.

If you are not strong enough to do that then start using behind the back cable curls and let the weight stretch your biceps for 5-10 seconds before curling it, even just holding it isometrically works too.

Bruce lee used to do this too, isometric holds in a stretched position.

And science supports this too in the Avian study. They have seen a 300% muscular growth with weighted stretch only, the highest muscular growth ever registered.