How to Gain Biceps with Protein or Creatine
Biceps serve as a very visible muscle group. Thus, many men like to focus on this area. Biceps don't just help fill out your favorite T-shirt, however. These muscles also serve an important purpose in providing strength and stability to day-to-day movements such as lifting and pulling. If you're trying to build bigger, stronger biceps, protein and creatine supplementation can help you get the results you want.
A young man is doing barbell bicep curls. (Image: Pekic/iStock/Getty Images)Step 1
Take 5 g of creatine four times a day - 20 g of creatine a day - for five days immediately before you start your biceps workout routine. This is known as "loading," and jump-starts your system by pumping it full of this muscle-enhancing organic acid.
Step 2
Reduce your creatine intake on the sixth day of your creatine regimen. Take 2 g to 5 g of creatine once a day.
Step 3
Complete resistance-based biceps exercise training, working your biceps every 24 to 48 hours to allow proper resting time for your muscle fibers to rebuild and grow. The best exercise for bigger biceps is pull-ups on a pull-up bar, "Men's Fitness" magazine reports.
Step 4
Drink whey protein within 30 minutes of completing your biceps training. Consume 0.8 g of whey for every pound you weigh. Unlike other forms of protein, such as whole foods, whey protein is digested and absorbed quickly, and also provides important muscle-enhancing substances such as branched chain amino acids.
Step 5
Get lots of sleep, aiming for eight hours a night. While creatine and protein supplementation can enhance your muscle growth, poor sleep habits can reduce your results because your brain releases growth hormones, critical for muscle development, during your deep sleep cycles.
Things You'll Need
Whey protein
Creatine pills or powder
Pull-up bar
Barbells and dumbbells
Tip
Your body assimilates creatine faster when you take it with simple carbohydrates. Thus, many creatine supplements come with a small amount of sugar or a sugar coating on the pill. If yours does not, enhance your creatine absorption by taking this supplement with fruit juice.
Other exercises that are great for building biceps include biceps curls using dumbbells or barbells. When using free weights, choose weights that are heavy enough that you cannot do more than two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions each.
Warning
Creatine can cause dehydration, because it affects muscle size in part by causing your muscles to absorb more water, thus increasing your holistic water needs. Drink at least eight glasses of water a day to avoid dehydration.
