Cheating is a term used in bodybuilding to describe the involvement of additional muscle groups in what would normally be considered an isolation exercise. Cheating during bicep curls allows you to use a heavier-than-normal load, hit deeper muscle fibers, and build mass and power in your biceps. To perform cheat curls with a barbell, keep your elbows tight to your body but use some momentum, and the power of your core, to swing the weight up to your shoulders. Do not let your shoulders pass the line of your hips at the top of the movement to protect your lower back.
If you goal is building muscle mass (which it must be to build big biceps) compound exercises should make up the core of your weekly routine. We’re not saying stop doing isolation exercises, but use them to compliment your big bicep compound exercises.
Compound exercises allow you to lift heavier weights and work more muscle groups at the same time than isolation exercises. This saves you precious time in the gym while stimulating the maximum amount of muscle fibers. In addition, compound exercises, due to the increased amount of muscle used for the movements, are better at sending your endocrine system a “distress call” to pump out more anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone.
Having a good mix of compound and isolation.
If you want to build maximum muscle mass and big bicep size, you need a good combination of both compound and isolation exercises. Pretty much all big bicep compound exercises incorporate your back muscles. So it makes sense to work your biceps on the same day that you work your back. This will make it easy to incorporate compounds into your bicep workout because most back exercises are actually bicep compounds.
