BUILD BIGGER GUNS WITH CANNON’ S BICEPS TIPS

Follow these three tips to train your biceps smarter and you’ll start adding size and strength to your arms the next time you hit the gym

LIGHTEN THE LOAD

“I see one thing all the time in gyms all over the country, and that’s guys trying to biceps curl a dumbbell that’s far too heavy,” says Cannon. “It might look impressive from a distance, but they’re never fully engaging the biceps because they are swinging the weight up and down so there’s never tension on the muscle. You need to pick a lighter but still challenging weight and make sure you lift it properly, keeping your form good on every rep.”

SQUEEZE AND HOLD

“At the top of each biceps curl movement, whether it’s with a dumbbell, a barbell, an EZ-bar or even a chin-up, try to hold the top position and focus on squeezing your biceps hard. If you do you’ll recruit more of the muscle fibres in the biceps, and that means your arms are working harder during every single rep. And when you lower the weight again, make sure you’re doing it slowly and under control, so you maximise the amount of tension your biceps is exposed to. It will make a huge difference to how big, and how quickly, your biceps grow.”

CONNECT MIND TO MUSCLE

“When I train my biceps I always try to make a strong connection between my brain and the muscle. It might sound weird but it makes such a difference in the quality of the rep. Thinking about how a working muscle is moving and controlling a weight keeps your form nice and strict, and it also helps activate more muscle fibres so you get better results.”