If there’s one muscle that even those that do not train or workout can identify easily is the bicep muscle. It is perhaps the most famous of all muscles in the human body and every guy or gymgoer wants to have big and huge biceps. But what actually is the average bicep size?
Before I get into further details, I must mention here that the bicep is that muscle that really captures the imagination of every beginner. Not just this, some guys are known to have gone to an extreme length to grow their biceps in size by injecting oils and harmful substances into their arms, which I must say is something that one should never even think of doing!
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Average Bicep Size by Age
Without much ado, let me help you find out what you are searching for – the average bicep size according to age!
The average arm circumference tends to decrease as one gets older. You must understand that muscle mass in your body is usually at its peak in your mid-30s and it tends to gradually decrease as you get older(This is just like the average squat weight that one can lift, which also varies with age). It is not uncommon for people to lose as much as ten pounds of muscle per decade unless and until they train hard and eat a healthy diet. Men who train regularly and follow a healthy lifestyle can retain muscle mass in their bodies for many decades (even past the 30s).
According to the CDC or Center for Disease Control, the average arm measurement for men is as follows:
| Age | Average Bicep Size in Inches |
| 20-29 | 13.3 |
| 30-39 | 13.8 |
| 40-49 | 13.9 |
| 50-59 | 13.5 |
| 60-69 | 13.4 |
| 70-79 | 12.9 |
| 80+ | 12.1 |
Average Bicep Size In Women
It is common knowledge that women tend to be less muscular as compared to men. Here are average bicep size measurements in women according to age:
| Age | Average Bicep Size in Inches |
| 20-29 | 12.4 |
| 30-39 | 12.9 |
| 40-49 | 12.9 |
| 50-59 | 12.9 |
| 60-69 | 12.7 |
| 70-79 | 12.6 |
| 80+ | 11.4 |
How To Measure Your Biceps
Now, that you have already gone through the tables showing average bicep size in men and women according to age, let me shed some light on how to measure your biceps.
First of all, you need to make sure that your arms are cold! What is means is that they should not be pumped up from a recent workout.
Secondly, you need to decide whether you want to measure your biceps flexed or relaxed. Generally, it is the straight or relaxed measurement that is supposed to be more accurate. However, most guys tend to measure them flexed in order to give a boost to their ego.
I must also mention here that the measurements mentioned above are for straight or relaxed arms and if you want to compare your own measurements with the above, then you need to measure your biceps accordingly.
Lastly, it is better that you have a friend measure you up rather than you doing it yourself. This is important for two main reasons. First of all, your friend should be able to measure your biceps more accurately and secondly, there are fewer chances of you doing any sort of cheating while measuring yourself up.
Measuring Relaxed Bicep
Here’s what you need to do:
- Stand straight with your arms relaxed at your sides.
- Have your friend measure your arm where it is the thickest. This is usually the mid-point of your arm and it happens to be halfway between your elbow and the tip of your shoulder.
- Once your friend is done measuring one of your arms, ask him to measure the one as well.
- Record your results for future comparison (especially, if you exercise and want to see how your arms are growing)
Measuring Flexed Bicep
This is how you need to measure your flexed biceps (and no, it is not done with you standing and flexing your arm):
- Sit at a table and rest your arm on the tabletop.
- Now, that are you seated, make a fist and curl your forearm up towards your shoulder as if doing a bicep curl. I must mention here that you need to flex your arm as hard as possible.
- Now, have your friend measure the circumference with a measuring tape over the highest point of your biceps.
- Measure both your arms to see if there’s any difference in size.
- Record the results for future comparison.
Building Bigger Arms
Anyone ever visits a gym is interested in getting bigger, fuller biceps. If you train, it is possible that your arms are probablyalready bigger than the average bicep size as mentioned above. Even though some people are genetically blessed with big biceps, such people seem to be far and few. Most of us have to train hard to get bigger and stonger biceps.
Even though your biceps are involved in almost every back exercise that you do and your triceps are involved in almost all chest and shoulder exercises, there are certain exercises that specifically target these muscles in order to grow them in size.
Some of the best exercises for building bigger arms include the following:
- Barbell Curls
- Dumbbell Curls
- Preacher Curls
- Zottman Curls
- Hammer Curls
- Close Grip Bench Presses
- Dips
- Skull Crushers
- Triceps Pushdowns
- Diamond Pushups, etc.
There are many more exercises that target your biceps and triceps. Ideally, you must not do all of them in a single workout since it can lead to overtraining and elbow pain.
Here’s a suggested workout for getting bigger arms:
- Barbell Curls – 4 sets of 10-12 reps each
- Dumbbell Curls – 4 Sets of 10-12 reps each
- Close Grip Bench Press – 4 sets of 10-12 reps each
- Skull Crushers – 4 sets of 10-12 reps each
This is just an example. You can change exercises every 4-6 weeks in order to get better results from your workouts.
I must mention here that you must not try to increase the size of your arms in isolation from the rest of your body. You should try to train your whole body including chest, shoulders, back, and legs in order to get better body.
If you train at home with limited equipment, there are exercises that can help you get bigger and fuller arms. I am a big fan of Anabolic Aliens and there workouts. These are the workouts that I often do at home when I can’t go to the gym and all that I have is a pair of dumbbells with me. Mike Rosa is an amazing guy who seems to have made great videos on how to do home workouts with and without weights. You must check them out.
Importance of Diet
One thing that you need to keep in mind is that as people gain weight, they get bigger arms. In other words, people who have a higher BMI tend to have larger arms. However, if you do not workout or train, then your arm size is most likely to be bigger because of fat rather than muscle. Even though this will lead to an increased measurement of your biceps, it will certainly not add to your appearance.
My point is that instead of building arms with more fat, your target should be to get bigger while staying lean. In such a case, it is possible that your arms might not get as big but they will be more aesthetically appealing. With less fat, muscle will be more prominent and will look much bigger than what it actually is.
You can also use natural or legal steroids to get bigger muscles. Even though steroids are immensely popular they come with a lot of nasty side effects. Natural or legal steroids are supplements that are made with organic ingredients and mimic steroids without their side effects. Such legal steroids are not just safe but are legal too. The best part is that they do not even require a PCT. One of such legal steroids is DBulk from Brutal Force that mimics Dianabol and can help you gain muscle and strength without side effects or PCT. Check out Dbulk from Brutal Force by clicking here.
Conclusion
Professional and elite bodybuilders often show off their bigger arms that are no less than an impressive 20 inches. I have no qualm in saying that they have massive massive arms and it is not easy to build arms as huge as these professional guys who do so with rigorous training, diet and supplements, including steroids.
I would never recommend getting into steroids since they can cause a lot of internal damage to your body. Moreover, you must keep in mind that have big arms in isolation look a lot less impressive as compared to have you have a muscular chest, back, shoulders and legs. In summary, train your arms but do not spend more time on it. Rather than that, build your whole body to look aesthetically better.
