How your biceps are shaped depends largely on genetics. How ripped and large they are depend on how you train them. This page won't change your genetic makeup, but it could give you some important insights into developing your guns to their fullest potential.
The guru of bicep training, IFBB pro Don Long, trains his guns once a week as part of six on/one off split. However, he contends that beginners with lagging biceps shouldn't hesitate to train them more than one time a week.
Both Long and 4th runner up at 1995 the Olympia, Vince Taylor, believe in extensive use of cables in bicep training mixed in with barbell and dumbbell work. The reader has to weigh this philosophy against Mike Francois' aproach of exclusively using heavy free weights.
Which ever way go, most pros don't reccommend doing more than nine work sets in a workout. Because of the risks of overtraining the biceps, I wouldn't hit them more than twice a week, but there is debate over that number and I provide it only as an opinion.
On to the exercises...
Stand with your legs slightly bent and feet shoulder width apart with a moderately heavy barbell or EZ Curl bar in your hands. Because of the tendency people have of arching their backs on the last few reps of a set, I recommend using a belt.
The movement itself is simple, but there are some subtleties. First, don't let your upper body move at all during the movement unless you're cheating up the last one or two reps. Second, make a concious effor to flex your biceps at the peak of the movement. Finally, make sure you take at least as much time to lower the weight as you did to bring it up.
Biceps, secondary emphasis on forearms.
I usually begin my routine with a couple warm-up sets of barbell curls that lead into two heavy sets.
Can be performed standing or seated. As you lower one, raise the other. Concentrate on twisting your wrist so that your pinki twists towards your body at the midpoint. This supination increases the intensity of the peak contraction
Biceps, secondary emphasis on forearms.
I sometimes do these seated on an incline bench. I don't recommend doing that particular variation unless you're already thoroughly warmed up simply because of the extra stress it places on the bicep insertion points at the elbows.
Depending on your preference, choose a barbell or dumbbell and take a seat at a preacher curl bench. If your biceps are unevenly developed you should probably isolate one arm and then the other by sticking with dumbbells for this movement. Do your weak arm first and then perform the same number of reps with your strong arm.
If you're using a barbell, this is a very straight-forward exercise. Rest your uspper arms on the pad, curl the weight all the way up, squeeze, them lower it down. If you're using a dumbbell, put your free hand over the inside of your working arms' elbow to hold it in place while you pull up.
Biceps, secondary emphasis on forearms.
It's a good idea to work the biceps from a number of angles in the same workout for a couple reasons. First, there's no point in doing more than three work sets of essentially the same movement and second, you may be cheating yourself out of your fullest potential that can only be realized by stimulating the muscle from a variety of angles.
Performed exactly like regular barbell curls except use a palms-down grip.
Biceps strong emphasis on forearms.
You can use an EZ Curl bar instead of a straigh barbell if you like and get the same result. Another option is to use the preacher curl bench.
There are a lot of things you can do with cables. I'll go over some of the more popular movements.
One arm cable curls are a good subsitute for dumbbell curls if you're in the mood. The cable allows you to keep constant tension on your bicep.
Prone calble curls are an interesting variation of cable curls that I sometimes throw in as a inishing movement. Lie on a bench under a high pulley attatched to a straight bar. Position yourself so that your head is under the dangling bar and sit up to grasp it. Keeping your upper arms pointed straight up, curl the weight to your forhead and slowly lower it back up. Concentrate on keeping the part of your arm from your shoulders to your elbows pointed perpendicular to the bench.
As a substitute for standing barbell curls, use a straight or slightly bent bar attatched to a low pulley.
To hit the forearms, use the rope hammer grip attatched to a low pulley and pull it up to your chest. I've seen people face both ways during this movement. Wether you choose to run the cable between your legs and face away from the rack or face the rack while leaning slightly backwards to balance yourself is up to you.
All of these hit the biceps pretty hard.
I personally reserve cables for the end of a bicep workout, but where you put them is a matter of personal preference.
With a single moderately weighted dumbbell, take a seat on the edge of a bench. Spread your legs some and position the elbow of the arm you're working on your thigh. Let the dumbbell hang in between your legs and allow the shoulder of the working arm to be pulled forward so that your torso is slanted with respect to your legs. Use your free hand to stabilize yourself by pressing on your other leg.
Curl the weight all the way up to your chest and think about supinating your wrist and contracting your bicep at the top of the movement.
The strictness of this movement demands a lighter weight than you might be used to. Leave your ego at the door when you go to the gym and just get a good pump with whatever weight you can reasonably handle.
Biceps secondary emphasis on forearms.
This movement is usually called a peak developer because it supposedly contributes to building a higher bicep peak.