Quote Originally Posted by MartinB View Post
Rip, I really look up to you as a coach but I think that your arms' training considerations throughout the years have been delirious and contradictory. First claiming that chins are the best exercise to train the bicep, than saying that biceps are "peripherally developped by the pulls" and that triceps do the most work on benches since there is the most weight on the bar compared to other pressing and tricep exercises. Now barbell curls seem to be required for big biceps.
I think that it's reasonable and smart to change opinion as one gets more experienced but everytime you talk about arms training you bring up something new. Have you considered writing down your opinion on the matter so you remember it or just refrain from commenting on the topic?

For basic functional strength for every day life (and probably even for most athletes) a bunch of weighted chins will do an adequate job of strengthening the biceps. As you get stronger on chins you will get some increased growth in the biceps.

However......if you want to maximize the size and the strength of the bicep for whatever reason, then adding in direct bicep training will help you towards this goal. You cannot maximally develop a muscle group just with indirect work. Just like the triceps - they will be adequately trained by pressing and benching for most of the population, but if you want maximal triceps development you need to train them directly.

Are we debating this?