Every fitness enthusiast dreams of having arms that fill up the sleeves of every t-shirt, but what exactly are the best exercises for big and strong biceps? In this article we will cover 5 exercises and give you more information that will help you develop your biceps.
1. Dumbbell curls
The dumbbell curl is one of the most famous bicep exercises out there and it is not for nothing. It is one of the simplest, yet one of the best exercises for the biceps. It is important that during this exercise you keep your arms close to your body and that you only let your biceps do the work. You have to move the weights and the weights shouldn’t move you, so don’t swing your arms too much ;).
Rotate your little finger inwards while raising the dumbbell for optimal contraction. It is also very important that you move the dumbbell down slowly and in a controlled manner. The eccentric phases of the movement (lowering the weight down) is actually even more important for the development of your muscles than the concentric phases (moving up).
2. Hammer curls
The Hammer curl is a variation of the dumbbell curl. This variation focuses more on the extended part of your biceps (the brachialis). In this exercise you don’t turn the little finger in, but let the little finger point down when you move the dumbbell up. Also with this exercise it is very important that you only let the bicep do the work and that you do not swing the weights. Also in this exercise you have to move the weights back down slowly and in a controlled manner.
3. Concentration curls
Another good biceps exercise is the concentration curl. The advantage of this exercise is that it is a lot harder to cheat because of the position of your body. During this exercise, press your elbow against the inside of your thigh and let the weight hang. Also in this exercise it is important to turn your little finger inwards while moving the weight upwards. It is also important that you move the dumbbell downwards in a controlled manner.
4. Barbell curls
One of the best biceps exercises for mass is the barbell curl. Progressive overload is one of the most important components for muscle growth. This simply means that you have to intensify your training in order to keep growing. There are several ways to do this and one of them is to increase the weight.
The advantage of a barbell curl is that you can always increase the weight a little bit with 0.25 KG slices. As you can imagine, it is a lot easier to gradually make the exercise heavier than when using dumbbells that always go up by 2 KG.
With this exercise, focus again on keeping your body still and moving the weight down in a controlled manner. For the last two reps, you can use a little bit of your upper body movement in this exercise to squeeze out two more reps. Make sure that you do not hang too much in your lower back (this can cause injuries).
5. Preacher curls
The last exercise on our list is the preacher curl. Also in this exercise it is very easy to apply progressive overload. Another advantage of this exercise is that the exercise is very safe. Due to the position of your body against the bench, it is almost impossible to swing with the weights, so you will not get injured quickly during this exercise. For this exercise, adjust the bench to a height that is comfortable for you and focus again on moving the weights in a controlled manner.
Conclusion
Now that we have covered some good bicep exercises, it is good to know that there is no such thing as “the best bicep exercise”. Each exercise has its own pros and cons. It is also important to incorporate different exercises into your training schedule. Do the same exercises over and over for several weeks, performing 10 to 15 repetitions each time.
Each week, focus on doing more reps with the same weight or increase the weight to intensify your workout. Perform 10 to 20 sets (depending on your level and goals) per week for each muscle group. Also keep in mind that if you train back and biceps on the same day, you need to do fewer sets of biceps, because your biceps are already being trained during the back exercises.