Biceps

Concentration Curls

• This hits the Long Head of the bicep.
• Really focus on feeling the contraction of the muscle.
• Don’t move your shoulder to accommodate a weight that’s too heavy.
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• You can use this as a finisher.
• You can squeeze extra reps out by using the free hand to help the concentric (up) phase, then lower without it.

Dumbbell Hammer Curl

• This hits the Brachialis.
• The Brachialis responds best to a slow movement.
• Keep your wrists facing each other through the whole movement.
• Don’t use a weight so heavy you have to rock your body backwards to lift it up.
• To increase the focus, you can do alternate curls (one arm at a time).
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.

E-Z Bar Curls

• The wider grip hits the Short Head and the narrow grip hits the Long Head.
• As always, don’t move your body too much.
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• This is a good exercise for heavy low-rep work to stimulate growth.

High Cable Curls

• This hits the Long Head of the bicep.
• Stand slightly ahead of the pulleys, with one foot slightly in front of the other.
• Tilt the wrists back as you come in.
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• You can use this as a finisher.

Incline Dumbbell Curl

• This hits the Long Head of the bicep.
• To increase the focus, you can do alternate curls (one arm at a time).
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• This is a good finisher exercise for high rep work.

Prone Incline Barbell Curl

• This hits the Long Head of the bicep.
• If the barbell is too awkward, you can use Dumbbells here.
• If you use dumbbells, come across the body to hit your biceps peak.
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.

Reverse Barbell Curl

• This hits the Long Head of the bicep and the Brachialis.
• Use a shoulder width grip.
• Don’t use a weight so heavy you have to rock your body backwards to lift it up.
• If it stresses your wrists, switch to an E-Z Curl Bar.
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• Don’t rush! Try two seconds to come up and three seconds to lower it.

Standing Cable Curl (Rope)

• This hits the Brachialis.
• Have your palms facing each other. Keep the elbows in.
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• Try to limit the movement of your body, as well as your upper arms.
• Squeeze for one second at the top of the movement.

Standing Dumbbell Curl

• This hits the Long Head of the bicep.
• Make sure your wrists are pointed away from you as early as possible when you raise the weight.
• Don’t use a weight so heavy you have to rock your body backwards to lift it up.
• To increase the focus, you can do alternate curls (one arm at a time).
• Make sure you fully extend the arms at the bottom of the movement.
• Don’t rush! Try two seconds to come up and three seconds to lower it.

Looking for a great bicep exercise to add to your training session for that killer ‘pump’?

Try out 21’s! The name refers to the number of reps you need to perform, here’s how it’s done.

First you need to load up a Barbell or EZ Curl Bar with your chosen weight.

Tip: go lighter than you think, you don’t want your form to break down before the end. I recommend 50-60% of what you might expect to curl in a normal exercise.

First 7 reps: Starting from the bottom of the movement, curl until your forearms are parallel with the ground, then back down.

Second 7 reps: Starting from halfway, curl to the top of the movement and back to halfway.

Last 7 reps: Starting from the bottom of the movement, curl all the way up and back down.