The biceps are often identifiable with muscularity and, hence, you tend to see the biceps gaining a large amount of attention in the gym. However, the biceps, being a fairly small muscle group in comparison to some others, do not need hours of work to develop. The biceps receive much secondary work, for example, when you are doing your back exercises. For overall development of the biceps region, a variety of exercises should be chosen:

---

Barbell Curls

The bread and butter of your biceps training program should be this exercise. Keep your upper body stable throughout the movement and allow for a good stretch at the bottom. Leaning back or swinging the weight increases the risk for injury so lighten the load and go for strict form (leaning against a wall can help you maintain form). You can do curls using a straight barbell or a cambered (zig zag) bar. The cambered bar is easier on the wrists and allows you to vary the grip as well thus targeting different muscles in the arm.

---

Hammer Curls

A good biceps exercise using dumbbells. This exercise also works your brachialis muscle which is located under the bicep and, for you grapplers out there, will turn that choking technique into a permanent vice grip. The exercise can be done both sitting or standing, however, the sitting position is preferred as it decreases the amount of momentum in the lift. Lifting with momentum helps the dumbbell up but works the muscle less. Start with the dumbbell hanging to your side and your palm facing towards the inside. Raise the dumbell up past parallel but still keep your palm facing to the inside. Doing this exercise with palm facing up isolates the bicpes a little more.

---

Concentration Curls

An excellent isolation exercise for the biceps. Bodybuilders use this exercise to give the biceps that high "peak", however, it is still a good exercise for biceps strength building. Start the exercise in a sitting position and leaning forward with your back straight. With a dumbbell in hand, brace your elbow on your inner thigh and let the weight hang down between your feet to give you a good stretch. Be careful not to just drop the weight as you could hyper-extend and injure your elbow. Curl the dumbell up to your chest and then slowly back down to repeat. Keep the weight manageable and the form very strict.

---

Back to Fitness Main Page
Strength Training
Chest
Back
Triceps
Legs
Shoulders
Wrist
Neck/Traps