Got 15 Minutes And Dumbbells? Tone Your Arms With This Biceps Workout
If you wanted to show off how strong you were, you would probably flex your biceps—those muscles on the front of your upper arms between your elbows and shoulders. But incorporating biceps exercises is important for reasons far beyond aesthetics.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of these muscles, which are called into action any time you bend your elbows, lift or pull something, or rotate the forearms. Basically, if you’re doing anything from twisting a bottle cap to opening a door, you can thank your biceps.
As the “bi” in biceps indicates, they are made up of two sections: the long head and the short head. When you select the best exercises to strengthen your biceps, you’re going to want moves that work both parts, and this will become especially important for intermediate and advanced lifters looking to make further gains.
While it’s easy to turn to the tried-and-true biceps curls, if that move is growing stale, not giving you further results, or creates discomfort, we’ve got a list of other exercises and two extra-challenging complexes that will get your biceps burning.
Meet the experts: Tatiana Lampa is an ACSM-certified trainer, a corrective exercise specialist, and the creator of the Training with T app. Colette Nguyen, CPT, is an ACE-certified personal trainer and trainer at Soho Strength Lab.
How long does it take to build your biceps strength and size?
When it comes to seeing results for all the effort you’re putting into your biceps, we’ve got good news: You may see improvement as soon as the following week. “Muscles are pretty quick to adapt to the stress that you put on them,” says Colette Nguyen, CPT, trainer at Soho Strength Lab. “I wouldn’t normally give it more than two weeks to see strength gains for the novice lifter.”
Each person is a little different, though. As you become an intermediate or advanced lifter, it may take longer to notice changes, and other factors like nutrition also play a big role in the timeline.
Targeting your biceps once a week on the low end should be enough to maintain their health. But if your goal is to grow the muscles, “that’s when you want to start exploring the concepts of frequency, intensity, and specificity of the exercises,” Nguyen explains.
It’s all about making sure your muscles are getting a “stimulus,” or reaching a point of fatigue. “At the end of the day, you want to overload the muscle either through volume or intensity,” Nguyen says. Overloading your biceps effectively is all about finding the right balance of number of reps, weight, and the exercise itself.
How To Know If You’re Working Your Biceps Effectively
Just like with building strength in other muscles, you’re going to want to find the right volume and intensity when working your biceps, Nguyen says. “The biggest mistake [people make when building biceps strength] is not working at a volume or intensity that generates a correct stimulus,” she says.
For instance, if you’re doing endless hammer curls but not feeling the burn in your biceps, you might want to consider changing the exercise (and luckily we’ve got you covered with a list ahead!). If you reach the end of a set and feel nothing, that’s your call to increase the weight by an amount anywhere between 1 and 5 pounds, Nguyen says. (Pro tip: Nguyen says 1 to 2.5 pounds is a “cozy” increase for women targeting small muscle groups.)
You’ll know you found the perfect combo of volume and intensity when you notice your rep pacing falling off. “The minute you feel your pacing being disrupted, you’re at the point of fatigue because at this point you can’t maintain the consistency of repetition,” Nguyen says. “Even if you wanted to maintain the pace, you end up slowing down compared to when you first started the set.” In addition to a slower pace, your form will deteriorate slightly, but you should keep going past the initial discomfort for two to five more reps, Nguyen says.
While you’re pushing past discomfort, you should never feel pain. If you start to feel pain while exercising your biceps or feel pain in your shoulder the next day, that could be a signal you’re overtraining your biceps.
13 Best Biceps Exercises
Time: 15 minutes or less
Equipment: 5-10 pound dumbbells for beginner/intermediate, 12 pound for advanced
Good for: Biceps
Instructions: For most of the moves below, do 2-4 sets of 12 reps. Nguyen recommends picking a maximum of two biceps exercises for a workout. When it comes to working your biceps, it’s all about quality over quantity. Picking one move that you can master and that elicits the right stimulus from your target muscles is what’s most important.
We’ve also included variations on traditional biceps and hammer curls, which will be helpful to readers that experience joint discomfort, but be sure to avoid doing multiple variations of the same move because that could lead to overuse injuries.
1. Supinated Biceps Curl
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells at sides, palms facing forward, and keep back straight and chest up.
Without moving upper arms, bend elbows and curl the weights toward shoulders.
Slowly lower the weights back to the starting position, straightening arms completely. That's 1 rep.
Pro tip: As seen in the demonstration above, holding your palms outward at a 45-degree angle—or, in a supinated position—will allow you to hit the short head of the biceps a little harder.
2. Hammer Curl
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells at sides, palms facing toward the side of your body, and keep back straight and chest up.
Without moving upper arms, bend elbows and curl the weights towar shoulders.
Slowly lower the weights back to the starting position, straightening arms completely. That's 1 rep.
3. Isometric Biceps Hold
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells at sides, palms facing forward, and keep back straight and chest up.
Without moving upper arms, bend elbows and curl the weights until arms form a 90-degree angle.
Hold there for 30 seconds, then lower back down. That's 1 set.
Pro tip: If you’re struggling to progress to a heavier weight, holding positions will help you develop more strength and endurance to get you there.
4. Tempo Biceps Curls: Eccentric
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells at sides, palms facing forward, and keep back straight and chest up.
Without moving upper arms, bend elbows and curl weights toward shoulders.
Then, very slowly (think: half-speed) lower the weights back to the starting position, straightening arms completely. That's 1 rep.
Why we love it: Changing tempo is a great way to increase the stimulus and really test those biceps. “When you move slower, you’re basically asking your body to stabilize through the movement more and, because you’re moving slower, there’s nowhere to hide and you need to be stricter with your form,” Nguyen says.
5. Tempo Biceps Curls: Concentric
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells at sides, palms facing forward, and keep back straight and chest up.
Without moving upper arms, very slowly (think: half-speed) bend elbows and curl the weights toward shoulders.
Then, lower the weights back to the starting position at a regular pace, straightening arms completely. That's 1 rep.
6. Write Your Name
How to:
Start standing holding a single dumbbell in both hands.
Extend arms out in front at chest height. Slowly and with control, write your name in the air. Each letter is a rep.
Pro tip: This is a great exercise to get beginners moving and engaging their biceps but should not be included in a long-term exercise plan since there isn’t a way to increase intensity.
7. Curtsy Lunge With Biceps Curl
How to:
Stand with feet hip-width apart, with a dumbbell in each hand.
Take a big step back with left leg, crossing it behind right. Bend knees and lower hips until right thigh is nearly parallel to the floor. At the same time, bend elbows and bring the weights toward shoulders.
Return to start. That's 1 rep. Complete all reps on one side before switching to the other.
Pro tip: Pairing a lower body exercise with an upper body one might help you feel more active, but make sure you’re able to do both components correctly—otherwise it’s best to do them on their own.
8. Plié Squat With Biceps Curl
How to:
Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes pointed out at 45 degrees, torso leaned slightly forward. Hold a set of dumbbells in hands.
Inhale as you bend knees and sink hips down until thighs are parallel to the floor, and lower the dumbbells at the same time.
Exhale and drive through heels back to starting position as you bend elbows and bring the dumbbells toward shoulders. That's 1 rep.
9. Zottman Curl
How to:
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding weights in front of you, palms facing forward.
Without moving upper arms, slowly curl the weights toward shoulders.
At the top of the curl, rotate wrists inward so palms face forward. Slowly lower them in that position.
Rotate wrists and dumbbells back to the starting position. That's 1 rep.
10. 21s Biceps Curl Complex
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells in hands, and bend elbows so they're 90 degrees.
Without moving upper arms, curl the weights toward shoulders, then lower back down to the starting point. Repeat this 21 times.
Then, from 90 degrees, lower weights all the way down, until arms are fully extended. Bring them back up to the starting point. Repeat this 21 times.
Then, complete a full biceps curl. Repeat this 21 times.
Next, do all three moves for 20 reps, then 19, etc. until you've reached 1 rep.
Pro tip: If you’re doing the 21s biceps curl complex, you shouldn’t do an additional move that targets the biceps because it would overwork them.
11. 21s Hammer Curl Complex
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells in hands, with the weights facing toward the side of body, and bend elbows so they're 90 degrees.
Without moving upper arms, curl the weights toward shoulders, then lower back down to the starting point. Repeat this 21 times.
Then, from 90 degrees, lower your weights all the way down, until arms are fully extended. Bring them back up to the starting point. Repeat this 21 times.
Then, complete a full hammer curl. Repeat this 21 times.
Next, do all three moves for 20 reps, then 19, etc. until you've reached 1 rep.
Pro tip: If you’re doing this complex, you shouldn’t do an additional move that targets the biceps because it would overwork them.
12. Wide Biceps Curl
How to:
Hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand. Glue elbows to sides, but hold forearms out at a 45-degree angle away from your body.
Without moving upper arms, bend elbows and curl the weights toward shoulders.
Slowly lower the weights back to the starting position, straightening arms completely. That's 1 rep.
Why we love it: Depending on your joint function, a wide curl might be a good variation if a regular biceps curl feels uncomfortable in the wrists.
13. Crossbody Alternating Biceps Curl
How to:
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, with a dumbbell in each hand. Palms should be resting against the front of thighs.
Keeping elbow glued to side, raise one dumbbell toward shoulder. Return to start.
Repeat on the other side. That's 1 rep.
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