What Are The Top 5 Biceps Exercises?
For many lifters, biceps are without a doubt their most favorite muscle to train. Who doesn’t want big guns, right? Without further delay, here’s the Top 5 Biceps Exercises, and maybe a couple might be a surprise. Of course, I’ll give you much more than just the exercises, so let’s dive right in!
A Quick Look At The Top 5 Biceps Exercises
| Exercise | Target Muscles | Best For |
| EZ Curls | Biceps Brachii ( brachioradialis, brachialis synergists) | Overall mass, allows heavy weight |
| Underhand Pulldown Curls | Same as above | Overall Mass, allows heavy weight |
| Drag Curls | Long head (biceps brachii) | Outer peak |
| Seated Preacher Curl Machine | Short head (biceps brachii) | Isolation exercise for the short head |
| Hammer Curls | Brachioradialis, brachialis | Thickness |
Review – The Top 5 Biceps Exercises!
What Is The Best Biceps Exercise For Overall Mass & Strength?
The exercise you will always see as the answer to this question is the EZ curl. You may see a standard barbell curl but the EZ bar takes pressure off your wrists.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose the EZ curl because the exercise itself allows the use of heavy weight, more so than other direct biceps exercises. The one con of this exercise is that the tension can drop off a lot at the top. What can you do about it? A few things – first, you can go up to a point just below, you can go to the top and stick your elbows out straight, thereby putting more pressure on the biceps, or you can go to the top and squeeze the biceps hard. You could also perform a low cable EZ curl but the weight drops from you can do with a regular EZ bar.
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
Beyond some of the suggestions I made above, other variations include using a straight bar, dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands. You can stand, you can sit, you can change grip width, and the EZ bar allows different grip angles. That’s a lot of options!
Performance Tips
Do not rush your reps, it’s not NASCAR. Slow down, and perform your reps using this tempo: 2 seconds on the concentric phase, 4 seconds on the eccentric phase, and on your last working set, you can pause and hold for a 4 count anywhere in the range of motion.
EZ curls are a great exercise for intensity techniques, besides pauses as noted, you can do burns (or partials) at the bottom, 1 and ½ reps, or 21’s.
Go heavy (after warm-ups) on these. You don’t need to warm up if you do biceps after back, but do 3 warm up sets if you do biceps alone. (1)
What Is The Most Unique Biceps Exercise?
For me, it has to be underhand pulldowns. Sometimes called reverse pulldowns, they are pulldowns done with a close, underhand grip.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose this exercise because when I was looking for new biceps exercises to try, I stumbled onto this and found it really hit my biceps hard. You can use a regular lat bar, but I like using an EZ bar attachment or a unilateral lat pulldown machine. The gym has two – one uses D-Handles, the other has individual L-shaped bars.
You actually have 3 grip options: your standard overhand grip for lats, the close underhand grip I’m advocating here, and a hammer grip. Give this exercise a try, and if you hold for a 4 count in the bottom position, you will fully understand what I’m talking about. (2)
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
Beyond some of the suggestions I made above, other variations include underhand chins, which helped lead me to the pulldown version (as did Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, who favors underhand pulldowns).
Performance Tips
Do not rush your reps, as noted above. Use the tempo mentioned above, and perform your 4 second pause and hold in the bottom position.
This is another exercise that lets you go heavy. Since it’s technically a back exercise, make sure you are fully warmed up before performing your heavy sets. I rest only 10-20 seconds between sets, but I suggest resting 1-2 minutes. Do not take any longer than 2 minutes.
What Is The Top Exercise For The Long Head Of The Biceps?
The key to maximal long head development is keeping your elbows behind your body. Drag curls are an excellent example of this.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
The average lifter might choose incline dumbbell curls, but if you’ve ever done drag curls, you’ll see why I chose this exercise. You can use this exercise in one of two ways. Let’s say you’re doing heavy EZ curls. Once you begin to tire and fail, switch to drag curls. You’ll get another 3-4 reps using a heavy weight and kill your biceps in the process. The regular way to do these is to lift an EZ bar and knock out 6-8 good reps. The cramp you can get out of this exercise is unreal.
What Are Drag Curls Anyway?
This is an old-school biceps exercise. The creation of this exercise is credited to legendary “Iron Guru” Vince Gironda, the fabled trainer. He apparently came up with it in the 60s as a better way (in his mind) to isolate the biceps. He was a big believer in isolating a muscle and had a reputation for controversial viewpoints. (3)
What Is The Purpose Of Drag Curls?
Besides isolating the long head of the biceps, it maintains continuous tension throughout the range of motion, preventing the ability to cheat.
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
Variations are a straight bar, dumbbells, and a low cable with a straight, EZ bar, or D-handles attachment.
Performance Tips
Do not rush your reps, as noted throughout this article. Perform your reps using this tempo: 2 seconds on the concentric phase, 4 seconds on the eccentric phase, and on every rep of every set, squeeze hard at the top for a 2-4 count.
You can go heavy, but this isn’t really about weight. Of course, you want the exercise to be challenging, but proper performance comes first.
What Is The Top Exercise For The Short Head Of The Biceps?
The Seated Preacher Curl Machine is very similar to preacher curls, except you’re using a weight stack machine, which keeps constant tension on the biceps. This machine also has a fixed pad set to about a 45 degree angle. I’d like to note that the upcoming reference for machine hammer curls is probably the best visual example of this machine, with the exception of handles that allow a normal curl grip as well as a hammer grip.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose this exercise because of how effectively it works the biceps. You have grip options, the angle works well and doesn’t cause you to feel the exercise in the crook of your elbow, a problem for me if I do barbell preachers.
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What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
Since this is a machine-based curl, there are no variations. You can do a regular preacher curls with an EZ bar, straight bar or dumbbells, but the angle may be different.
Performance Tips
As noted, and it bears repeating, do not rush your reps. Stick with the tempo I have presented. Another advantage of this type of continuous tension curl is you can pause and hold at any point along the range of motion.
This is also an exercise you can go heavy on. On every exercise, your sets should be challenging enough so you fail within the prescribed rep range. If your goal rep range is 6-8, but you could easily do another 3-5 reps, you aren’t training hard. Add weight and get in some serious work!
What Is The Top Exercise For Biceps Thickness?
Hammer Curls are generally considered a forearm exercise, but hit the brachioradialis, a muscle that runs the length of the arm and ends up between the two biceps heads. The result is that this muscle can add a lot of thickness to the biceps.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose it because by adding thickness, you’re adding size. It’s also a great exercise to act as a lead in to your forearm work. Therefore, I advise doing this at the end of your biceps routine. (4)
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
Variations include using a low cable and D-handles, using an EZ bar with a close hammer-style grip feature, and lat pulldown machines that allow a hammer grip (as noted, D-handles and L-shaped bars). As noted above, there’s also the seated hammer preacher curl machine. (5)
Performance Tips
The same tips presented above apply here. In addition, you have the option of performing these in an alternating fashion, or both arms at the same time.
What’s An Example Of A Biceps Routine Using These Exercises?
| Exercise | Sets & Reps | Tempo |
| EZ Curls, go into Drag Curls at the end of each set | 3 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Underhand Pulldowns (On your 4 count hold, hold in the bottom position) | 2 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Seated Machine Curls | 2 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Hammer Curls | 2 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
Progressive Overload
This simple principle is one of the keys to long-term progress. The concept is to consistently increase the weight on the bar (or machine) over time. Yes, you can increase reps or sets, but think about it – how many reps or sets can you realistically add? You would have to eventually add weight and drop your reps or sets back. The classic use of this principle is to add weight gradually, and you have two main options on how to do that.
Option # 1 – Add 2 lbs to exercises for large muscles, and 1 lbs for exercises for small muscles every week.
Option # 2 – Implement the 2 x 2 rule. This rule states that you increase the weight by 10% for large muscles, 5% for small muscles when you’re able to do 2 additional reps beyond your rep goal for your last set for 2 workouts in a row.
Nutritional Guidelines
Proper nutrition starts with protein, the most important macronutrient for lifters. I suggest consuming a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, and yes you should evenly space that throughout your day. One example that works well is 3 main meals and 2 or 3 protein shakes and bars. This is simple and logical.
What about your carbohydrate intake? I recommend focusing on complex carbohydrates. Keep sugary simple carbs to a minimum. Also keep your total daily carbohydrate intake to 1 – 2 grams per pound of bodyweight when you are training for mass. I suggest keeping an eye on your waist, as long as you aren’t gaining fat you’re OK.
I also advise consuming around 50% of your day’s carbs (and all of your day’s simple carbs) in the hours that surround your workouts.
What Are The Best Supplements For Muscle Mass?
Here is the foundational supplement program I always suggest.
Protein Powder
When it comes to what protein powder you should use, I recommend Hi-Tech Precision Protein hands down. This is an exceptional hydrolyzed whey protein powder providing 25 grams of protein per serving. It features a special technology that allows the release of leucine (the highly anabolic BCAA) in the early stages of protein synthesis.
Pre-Workout
Yes, there are some outstanding pre-workouts available but the one I typically recommend is Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode. This is the upstart Pre that seemed to come out of nowhere and revolutionize the industry with its extreme dosing, especially citrulline. It literally shocked the supplement industry and gave it no choice but to change standard dosing practice and dose their ingredients significantly higher.
If you would rather have a pre-workout with no stimulants, Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode Stim-Free is a great choice. You still get all the impressive ingredients and exceptional dosing without any stims.
Creatine Monohydrate
A full dose serving of Gorilla Mode provides the suggested 5 gram dose of creatine monohydrate. But since creatine is taken every day you need a creatine monohydrate powder for your off-days. I advise Allmax Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate. This is an outstanding product featuring CreaSyn® patented micronized creatine monohydrate. There’s nothing like patented ingredients!
Multivitamin
Here’s a great multivitamin/mineral formula: AllMax Nutrition Vitastack. This is an impressive product that is a complete, well-balanced formula providing 7 nutrient complexes for maximum health coverage!
Optional
There are 3 additional products I suggest. By using an EAA powder during your workouts, you can get targeted results. Those results are to help you stay in an anabolic environment while you train. The product I recommend is NutraBio Intra Blast. This product provides 20 total grams of amino acids, including 3.6g of leucine and 5g of glutamine. There’s also betaine, OKG, and a hydration complex.
Here’s another great option: Hi-Tech Andriol. This is an effective prohormone that does not require cycling or even a PCT. Finally, I recommend Competitive Edge Labs MPC-185. This is a highly concentrated, patented form of leucine (DL-185 Dileucine peptide), a primary trigger of protein synthesis.
Summary
That does it for this article! To recap, I gave you The Top 5 Biceps Exercises with performance tips, an example routine you can use today, nutritional guidelines, and supplement suggestions. All you need to do is stop by illpumpyouup.com, and stock up – then let’s go train those guns!
References:
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/BBCurl
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/LVUnderhandPulldownH
- Biceps brachii muscle: Origin, insertion, action | Kenhub
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Brachioradialis/DBHammerCurl
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Brachioradialis/LVHammerPreacherCurlPL
Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals Creatine Monohydrate