The 12 Best Biceps Exercises for Muscle & Strength

Are you looking for the best biceps exercises out there? You’re in the right place.

The biceps might be a small muscle, but it holds a special place in the hearts of many, even outside fitness and bodybuilding.

Front and center on the upper arm, your biceps are one of the most visible muscles and often the first ones people notice. When someone flexes – you guessed it – it’s usually the biceps they’re showing off.

They symbolize strength and are satisfying to train; you see and feel them working. That immediate feedback is gratifying and motivates you to push a little harder.

In this article, we’ll list the 12 best biceps exercises you can do, whether you train in a fully-equipped gym or at home using dumbbells only or even just your body weight.

Biceps Anatomy and Function

To understand why the list of the best biceps exercises looks like it does, you must understand how the muscle itself functions. Let’s dive into a quick and easy-to-understand anatomy walkthrough.

Click here to jump directly to the list of exercises.

The biceps brachii (or simply the biceps for short) is a two-headed muscle located at the front of the upper arm. The two heads (the short and the long head) start at different spots on your shoulder blade and join together at the elbow.

• The short head is on the inner side of your upper arm and contributes to the width of your biceps.
• On the outer side of your upper arm, the long head gives your biceps a peak.

Your biceps have two primary jobs:

1. Bending your arm (elbow flexion): every time you curl a dumbbell or bring a protein shake to your mouth, thank your biceps!
2. Turning your palm up (supination), like when you’re asking for a high-five after a great workout.

The long head of the biceps also plays a role in stabilizing the shoulder joint, especially during overhead movements.

Brachialis and Brachioradialis: Your Bicep’s Best Buddies

You also have two more muscles that aid in elbow flexion: the brachialis and brachioradialis.

• The brachialis is located beneath the biceps. Unlike the biceps, the brachialis doesn’t help with rotating the forearm; it’s all about pure elbow bending power. This undercover powerhouse is actually stronger than the biceps in this motion.
• The brachioradialis is more of a forearm muscle. It starts on the lower end of the upper arm bone and crosses the elbow joint. Like its friends, the biceps and brachialis, it helps bend the elbow. It’s particularly active when your forearm is in a neutral position, like when you’re holding a hammer. It also helps turn the palm up (supination) and down (pronation) when you resist these movements or when your forearm is in a mid-position.

The brachialis and brachioradialis might not get the glory like the biceps. Still, they play an important role in making sure you can lift, carry, wave, and perform many other everyday tasks with your arms.

The 12 Best Biceps Exercises

This list of the best biceps exercises is not a standard top ten (or 12 in this case), with the best first and the worst last. An exercise wouldn’t be on this list if it weren’t good. Instead, it lists them categorized by the equipment needed:

1. Barbells
2. Dumbbells
3. Machines
4. Cables
5. Bodyweight

1. Barbell Biceps Curl

The most popular exercise for building bigger biceps, the standing barbell curl, is also one of the most effective. It is a relatively simple exercise and easy to learn, making it the go-to option for beginners. At the same time, it remains one of the best biceps exercises for experienced lifters and bodybuilders.

Stand with your back straight and your arms tucked to your sides. Swinging the bar up makes the exercise less effective for the muscle you’re trying to target: your biceps.

There are several variations to the classic barbell curl.

Cheat Curl

Using body momentum to curl the bar up is called a cheat curl. While the majority of your biceps training should be using strict, proper form, cheat curls are a valid variation of the traditional barbell curl when incorporated into your biceps routine appropriately.

Cheat curls allow you to use heavier weights to overload your biceps, a recipe for muscle growth, and they can help you blast through sticking points and plateaus.

Used sparingly, like at the end of a set, to grind out a few more reps than you otherwise could, you won’t cheat yourself out of any gains.

Reverse Curl

The reverse curl is similar in execution to the regular barbell curl, the difference being the grip. Instead of an underhand grip, you use an overhand grip, meaning your palms will be facing towards you at the start of the curl and downwards at the top of the movement. Reverse curls force your brachialis and forearm muscles to do more of the work. In addition, they are a great way to enhance your grip strength.

EZ-Bar Curl

You can also do barbell curls with an undulated bar (EZ bar). It is equally effective for activating your biceps.¹ Some people feel that the EZ bar is easier on their wrists, and which one you choose is mostly a matter of preferences and comfort.

Use the standard barbell curl as your bread-and-butter biceps builder, but feel free to switch it up or use different grip widths. Research shows that varying your barbell curls can be a good idea for maximum biceps activation.²

How to Perform Barbell Curls

1. Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hold the barbell with an underhand grip at around shoulder-width or slightly wider. Your palms should be facing forward.
3. Bend elbows and curl the barbell up towards shoulder height, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
4. Continue curling the bar until your forearms are nearly vertical and the bar is close to your chest. Squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement for a second to maximize the contraction.
5. Lower the barbell back to the starting position with control.
6. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

2. Preacher Curl

The preacher curl should be your go-to exercise when you want to isolate your biceps completely. You place your upper arm in a fixed position, making it impossible to cheat or to use other muscles to help curl the weight up.

Preacher curls can be done in several different ways. You can use a straight bar, an EZ bar, or a dumbbell, and you can use a dedicated preacher bench or put your upper arm against the backrest of a training bench. All variants are equally effective; the only potential downside of using a regular workout bench is that you’re forced to work one arm at a time, while a preacher bench has room for both.

With the preacher curl, regardless of how you perform it, it’s crucial you use a manageable weight. You want complete control throughout the movement and to curl the weight up using bicep strength alone.

3. Dumbbell Curl

If you had to pick only one exercise for your biceps, the dumbbell curl would be a great choice. It is often at or near the top of the list of biceps exercise choices for beginners and advanced trainees alike.

Unlike barbell curls, you work each arm independently, promoting equal strength distribution and greater muscle engagement. Dumbbell biceps curls also have a more natural range of motion, which can be easier on the wrists.

The dumbbell curl can be performed standing or seated, whichever you prefer. In addition, you can curl both dumbbells at the same time or alternate between sides.

In regular dumbbell curls, you lift both dumbbells simultaneously, but with alternating dumbbell curls, you lift one dumbbell at a time, alternating between your left and right. Doing so lets you focus more on each arm individually and can help you pay more attention to good form. Neither version is superior to the other, so pick the one you like the best.

Regardless of whether you curl both dumbbells simultaneously or one at a time, make sure you’re not using upper-body momentum to swing them up. Focus on your biceps and let it do all the work.

How to Perform Dumbbell Curls

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells in an underhand grip (palms facing forward), arms hanging by your sides.
2. Curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders by only moving your forearms.
3. Don’t let your upper arms travel back during the curl. Keep them at your sides or move them slightly forward.
4. Reverse the movement and lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

4. Hammer Curl

The dumbbell hammer curl is almost the same movement as the regular dumbbell curl, with only one difference: the grip. However, that detail makes it stand out as an essential exercise for your bicep workout and for anyone looking to build bigger arms.

Unlike in the standard bicep curl with a supinated grip (palms up), you hold the dumbbells with a hammer grip, with your wrists in a neutral position and your palms facing each other. This grip variation makes the hammer curl a three-in-one combo for your upper arms:

• The hammer grip allows the brachialis muscle, the most powerful of the arm flexors, to shine. The brachialis muscle sits right under the biceps and helps give your arms that coveted 3D look. Hammer curls are one of the best exercises to build this muscle, lifting your biceps and taking your upper arm size and thickness to the next level.
• In addition to being a great exercise for the brachialis, hammer curls are also a terrific biceps exercise. They are particularly effective in honing in on the long head of the biceps on the outside of your upper arm.
• As if that wasn’t enough, hammer curls also work your forearm muscles, especially the brachioradialis. That’s the muscle near your elbow that bridges your bicep and forearm.

When you do hammer curls, you’re not just getting biceps action, but a complete package that deserves a regular spot in your bicep training.

How to Perform Hammer Curls

1. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other.
2. Bend your elbows and curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders, keeping your upper arms close to your sides. Don’t swing the dumbbells up; focus on contracting your biceps to curl them up.
3. At the top of the movement, your forearms should be parallel to the ground, and your biceps should be fully contracted.
4. Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position, under control.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

5. Incline Dumbbell Curl

The incline dumbbell curl might look similar to regular dumbbell curls, but the incline of the bench is the secret sauce that turns this exercise into a unique biceps blaster.

The incline dumbbell curl is one of the very few exercises where you move your arms behind your body during the movement. That twist puts constant tension and stretch on your biceps muscle and makes it particularly effective for targeting the long head of the biceps.

Don’t be surprised if you have to use a significantly lighter weight when doing incline dumbbell curls compared to when you stand or sit upright. The incline curl places your bicep muscle in a weak position, and even relatively light dumbbells will be enough to put maximum stress on it.

Make sure you’re not bringing your shoulder forward as you curl the weights up. Doing so shifts some of the work from your biceps to the front of your shoulders.

How to Perform Incline Dumbbell Curls

1. Adjust an incline bench to an angle between 45 to 60 degrees.
2. Sit back on the incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand.
3. Let your arms hang straight down to the sides with your palms facing forward.
4. Curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders. Keep your upper arms stationary, moving only your forearms during the curl.
5. Reverse the movement and lower the dumbbells back to the starting position while keeping your elbows from moving forward or backward.
6. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

6. Zottman Curl

The Zottman curl is a twist (quite literally) on the standard dumbbell curl. Not only is it one of the best bicep exercises, but it is also a tremendous forearm mass builder.

It is a classic exercise woefully underused in biceps workouts of current-day lifters, which is a shame because it might be the most effective exercise for targeting both the biceps and forearm muscles in a single movement.

Named after 19th-century strongman George Zottman, famous for his strength (often called the strongest man in the world in the 1890s) and massive forearms, Zottman curls combine the standard dumbbell curl and the reverse curl into one movement.

You start like a standard dumbbell curl, palms up. But once you reach the top of the curl, plot twist, you rotate your wrists so your palms face down. Then, you lower the dumbbells back to the starting position with your palms still facing down. This switcheroo makes the Zottman curl a great exercise for adding muscle mass to both your biceps and forearms.

How to Perform Zottman Curls

1. Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with arms fully extended and palms facing up.
3. Curl the dumbbells upwards while keeping your upper arms stationary.
4. Stop the movement when the dumbbells are at shoulder level, and your biceps are fully contracted.
5. At the top of the curl, rotate your wrists so that your palms face downwards.
6. Lower the dumbbells with your palms facing down, controlling the movement to maximize forearm engagement.
7. Once your arms are fully extended at the bottom, rotate your wrists back to the starting position with palms up.
8. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

7. Spider Curl

The spider curl is a very effective exercise for isolating your biceps. It has three main things going for it:

• It provides maximum contraction at the top of the movement, and by lying face down, you prevent your back and shoulders from helping out. Your biceps have to work overtime to overcome gravity.
•  Since you’re lying down, it’s harder to cheat the movement with body momentum. No swinging or swaying, just pure bicep action.
•  The angle of the bench puts constant tension on the biceps throughout the movement. It also effectively targets the short head of the biceps.

Use a lower weight and stress good form in the spider curl to put maximum stress on your biceps. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility – in this case, that responsibility is not to let your ego take over in pursuit of heavier weights.

You can use a barbell instead of a pair of dumbbells if you prefer. However, getting into position while wrestling a barbell can be awkward.

How to Perform Spider Curls

1. Lie down on your chest and stomach on a 45-degree bench, holding a pair of dumbbells in an underhand (supinated) grip.
2. With your upper arms vertical, lift the dumbbells with control, by flexing your elbows.
3. Don’t let your upper arms travel back or forwards during the curl. Keep the movement to your forearms only.
4. Reverse the movement and lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

8. Concentration Curl

True to its name, the concentration curl hones in on your biceps with complete focus. By anchoring your arm in a fixed position, it zeroes in on your biceps like a laser-guided missile of muscle-building. In fact, a 2014 study from the American Council on Exercise found that the concentration curs is the best exercise for activating the biceps brachii muscle.³

Concentration curls used to be hailed supreme for building a great biceps peak. While your genetics – your muscle-to-tendon ratio – primarily dictates your biceps peak, there is some truth to that claim, as concentration curls effectively target the long head, the one responsible for giving your biceps that Matterhorn-like peak.

Concentration curls are often used towards the end of a biceps workout routine after the heavy exercises. It gives you a great pump and is an excellent finisher for a good workout.

How to Perform Concentration Curls

1. Sit on a bench or chair with your feet flat on the ground, and hold a dumbbell in your right hand with a supinated grip (palms facing up).
2. Lean forward and place your elbow against the inside of your thigh, just above your knee. Keep your upper arm close to your body and your other hand on your opposite knee for support and stability.
3. Curl the weight towards your shoulder while keeping your upper body, arm, and elbow stationary. All the movement should be in your elbow joint.
4. Squeeze your biceps at the movement’s top, and hold briefly before lowering the weight to the starting position.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of reps, switch arms, and repeat the exercise with your left hand.

9. Machine Bicep Curl

The machine bicep curl is, in essence, a type of preacher curl, but it goes one step further and removes any balance requirements. That makes it an ideal finishing exercise for a great pump at the end of a workout.

The primary advantage of a machine curl is the constant tension it provides. Unlike a preacher curl with free weights, which places little to no stress on the biceps muscle at the top of the movement, the tension stays constant throughout a machine curl.

Some bicep curl machines allow you to switch grips, meaning you can also do machine reverse or hammer curls. Regardless of construction, the machine bicep curl is a safe and effective isolation exercise for your upper arms. It might be particularly appealing to beginners, but it is also beneficial for advanced lifters and bodybuilders looking to isolate their biceps fully.

How to Perform Machine Bicep Curls

1. Adjust the machine so that you are correctly positioned. Your upper arms should rest on the padding, and your elbows should be in line with the machine’s joint. 
2. Grab the handles with an underhand grip around shoulder width apart.
3. Curl the weight up as far as possible. Make sure to do the entire movement at a controlled speed.
4. Revert the movement, and stop just before the weights hit the stacks.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

10. Cable Curl

The cable curl is identical to the barbell curl in execution and movement but with a bar attached to a cable machine.

With a free-weight curl, you are the strongest at the mid-point of the reps, but you lose some of the tension at the bottom and top of the curl. With cable curls, you get constant tension on your biceps throughout the movement.

Also, because you’re pulling the weight at a diagonal angle, you’re not allowing your biceps any chances to relax and rest.

The cable curl is neither superior nor inferior to regular barbell curls; they are different exercises, and including both in your attack plan for bigger and stronger biceps is the best way to ensure you hit them from all angles.

You can also do cable curls with a rope, which turns it into an alternative to the dumbbell hammer curl. The neutral grip reduces the load on your biceps but increases it on your brachialis and brachioradialis muscles.

How to Perform Cable Curls

1. Fasten a bar in the lower position of a cable machine. Grip the bar with an underhand (supinated) grip, hands about shoulder-width apart, and take a step back.
2. Lift the bar with control, by flexing your elbows.
3. Don’t let your upper arm travel back during the curl, keep it still or move it slightly forward.
4. Reverse the movement and lower the bar back to the starting position.
5. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

11. Chin-Up

You probably think of the chin-up primarily as an exercise for your back workout. It is indeed a tremendous back-builder, but in addition, it’s great for packing on biceps muscle mass.

The compound exercises you do when training your upper back muscles, including the barbell bent-over row and the lat pulldown, also hit your biceps. However, the chin-up, where you use a supinated grip (palms facing you), stands out for building powerful, big biceps.⁴

Unlike the previous entries in this list of the best biceps exercises, the chin-up is a compound exercise involving several joint movements that activate multiple muscle groups. It is also a bodyweight exercise – you don’t need any equipment besides your body weight and something to hang from.

To make the chin-up an even more effective bicep movement, make these minor but vital adjustments:

• Use a shoulder-width grip (or slightly narrower). Doing so places your latissimus dorsi muscles in a weak position, and your biceps must do more of the work.
•  Instead of pulling yourself straight up, like when you do chin-ups as a back exercise, move your body away from the chin-up bar. Try to curl your body up as if you’re doing a regular biceps curl. That also activates your biceps further.

How to Perform Chin-Ups

1. Stand underneath a pull-up bar and grip it with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width or slightly narrower apart.
2.  Hang with your arms fully extended and your body in a straight line with a slight bend in your knees.
3.  Engage your core and retract your shoulder blades, drawing them down and back.
4.  Pull yourself up by bending your elbows and raising your chin above the bar.
5.  At the top of the movement, your elbows should be fully flexed.
6.  Pause briefly at the top of the movement and focus on squeezing your biceps before lowering yourself back to the original position.
7.  Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

12. Bodyweight Curl

If you struggle to do chin-ups, you can assist yourself by looping a resistance band over the chin-up bar and standing on the other end. Or you can do supinated lat pulldowns instead, although that’s not an option if you train at home.

Most picks for this list of the best biceps exercises require some form of equipment, be it a barbell, a set of dumbbells, or even expensive machines. However, if you train at home and don’t have the space or the money for such contraptions, you can still do several excellent arm exercises, like the chin-up and the bodyweight curl.

To perform bodyweight curls, you need something to attach TRX-style bands to that will hold your weight. TRX (Total-Body Resistance Exercise) is a specific brand and not an inexpensive one at that, but you can use gymnastic rings, which are very reasonably priced, instead.

How to Perform Bodyweight Curls

1. Grab the handles of your TRX (or your rings), and stand with your body facing the anchor point. 
2. Keep your feet close towards the anchor point, leaning back with the cables tensioned. Keep your core activated the entire time.
3. In the starting position, keep your arms straight and the palms facing toward your face. At this point, the elbows should be higher up than the shoulders.
4. Slowly bend your arms with control and curl yourself towards the handles.
5. Reverse the movement and repeat for reps.

How Many Biceps Exercises Should You Do?

The biceps is a small muscle and is also heavily involved in most exercises when you train your back. That means that you can’t go overboard with your biceps work, or you risk overtraining. At the same time, you need enough stimulus to trick your biceps into growth.

Minimalist Approach

The minimalist approach is no direct biceps training at all. Instead, you rely on your back workouts to take care of your biceps, too.

This can be a viable strategy for whole body workout routines where you want a maximum muscle-building buck for your invested time. It also works if you are a beginner or have exceptional genetics for building big and strong arms.

However, most people will soon have to start doing at least one specific exercise for their biceps to get them to grow.

Optimal Biceps Development

According to research, at the intermediate experience level or above, you need between 10 and 20 weekly sets per muscle group for optimal growth.^{5 6}

For most lifters, I suggest three biceps exercises per workout to hit all muscle fibers from every angle.

• One exercise that allows you to use a heavy weight and practice progressive overload, like barbell curls or chin-ups.
• Another exercise with a neutral grip, like the hammer curl, to maximize the growth stimulus for all your elbow flexors.
• A third exercise where you use lighter weights and focus on mind-muscle connection and pump, like the preacher curl or concentration curl.

Do 3–4 sets per exercise and anything from 5–20 reps per set. The heavier exercises early in the workout lend themselves to lower reps, while finishing off with a few high-rep sets ends the workout on a high note and give you a sleeve-bursting pump.

Biceps Workouts for Building Muscle and Strength

If you don’t want the hassle of designing your own biceps workout or aren’t sure which exercises go togther, we have several complete biceps-building packages ready for you in the StrengthLog workout app.

StrengthLog’s Biceps Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Curl	3	8
Dumbbell Preacher Curl	3	12
Cable Curl	3	20

This workout combines barbell, dumbbell, and cable exercises into a balanced mix. Do it twice weekly for best results.

You can read more about it here:

>> How to Train Your Biceps

It is available for free in the StrengthLog workout app.

Arm Workout for Muscle Mass and Strength

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Chin-Up	3	Max
Barbell Curl	3	8–10
Hammer Curl	3	8
Preacher Curl	3	12
Close-Grip Bench Press	3	6
Barbell Lying Triceps Extension	3	8–10
Tricep Pushdown	3	8
One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension	3	12

This is a complete arm workout for intermediate or advanced lifters and bodybuilders looking to add lean mass to their upper arms. It features a combination of the best compound movements and isolation exercises to target your biceps and triceps from all angles as effectively as possible.

Of course, you don’t have to train your biceps and triceps together. Feel free to take the biceps exercises and do them as a stand-alone workout or with, for example, a back workout.

You can read more about it here:

>> The Best Arm Workout for Muscle Mass and Strength

It is available for as a premium workout in the StrengthLog workout app.

Arm Workout With Dumbbells at Home

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Curl	3	10
Hammer Curl	3	10
Concentration Curl	3	12
Dumbbell Lying Triceps Extension	3	10
Close-Grip Push-Up	3	Max
Dumbbell Standing Triceps Extension	3	12

This workout is for you if you train at home (or just love dumbbells). It’s a complete dumbbell arm workout for building your biceps and triceps in the comfort of your home.

Again, feel free to take the biceps exercises and do them as a stand-alone workout or as part of your back or chest workout.

You can read more about it here:

>> Arm Workout With Dumbbells at Home

You’ll find this premium workout, along with many more free and premium workouts and training programs in our workout tracker.

Download StrengthLog and start tracking your progress – it’s the best way to ensure you’re always on track and get optimal results from your efforts.

Final Words

Thank you for taking the time to read this list of the best biceps exercises! Now it’s time to pick up the iron and use that knowledge to build the big and strong biceps you’ve always wanted.

Good luck with your training!

Click here to return to our list of strength training programs and workouts.

Click here to return to our full list of strength training exercises.

References

1. PeerJ. 2018 Jul 13:6:e5165. Differences in electromyographic activity of biceps brachii and brachioradialis while performing three variants of curl.
2. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2023 Mar; 8(1): 13. Bilateral Biceps Curl Shows Distinct Biceps Brachii and Anterior Deltoid Excitation Comparing Straight vs. EZ Barbell Coupled with Arms Flexion/No-Flexion.
3. ACE Prosource, August 2014.
4. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24(12):p 3404-3414, December 2010.Surface Electromyographic Activation Patterns and Elbow Joint Motion During a Pull-Up, Chin-Up, or Perfect-Pullup™ Rotational Exercise.
5. J Hum Kinet. 2022 Feb 10;81:199-210. A Systematic Review of The Effects of Different Resistance Training Volumes on Muscle Hypertrophy.
6. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 1(1), 2021-08-16. Resistance Training Recommendations to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy in an Athletic Population: Position Stand of the IUSCA.