In addition to strengthening the shoulder, chest, and upper back muscles, the biceps bulk up the targeted body area. The most popular and common exercise to achieve this is bicep curls. These entail alternately bending and straightening the arms while gripping dumbbells with a supinated grip.
However, there are other approaches to this movement that many frequently overlook. The more variations you can incorporate into your bicep workout, the better your upper arm muscles look. Here are a few bicep curl variations that you can try:
- Concentration Curls
While performing a concentration curl, place the elbow of the arm being trained on the inner thigh on the same side of the body. The goal is to focus the concentric contraction on the biceps brachii and brachialis, as the name suggests.
The back of your left upper arm should be on the inner thigh while you are seated on a bench with your feet firmly on the ground. Throughout, keep your arm resting on your thigh. For stability, place your other hand on the other knee. Start performing your curls on the left and then move on to the right side.
- Hammer Curls
The name comes from how the dumbbell and wrist appear as you lower your arms. You can perform a variety of hammer curl variations to gain muscle. The most typical kind is the standing hammer curl. It's a standard curl version that "hammers" the biceps as well as the brachioradialis and brachialis. Therefore, include hammer curl in your regime if you want to pump up your arms.
Your hands should face each other while you hold a set of dumbbells with a neutral grip. Then, holding the dumbbells in a curl position, face each other with your palms.
- Cable Curls
Instead of using free weights, the cable curl exercise is performed on a cable machine. Numerous hand positions can be used to develop powerful biceps. Standard underhand, overhand, or hammer grips can be employed when using handles. Cable attachments for EZ bars and straight bars are also available.
Stand with your hips evenly spaced. In your palms, hold the cable curl string. Set your arms straight down with your palms facing up. Bring the wire string near to your chest while bending your elbows. To get back to the starting posture, straighten your arms. Repetition should be slow and fluid.
- Double Arm Curls
The double arm curl is a single-joint workout for developing bigger, more muscular biceps. This exercise, which can be performed seated or standing, is well-liked by gym-goers of all skill levels. It is typically done as part of the arm-focused section of a workout including moderate to high reps.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand with the palms towards your body and the arms pointed down towards the floor while leaning back on the bench. Slowly raise the dumbbells toward your shoulders while turning your wrists so that your palms face up. Repeat by gradually lowering the dumbbells back to the starting position.
- Preacher Curls
Bodybuilders frequently perform the preacher curl, which can be performed unilaterally or bilaterally and with any kind of weight (dumbbells, kettlebells, cable, or barbell). In order to isolate the biceps during this version, an arm-supporting preacher curl bench is used.
After setting up the preacher curl bench with the EZ bar curl on it, stand behind the bench with your arms extended and your palms facing inward. Take the EZ bar off the rack and curl it up toward your forehead while keeping your elbows on the bench.
Return your arms to their starting positions slowly.
These are just a few of the biceps curl variations that are available! These variants will help you freshen up your workout and successfully target your upper arms whether you train in a big gym or at home.
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