Bicep Exercises
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You can then control the negative and get awesome muscle growth!
To get a little extra growth out of this exercise, you should grip the
dumbbell on the outer right section of the dumbbell as far as possible.
What this does is require your biceps to do a little more work at the
top of each rep to get that full contraction.
Trust me, this will help you a lot if you have lagging biceps.
I really like Alternate Dumbbell Curls because you will get a good
stretch on one arm while your other arm is performing its rep. The set
lasts longer when doing alternate curls, but the extension is worth the
extra stretch time on your biceps.
If I had only one biceps exercise to choose, I would have to choose
this one.
Work on progression with this exercise and you will see your biceps
grow. This is one of the best bicep exercises out there and you
probably won't get many that will argue that point.
The guy in the video above is doing alternate dumbbell curls with very
good form. Notice how he controls the weight on the negative.
These are very close to Alternate Dumbbell Curls
and are another favorite biceps exercise of mine. The reason I like
this exercise is because it gives you a much better stretch than other
exercises.
You won't be able to lift as much weight, though, but you will be able
to get close depending on the level of incline you use. The lower the
incline the better the stretch but less weight will be used.
I like to use a high incline so I can still lift a large amount of
weight. Heavy weights do something special for building muscle so
always shoot for exercises that use heavy weights.
You can use the grip method on this exercise too or any biceps exercise
in which dumbbells are used. You need to have your feet on the floor
with this exercise and give yourself a good base so you can use them to
help you lift the weight.
Transfer your weight back and forth as you do your reps and make sure
to focus on a controlled negative as this is very important. Make sure
you get a peak contraction on each rep and explode on the positive as
much as possible. This is also one of the best bicep exercises and one
of my favorites.
The woman in the video above is doing alternate incline dumbbell curls perfectly. Follow her lead and you will have perfect form also.
I like to do barbell curls with one foot in front
of the other to take pressure off the lower back while performing this
exercise.
I think barbell curls are a great biceps exercise, but I had to stop
doing them because as the weights got really heavy my wrists would
start to hurt.
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If you have no problem with them, then they are a great exercise to use and progress on.
You can use different width on your grips for barbell curls. You can also use different bars for your curls. If you want your wrists to feel a little more comfortable you can use an EZ Curl Bar where the bar is curved in at certain points to make the curls more comfortable to you.
All of these barbell curl variations will build great biceps so experiment and see what feels the best to you. Then stick with that for a few cycles through WLC and you will see some good improvements.
Barbell curls are a tough exercise to continue progressing with. I always had trouble with them because of my wrists. Emulate the form in the video above as an example and never go too heavy on barbell curls.
Always ensure you have good form before increasing the weight.
I do really like Preacher Curls and have been able
to do a good amount of weight with two handed dumbell preacher curls.
I like 1 armed dumbbell preacher curls, but it takes so much effort for
1 arm that I don't like to do them because the second part feels so
difficult with the other arm.
I would rather do some of the other exercises just because I am able to
do more weight with them. I do like the stretch that you get with
preacher curls, though.
I would rather beginners start with alternate dumbbell curls and get
really strong on those first before trying preacher curls. Or even one
of the other bicep exercises above would be a better choice for
beginners.
There won't be as much progression with preacher curls and you seem to
hit a wall much quicker with preacher curls. Preacher curls only
isolate the bicep more than other bicep exercises. This is why you
won't be able to lift heavier weight.
You can use a barbell for this exercise, dumbbells, one arm at a time, ez curl bar, cables, and more. Use the video above to assess your form on preacher curls!
Bicep Building Exercises
If you need any help choosing bicep exercises or
other exercises for the rest of the major muscle groups on your WLC
Program, feel free to join the free WLC Space!
I provide personalized help there for free. You can ask me any
questions and get the answers you need. I'll help you design your
program and choose the best bicep exercise to fit your needs.
If you really want to build those biceps, you need to choose the best
bicep building exercises as discussed on this page.
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You then need to choose a good weight lifting program that focuses on progression.
Progress on the amount of weight you lift with the bicep exercises above, eat a calorie surplus high in protein, and build big biceps! It really is that simple.
You need to realize that it will take time to get big biceps. Be consistent and always work on building strength in the muscle building rep ranges of approximately 5 to 12 reps.
You should also check out the link to my weight lifting gloves above. They will help you to lift more weight and build more muscle. I use them every workout and can personally vouch for them. Check them out!
I was able to overcome my strength limit on the bicep exercises above by using these gloves. I could never get past 50 pound dumbbells for alternate dumbbell curls. After buying the gloves several years ago, I've went up to 75 pound dumbbells in each arm for reps! Get you a pair. You won't be disappointed.
