Learn about biceps exercises with dumbbells and a barbell, which, according to scientific research, use the biceps muscle in the arm to the greatest extent and thus allow you to sculpt your biceps the fastest. Exercises can be performed in the gym or at home using the simplest equipment.
Bestbicep exercisesare the exercises that most stimulate the biceps muscle to work. This effect can only be achieved by exercising with additional weight - a barbell and dumbbells.
Most of the bicep exercisesproposed in the articlecan be performed at home, provided that you have dumbbells, and preferably also a bar with a straight bar and a broken bar. Training with these three types of load is most effective because it stimulates the muscles to grow in different ways. And the variety of training stimuli is key in the plan of building muscle mass.
Best bicep exercises - RANKING
To see which bicep exercises work best, an experiment has been done to assess the degree of muscle fiber involvement when performing popular biceps exercises. This parameter was examined using an electromyograph. 8 trained women and 8 trained men participated in the experiment.
Based on the study, a ranking of 8 exercises was made, during which the biceps muscles work the most.
Here is the list from weakest to best.
Bicep Exercise - 8th Position: Barbell Bend in the Prayer Book
- Degree of muscle involvement:68%
The last 5 exercises in the ranking involve the biceps to a lesser extent, but affect other muscles of the arms and forearms.
Sit on the prayer book and grab the barbell with the grip. Extend your arms completely unlocking your elbows. Bend your arms as you take the weight towards your chest, but stop the movement halfway. Return to the starting position. Perform the next repetitions by bending the elbows completely, and lowering the weight to the middle of the range of motion (so the elbows remain bent all the time).
Bicep exercises - 7th position: bending dumbbells while sitting on an inclined bench
- Degree of muscle involvement:70%
The oblique position of the bench causes a stronger activation of the head of the long biceps muscle.
Place the bench at an oblique angle. Grab the dumbbells and sit on the bench with your back resting and your feet flat on the floor. Lower your arms loosely, keep the weights with the neutral grip. Exhale, raise the dumbbells towards your shoulders without changing the position of your hands. Inhale, lower the weights.
See all biceps exercises from the ranking shown by coach Jacek Bilczyński:
Bicep exercise - 6th position: standing bar bending
- Degree of muscle involvement:72%
Stand slightly apart, grab the barbell with a narrow underhand. Exhale, lift the weight towards your shoulders, pause the movement for a moment, then breathe in and lower the bar.
Bicep exercises - 5th position: standing bar bending in a wide grip
- Degree of muscle involvement:74%
Exercising the biceps with a barbell with a broken bar relieves the wrists.
The same exercise as the previous one, except that the barbell is held wider - about the width of the shoulders.
See also: Deadlift - technique, variants and advantages of the exercise
This will be useful to youBicep Exercises - Training Plan
In order to develop the biceps muscles of the arm, during each training, do the bending of the barbell while standing, and add one exercise from places 5 to 8 (they stimulate the muscles of the arms and forearms in addition to the biceps) and one exercise from the first three ( They mainly involve the biceps). In this way, you will give your muscles various stimuli for development.
Beginners should start with 3 trainings a week. Repeat each exercise in 1-3 series of 10-15 repetitions in each (increase the number of repetitions over time). Rest 1-1.5 minutes between each series.
Advanced people can do 2 workouts per week, but with more repetitions. Do 2-4 sets, 6-8 repetitions each, with a rest between sets of 1.5-3 minutes. Remember about progressive weight gain.
Bicep exercises - 4th position: barbell curls with a straight bar in a wide grip while standing
- Degree of muscle involvement:76%
The same exercise as the 3rd, except that we use a barbell with a straight bar. This type of barbell structure puts a bit more strain on the wrists, but more effectively stimulates the biceps muscles of the arms.
Bicep exercises - 3rd position: pull-ups on a bar in a narrow grip
- Degree of muscle involvement: 79%
Place your hands on the stick close to each other (with a narrow grip). Extend your arms fully and hang freely in the air (you can bend your legs slightly and cross your feet). Look straight ahead. Curl your arms at the elbows and smoothly pull yourself up until your chin is just above the bar. Then lower yourself until your arms are completely straight.
Bicep Exercise 2nd Position: Arm Curl with the Pulley Cable
- Degree of muscle involvement:80%
Stand slightly apart, grasp the handles of the Lower Pulley with the hammer grip and straighten your arms. Bend your elbows and pull the rope towards your chin. Then straighten your elbows.
Bicep Exercise 1st Position: Knee-Support Dumbbell Bending
- Degree of muscle involvement:96%
Sit on a straight bench with your legs apart. Take the dumbbell in your hand, put your elbow on the inside of your knee, and fully extend your arm so that it hangs freely. Place your other hand on the opposite knee. Bending your elbow, raise the dumbbell towards your shoulder, then come back to the starting position by fully extending the arm.
Biceps drop-down method - a way to increase biceps
Biceps drop-down is a method of training the biceps muscles of the arms, which involves exercising with weights of various weights. We start with the highest load and gradually move to lighter weights. Exercising in this way causes the involvement of a large number of muscle fibers, up to their extreme fatigue, which ensures effective muscle mass gain.
Watch the video of the trainer Jacek Bilczyński showing the biceps drop-down training: