It’s a common misconception that simply doing any exercise that works your arms is effective. Whilst almost fully true, there is no perfect exercise. We’ve put together a small bicep workout comprising of the four that are the most effective.
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Exercise 1 – One arm dumbbell curl against an incline bench:
For this exercise, grab yourself a bench and set it to a 45-degree incline. The important thing here is to place your arm against the bench properly, making sure that the weight is not distributed over the elbow. This is what facilitates the movement as your joints provide support to the biceps. The downward motion should be done whilst controlling the weight.
For each arm, do 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions. Because of the need to switch arms a 20 second rest between each set is enough.
Exercise 2 – Resistance band curls
With no weight and purely using the resistance bands, this exercise is centred on muscular endurance. Sets of 25-30 reps is a great amount for feeling the burn. The important thing with this exercise is to keep the elbows close to the body so you don’t distort the movement.
Similar to the previous exercise, 15-20 seconds rest between 3 sets is sufficient.
Exercise 3 – Incline curls
This exercise is without doubt one of the hardest to do. Lie yourself on a bench inclined to 45 degrees and let your arms fall to the side. Move your elbows as close to your body as possible and move the weights towards your shoulders. Keep your elbows fixed moving only your forearm as you do each rep.
4 sets of 10 repetitions is an ample amount. Take 15-20 seconds rest between each set.
Exercise 4 – Hammer curls
This exercise can be done either sitting or standing although standing is the most preferable. Just like with the other exercises, it is important to keep your elbows tight and lift the weights towards your shoulders.
Finally, there’s no better way to work your muscles than doing pyramid exercises. Take a weight that you can easily do 12 reps with. Do 7 reps then increase the weight without resting. Continue doing 7 reps until you reach your 7 rep max.
Then do the same thing in the opposite direction. Repeat the exercise two times taking a minute recovery between each set.
Check out the video above for a full guide to these exercises!
