It’s that time of year again! The sun is out more often than not, and everyone is on TripAdvisor looking for a one-way ticket to the coast.

With this, comes a seasonal change in our gym routines. Everyone stops what they’re doing to come together in the pursuit of training for a perfect beach body.

There’s no more important muscle in this pursuit than the bicep, more specifically, the bicep brachii (the muscle on the front side of the upper arm), which is very different to the bicep femoris, otherwise known as the hamstring muscle.

What is the Bicep Brachii and What Does it Do?

The bicep is made up of two muscles, the long head and the short head. Their main functions are to flex the arm around the elbow joint, to supinate the forearm (palm forwards) and as an accessory flexor of the shoulder joint. These movements are essential in day-to-day life for picking up heavy objects or even bringing food to your mouth. In sport, the muscle is heavily used in movements like climbing, rowing, canoeing and boxing.

How To Build Big Biceps

However, we can implement different exercises to adhere to these principles and also to target specific areas and functions of the bicep. Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to stick to just the traditional bicep curl, there are so many other variations to try…

Our Favourite Bicep Exercises

1 - Eccentric Overload Single Arm Bicep Curl

• Stand tall with a Dumbbell in one hand and the other hand holding onto the wrist.

• Curl it up with both arms.

• Remove the hand from the wrist and slowly lower it down with one arm.

• Make sure to go much slower on the way down or use a weight on that you can lower with control but that is too heavy to lift up with just one arm

This eccentrically overloads the muscle, causing high amounts of muscle damage and also strengthening the muscle at long muscle lengths.

2 - Barbell Bicep Curl to Supinated Front Raise

• Hold a barbell with palms forward.

• Perform a full bicep curl and lower back to the start position

• Go straight into a front raise, keeping your elbows stiff, until the bar is in line with your shoulders.

• Lower back down slowly to complete one full rep.

This exercise coupling makes sure to hit two of the key functions of the bicep, with a special mention to the assistance role it plays in shoulder flexion/arm elevation, which is hit with the supinated front raise.

3 - Barbell Drag Curl

• Hold a Barbell with your palms facing forward.

• Drag the bar up your chest as far as you can, pointing your elbows back to the wall behind you, keeping the bar as close to your body as possible throughout the movement.

• Lower back down slowly to complete the rep

The drag curl makes the movement easier at longer muscle lengths because the bar stays closer to your centre of mass, putting a greater strain on the shorter muscle lengths, which often get missed out with barbell training… It is also great for the summer arm pump…

4 - Dumbbell Spider Curl

• Lay face down on an inclined Adjustable Bench at roughly 45 degrees with your arms hanging down below your shoulders and a dumbbell in each hand.

• Pull the dumbbells up towards your shoulders, then slowly lower back down to complete the rep.

The Dumbbell Spider Curl makes the movement hardest at the top of the movement but also targets the arms unilaterally to reduce any side-to-side strength imbalances.

5 - Incline Dumbbell Curl

• Sit back on an incline bench with your arms hanging down by your side, under your shoulders, with a dumbbell in each hand.

• Curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders at the same time, then slowly lower them back down to complete a rep.

The incline curl targets the biceps at long muscle lengths and the bench also stops you from using the legs to ‘power the weight up’, allowing you to be strict with your reps.

6 - Preacher EZ Bar Curl

• Sit on a Preacher Curl Bench, holding onto an EZ Curl Bar, palms facing to the sky.

• Pull the EZ bar up towards your shoulders, digging your elbows into the pad.

• Slowly lower back down to finish the rep.

The preacher curl targets the muscle at short muscle lengths so is another great supplement for your long muscle length focused exercises. It also fixes both your upper and lower body into position to constrain you from powering the weight up, providing you keep your elbows on the pad.

7 - Cable Bicep Curl

• Hold a Straight Bar Cable Attachment attached to a cable pulley system, with your palms facing forward.

• Pull the bar towards your shoulders, then slowly lower back down to the start position to complete the rep.

The cable, unlike free weights, puts you under constant tension throughout the movement, therefore making the curl tough from start to finish.

8 - One Arm Curl Incline Bench Preacher Curl

• Holding a dumbbell, lay your arm down an incline bench, while stood behind it.

• Pull the weight up towards your shoulder, digging your elbow into the bench and then slowly lower back down to complete the rep.

• Repeat on both arms equally.

The incline bench preacher curl holds all the same benefits as the traditional preacher curl but is suited to those who do not have access to a preacher curl bench.

9 - Rotating Dumbbell Curl

• Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing into your side.

• Pull the dumbbells up to your shoulders, rotating as you do so, so that your palms face your chest at the top.

• Slowly reverse the movement back to the start position, with palms facing your side, to finish the rep

10 - Tempo Barbell Curl

• Hold a barbell in your hands, palms facing forwards.

• Pull the bar up towards your shoulders, as slow as you can.

• Lower the bar back down, again, as slow as you can, to finish the rep.

The tempo curl allows you to train close to failure, by using a high time under tension, without the need for heavy weights, which may be perfect for beginners or anyone without much exposure to bicep isolation work.

11 - 90 Degree Isometric Dumbbell Curl

• Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand.

• Pull the dumbbells up until parallel to the ground and a right angle is made between your upper and lower arm.

• Hold for 10-20 seconds, then slowly lower back down to complete a rep.

The 90-degree isometric allows you to target the most difficult point in the movement, which, in a bicep curl is the half-way mark, at 90 degrees. This will make you stronger in the harder parts of the lift.

12 - Banded Bicep Curl

• Loop a Resistance Band around your feet and hold either side of the band evenly in your hands with your palms facing in towards your side.

• Pull your hands up towards your shoulders at the same time.

• Slowly lower your hands back down to the start position to finish the movement.

The resistance band slowly gets harder throughout the movement as the elongation of the band increases, making the exercise gradually harder past the mid-point of the exercise, when it would usually begin to get easier.

Keep up the momentum by checking out our top preacher curl variations, or reading our complete guide to dumbbells.

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars & Weight Plates ; Equipment > Dumbbells ; Exercise Type > Strength