Biceps exercises

Biceps: 80+ exercises in the FitRay library, each with the muscles it works, step-by-step instructions, the equipment it needs and its own common mistakes.

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How the biceps work

The biceps brachii has two heads, long and short, which join at the elbow. It bends the elbow and turns the palm up, and the long head also crosses the shoulder. Under it lies the brachialis, a pure elbow-bender that pushes the biceps up and adds thickness to the arm. In the forearm, the brachioradialis helps most when the palm faces in, as in a hammer curl.

How to train it

Curls are the backbone. Change the grip and the arm angle to share out the work: palms up for the biceps, palms in for the brachialis and forearm, arms behind the body (as on an incline bench) to stretch the long head.

The biceps also work in every row and pull-up, so a few hard sets of curls twice a week is usually enough. Keep the elbows still and lower the weight slowly. Swinging the body moves more weight but trains the arms less.

Six to start with

  1. 1
    BeginnerBarbell Curl

    The heavy basic curl. Both arms lift together, so it is easy to load and track.

  2. 2
    IntermediateIncline Dumbbell Curl

    Lying back puts the arms behind the body and works the biceps from a full stretch.

  3. 3
    BeginnerHammer Curl

    The neutral grip brings in the brachialis and forearm for a thicker-looking arm.

  4. 4
    IntermediatePreacher Curl

    The pad stops any swinging, so the biceps do all the work.

  5. 5
    BeginnerCable Curl

    The cable keeps the load on through the whole curl, top included.

  6. 6
    IntermediateBayesian Cable Curl

    Facing away from the cable trains the biceps hardest at full stretch, behind the body.

All 80+ biceps exercises