10 Best Biceps Workout Exercises for Building Muscle

Why Work Your Back and Biceps Together?

The biceps are the secondary or tertiary mover in any sort of back training, such as a row, pulldown, or pullup, according to John Rusin, P.T., D.P.T., C.S.C.S., owner of DrJohnRusin.com. It makes sense to work the biceps more directly when doing compound lifts that involve the back, since this is more efficient.

Back and biceps workouts usually start with either rowing or pulldown exercises in order to target the larger back muscles when you have the most energy. Doing biceps curls at the beginning of your workout would make your arms tired, which would then limit how much they can help you with back exercises later. It makes more sense to do biceps curls after you've already worked out your back.

The push-pull splitting routine is a very popular workout split among muscle experts. This routine trains the muscles that push on one day, and then trains the muscles that pull the next day. For example, on Monday you could focus on chest, shoulders, triceps, quads, and calves, and then on Tuesday you could focus on back, biceps, glutes, hamstrings, and rear deltoids. By having a set schedule for your workouts, you can make sure that you are evenly working all muscle groups and not over-training any one area.

You don't have to train your entire body every day. A possible workout split could be upper-body pushing one day, upper-body pulling the next day, and leg day later in the week. Asession that works the back and biceps easily fits into all variations of the push-pull split.

Back and Biceps Anatomy

The major muscles involved when training back and biceps include:

Back*

–Latissimus dorsi (aka, the “lats”). The muscles that are located on the sides of your back and allow you to move your arms downward and backward are called latissimus dorsi.

–Teres major. This small muscle is located below the shoulder and helps you to move your arms down and backwards.

–Rhomboids. These are the muscles located in your upper back that are responsible for moving your shoulder blades upward, backward, and downward.

–Middle and lower trapezius (“traps”). These guys retract and depress the shoulder blades.

Biceps

–Biceps brachii. The main biceps muscle twists the wrist outward and flexes the elbow.

–Brachialis. This muscle is located between your biceps and triceps on the outer side of your arm. It flexes the elbow.

This area includes the muscles that connect to the scapula, or shoulder blade, and helps keep the spine in alignment.* When “back training” is mentioned by strength and conditioning experts, they are usually referring to the muscles in the upper back. This area includes the muscles that attach to the shoulder blade, and help to keep the spine in alignment. The muscles in your lower back, known as the erector spinae, are an important part of your core musculature. These muscles also play a major role in leg exercises such as deadlifts and squats. You can include lower-back exercises in your back and biceps workouts, but you need to be careful not to overwork the area.

Back

1. Horizontal pulls (rows). To understand how the back exercise categories work, imagine your body in a standing position. If you pull something toward your midsection, you're causing it to move horizontally. Any exercise done along that plane is a type of row—be it a seated cable row, face pull, one-arm dumbbell row, etc. Even when you change the position of your torso, such as by bending your hips back to angle it so your torso is parallel to the floor (as in a bent-over barbell row), you’re still pulling toward your body as if it were erect, and the exercise is still classified as a horizontal pull.

Rusin says that most of your training volume for back should be made up of rows. You also want to be sure not to let the rotation at the shoulder get out of control, so think about keeping the shoulder blades pulled down and back throughout the movement.” When rowing with dumbbells or handles, you can rotate your hands to a position where your thumbs are pointing away from you. You also want to make sure that the rotation at your shoulder doesn't get out of control, so think about keeping your shoulder blades pulled down and back throughout the movement. You cannot achieve the same results with pulldowns and pullups as with other exercises; the shoulder has to internally rotate when using pulldowns and pullups, and people already do enough of that in everyday life through activities such as driving, texting, and typing. The goal of our training should be to move us away from that, which is why I recommend a lot more volume on horizontal pulls than vertical.

The muscles that are trained most effectively by rows are the lats, teres major, rhomboids, and trapezius. Working on developing your back muscles will make them thicker and stronger.

There are many variations of the exercise known as the bent-over row, including the one-arm dumbbell row, bodyweight row, seated cable low row, T-bar row, landmine row, Meadows row, trap-bar row, chest-supported row, and machine row.

2. Vertical pulls (pullups/chinups, lat pulldowns)

It is easier to imagine how to do vertical pulling than horizontal pulling. These types of exercises are known as vertical pull exercises because they involve pulling yourself upward in a straight line, or pulling a bar down to meet you. These exercises include many variations of pullups and lat pulldowns.

The muscles that are focused on during lat pulldowns and pullups are the upper lats and teres major, which will add width to the upper back.

There are several variations of the lat pulldown exercise, including the wide-grip lat pulldown, the neutral-grip lat pulldown, the reverse-grip lat pulldown, the wide-grip pullup, the neutral-grip pullup, the chinup, and the assisted pullup or chinup.

3. Isolation exercises (straight-arm pulldowns and pullovers).

While horizontal and vertical pulls are always compound lifts and involve the biceps as a secondary mover, exercises like the straight-arm pulldown and pullover remove biceps involvement by keeping the elbows in a fixed position throughout. This allows you to more directly target the lats and upper back muscles, making them do the work unassisted. You will need to use lighter weight when doing these exercises,” says Rusin. “However, you will be able to focus your mind on the muscles you want to train more easily, which will help them grow.

The straight-arm pulldown and pullover target the lats and teres major, with little involvement from the biceps.

There are many different variations of the exercise that can be performed, such as the straight-arm pulldown (rope or bar attachment), one-arm straight-arm pulldown, dumbbell pullover, barbell pullover, and cable pullover. Another variation is the dumbbell pullback.

Best Biceps Exercises

Barbell Or EZ-Bar Curl

This exercise is good for targeting the biceps equally, as well as changing the grip to target either the short or long head. You can also use a lot of weight, and don't have to spend a lot of time on one arm.

How many more reasons do you need? This is the best biceps exercise to do if you can only do one.

A cambered EZ-bar is great for targeting your triceps muscles, but a straight bar will engage more of your muscles overall. A straight bar will engage more of your muscles overall as opposed to a cambered EZ-bar. Have at it, if your wrists don't mind. The study found that while both variants of the exercise produced greater activity, “The small difference between [barbell] and EZ variants makes the choice between these two exercises a matter of subjective comfort.”

Barbell Curl Variations for Biceps Growth:

• Standing Barbell curl (standard, close grip, wide grip)
• Standing EZ-bar curl (standard, close grip, wide grip)
• Seated barbell curl (emphasizing top half of range of motion)

Do your heavy curls at the beginning of your biceps workout so you can use heavier weights. If you want to increase the amount of strength stimulus, choose a weight you can handle for 6-8 reps, or even 5×5. One of the most common mistakes people make when doing biceps curls is moving their body too much. You should mostly keep your workout routine strict, especially when you're lifting heavy weights.

Cable Curl

But if you look closely, you'll see your palms are facing each other in a neutral position. This movement is on the list because it is similar to the standing barbell curl, but with the palms facing each other in a neutral position. There are several similarities between the two exercises, most notably that they are both bilateral movements requiring a shoulder-width, underhand grip on the bar. The difference with this exercise is that, like the best exercises for building muscle with cables, the angle of loading gives you constant tension on the muscle throughout the full range of motion.

This means that you cannot take a break at the bottom or the top of the movement, which will create more time under tension. There are many different handle options and body positions available depending on the gym you are in.

Dumbbell Curl

It's on the list because it's a different curl than a barbell curl. That's up to you. You can complete the exercises in a similar manner during the same workout, but it is not advisable. The dumbbell curl can be done in a number of ways to work different muscles: standing or seated, with both arms or alternating, rotating your wrists into Zottman curls to work on your forearms, or twisting that pinky up to focus on the biceps. In short, you have options.

Dumbbell Curl Variations for Biceps Growth:

• Standing dumbbell curl (bilateral, alternating)
• Seated dumbbell curl (bilateral, alternating)
• Zottman curl

After barbell or cable curls, try Zottmans or bilateral seated curls to fatigue, then switch to unilateral curls.

If you are not able to keep good form during your reps, really focus on the negatives. When you are tired, you can still produce more force by doing eccentric-focused reps than by doing concentric reps.

Chin-Up

Why it's on the list: Ever done a set of max-rep chins? You can tell the biceps are working hard during this move. Both pull-ups and chin-ups are exercises that involve a high degree of elbow flexion, but research has shown that chin-ups work the biceps significantly more.

Sets of 8-12 reps too easy? Add weight. Too hard? Use assistance. Too uncomfortable on your wrists or elbows? Perform the exercises with either a neutral or cambered grip, or on rings. Grip giving out? Wear wrist straps.

Chin-up Variations for Biceps Growth:

• Standard chin-up
• Machine-assisted chin-up
• Band-assisted chin-up
• L-sit chin-up

If you work out your back and biceps on the same day, you could use this exercise to transition between the two body parts. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. If you want to focus on your upper back and biceps in a home workout, try strength coach Paul Carter's program Jacked at Home: Bodyweight Muscle-Building Workouts.

Reverse-Grip Barbell Row

The reverse grip bent-over row is a great back-focused movement that allows you to lift heavy weights while engaging your biceps. Although it's not the primary focus, this exercise can still help build bicep strength.

Row Variations for Biceps Growth:

• Reverse-grip bent-over row
• Cable seated row (underhand grip)
• Incline dumbbell row (underhand grip)

You should include weight lifting in your workout routine, especially if you are trying to build back muscles. Weight lifting can also be helpful in strengthening your back muscles. Use a weight that allows you to perform 8-12 reps with proper form, but is challenging enough that you can't do more than 12 reps.

Hammer Curl

The reason it is on the list is that not only does it target the biceps when done with a palms-facing or neutral grip, but it also works the brachialis muscle, which is located underneath the biceps and is not measured in EMG studies. Many people don't do reverse curls because they are not as easy to do as other exercises.

Why should you care? The brachialis is a muscle located on the upper arm. Increasing the girth of this muscle can “raise” the biceps from below, making the entire arm appear larger. Chris Hemsworth's go-to curl to transform into Thor.

A good way to do the exercise is to use a dumbbell, but an even better way is to use a cable with a rope grip, because it provides constant tension throughout the range of motion.

Hammer Curl Variations for Biceps Growth

• Cable rope hammer curl
• Dumbbell hammer curl (bilateral, alternating, seated)
• Cable rope preacher hammer curl

If you are looking to add some extra work on biceps at the end of your workout, try hammer curls. You should aim for a classic rep range of 8-12 reps. You can experiment with isometric holds to create a deep burn that even the pros fear.

Incline Curl

Why it made the list: What's the difference between curling at 90 degrees and 45? More than you think. The incline curl stretches the biceps more than a regular curl. This exercise is supposed to help you target the long head of the biceps muscle and build the so-called “biceps peak.”

Incline Curl Variations for Biceps Growth:

• Incline dumbbell curl (bilateral, alternating)
• Palms-out incline curl
• Incline hammer curl

While working out, focus on the smaller details and not the big picture. Do these exercises after a workout where you target both biceps heads with heavy weight. The best way to do this movement is with light weights and at least 8-12 reps per set so that you don't overstretch your arms.

Concentration Curl

In fact, it even outpaces the preacher curl for biceps activation, according to a recent University of Zaragoza study. The reason the concentration curl is on the list is because muscle-activation studies show that it is very effective at activating the muscles, even more so than the preacher curl. One reason why people might not see as much success with this move is because the torso position limits shoulder involvement. Another reason might be because many people report not having a strong mind-muscle connection with this move. Some evidence suggests that the mind-muscle connection may help increase muscle growth.

Concentration Curl Variations for Biceps Growth:

• Concentration curl (seated, standing)
• Close-grip concentration curl
• Cable concentration curl
• Band concentration curl

End your workout with this light, strict move to finish off your biceps. Choose a weight that you can only lift for 10-12 repetitions before failing.