Biceps may be known as a flashy muscle group, but they are also a crucial one to develop. Biceps are important complementary muscles for upper body workouts, such as pull ups. The following are 10 easy bicep exercises for conditioning and strengthening your biceps.
Preacher Barbell Curl
The preacher curl is a great bicep isolation workout. Find yourself a preacher bench at the gym and position yourself as shown above. In this example, an EZ bar is the chosen equipment for curling. EZ bar is a great alternative option if you find the regular barbell uncomfortable on your wrist.
Standing Barbell Curl
Standing up while doing barbell curls requires you to tighten your core to keep your body balance and still during this exercise. Once you have gotten used to curling with an EZ bar and no longer find discomforts in your wrist, try switching to curling the straight bar.
Standing Dumbbell Curl
An alternative to curling barbells is to incorporate dumbbells into your routine. Dumbbell curls will help prevent your dominant arm from compensating for the lack of strength in the opposing arms during barbell workouts.
Seated Bicep Curl
If you find your body swaying while doing the standing curls, go find a seat with back support to eliminate this problem. In addition, you can do dumbbell curls while sitting up straight or on a incline press.
Concentration Curl
The concentration curl is similar to using the preacher bench to curl your dumbbell. Simply find a chair and rest your elbow on your arm as you curl the dumbbell.
Standing Hammer Curl
Hammer curls require the individual to grip the dumbbells with a neutral grip exhibited in the picture. Keep this grip throughout your curling motion. This exercise engages forearm muscles and stabilizer muscles in the arm differently than the standard dumbbell curl.
Standing Dumbbell Row
This exercise will strengthen your back and bicep muscles. Position yourself with one knee and the same side hand bracing yourself on a flat bench. The other leg should be planted on the ground and supporting your weight. Grab the dumbbell and pull it toward yourself until your humerus bone is parallel to your body, as shown in the picture. Return the dumbbell back towards the ground until your arm becomes full extended and perpendicular to the ground.
Cable Machine Bicep Curl
Bicep curls with a cable machine is a great alternative to lifting with free weights. The cable machine allows for quickly adjusting weights and switching between different grip handles. Be mindful about keeping your elbow glued to your side during each repetition.
TRX Row
If your gym has a TRX cable, use this equipment and your own body weight to strengthen your back and bicep muscles. With both feet placed on the ground, the starting position requires you to lean back until your arms are fully extended. Proceed to pull yourself towards the cable. The end position is presented in the above image.
Assisted Pull Up
Pull ups is a fundamental workout that should be included in everybody’s back and bicep building routine. If you struggle to do pull ups with your own body weight, find a similar assist machine as shown in the image. Simply adjust the machine’s weight that is appropriate for assisting you throughout this workout and then kneel on the support pad. As you become better at this workout, try lowering the assistance weight to challenge yourself.
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If you need barbells and/or dumbbells to do these exercises, here are my recommendations below:
[thrive_link color=’blue’ link=’https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ARYU58/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thesuccha-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B001ARYU58&linkId=5453720505bc129bd355ab4e10772010′ target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ align=”]Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Dumbbells[/thrive_link]
[thrive_link color=’green’ link=’https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007PXGHAC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thesuccha-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B007PXGHAC&linkId=b8901cf207c8d72d201ea7de51d13727′ target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ align=”]CAP Barbell 100 pound set[/thrive_link]
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