The best bicep exercises for bigger arms

It's almost summer time which means sleeveless shirts are around the corner. If you're like most guys, you believe having muscular arms is a nice feature. But there are dozens of bicep exercises, and it's hard to know which ones to incorporate into your custom workout plan. In this blog, I will explain my three favorite bicep exercises to get bigger arms and the best sets, reps, tempo, and rest periods to use.

Before diving into the best exercises for bicep growth, let's look at its anatomy to understand how the muscles work.

From the picture above, you can see that the long head of the bicep is near the top or outer part of your upper arm. The short head is on the inside part of the upper arm. Different exercises at different positions activate each head or both. Typically your typical "gym bro curls" will target the short head of the bicep, which helps build the peak making it taller or thicker when flexed. The long head of the bicep adds length to the bicep giving it a fuller look.

Short head bicep exercises include preacher curls, concentration curls, spider curls, chin-ups, hammer curls, zottman curls and standing curls. All of these exercises are performed with the biceps in a shortened position which is why this portion of the bicep is called the short head. A shortened position is when the bicep is not stretched.

Therefore, the long of the biceps is exercises when it's in a stretched position. Exercises that target the long head include bayesian curls, chin-ups, zottman curls, incline dumbbell curls, close grip preacher curls, dumbbell hammer curls. You'll notice that there are a few exercises that target both the long head and short head of the biceps; chin-ups, zottman curls and hammer curls. These exercises are not necessarily better they're just more efficient at getting both heads active.

Now to the fun part...

I know you're dying to learn just like this kid, what my top 3 bicep exercises are.

Number one, the cable bayesian curl. This exercise puts the bicep in a lengthened position targeting the long head and when done correctly also targets the short head. This exercise produces a full range of motion and is very safe for the elbow and shoulder. I've been incorporating these into my training program and several of my client's programs and have seen great results. Typically 2-3 sets at the end of a workout for 8-12 reps is sufficient stimulus to fatigue the bicep and get close to failure. Aim for an RPE of 7.5-8. Rest should be no longer than 60 seconds since you're doing single arm. I personally prefer a slow eccentric (lowering) phase to help tear the muscle fibers more effectively to later grow.

Number two, chin-ups. Chin-ups are underrated and are usually seen as a calistehnic movement but it can be incredible for guys looking to get bigger arms. The reason chin-ups are so effective is the amount of weight used during the eccentric (lowering) portion of the lift. When done correctly (close grip) you'll be able to isolate your biceps to ensure your back muscles aren't taking over. I recommend doing this early in your workout super-setted with a chest exercise. 3-4 sets of 1-2 reps from failure should be sufficient. Ideally you want to get 8-15 reps so use a bandor assisted pull-up machine if you need assistance. rest for 90-120s between sets to allow full recovery since you will use some back muscles.

Number three, the concentration curl. The concentration curl is super-effective at isolating the short head of the biceps and allows for full range of motion. It also helps to develop strong grip strength and can be done at low rep ranges and high rep ranges. Personally I prefer to do this at the end of my workout super-setted with a tricep exercise. Typically 2-3 sets of 0-2 reps from failure at a challenging weight aiming for the 8-12 rep range is sufficient. For rest periods I recommend 60-90 seconds and for tempo I recommend "concetrating" (pun-intended) on slow and controlled reps.

I hope you found this blog helpful! If so let me know in the comment section below.

If you're looking for a workout program that will get you the results in you want while reducing injury in the gym send me an email danny@dg-fit.com I'd love to help create a custom plan and work with you!