upper-body muscle group

Biceps exercises

The biceps bend your elbow and turn your palm upward. They work in every pull, carry and curl.

The biceps bend the elbow, so they work in every pulling exercise you do. Chin-ups and rows build a lot of biceps before you ever pick up a curl. Direct curl work then adds to what the bigger pulling movements have already started.

Curls reward being strict far more than being heavy. Keep your elbows pinned to your sides, control the way down, and use the full range from a straight arm to a fully bent one. Swinging a heavier dumbbell up with your hips trains your hips.

Your grip changes what gets worked. Curling with your palms up loads the biceps most directly, which is also why chin-ups hit them so hard. Hammer curls, with your palms facing each other, bring in the muscle underneath the biceps and the forearms. Both are worth doing, and the hammer version tends to be kinder to the elbows.

Front

Back

Where the biceps sit

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Exercises that target the biceps

Build a upper-body workout

Also works the biceps

These exercises train the biceps as a secondary muscle. It is useful work that adds up across a program.

Biceps exercises

Exercises that target the biceps

Band curl

Band hammer curl

Barbell curl

Barbell reverse curl

Barbell spider curl

Chin-up

Doorway biceps curl

Dumbbell concentration curl

Dumbbell curl

Dumbbell hammer curl

Dumbbell spider curl

Incline dumbbell curl

Kettlebell curl

Kettlebell spider curl

Suspension biceps curl

Also works the biceps

Train it with its neighbours