Let’s face it, bigger biceps are the holy grail of training for most guys.
Because what lights up the physique more than a pair of well-sculpted arm cannons glistening in the midday sun?
Nothing, that’s what.
So in this article I’m going to show you what a recent study found to be the absolute best biceps exercises around, then you’ll be able to focus your in-gym attention on the things which are going to give you the biggest bang for your buck!
Will it be barbell curls? Or how about concentration curls?? Heck, did your favourite even make the list???
Video Guide
Watch the video above, or continue reading below.
What Are The Best Biceps Exercises?
If you asked ten guys this question, you’d probably receive ten different answers.
Thankfully, a 2014 study from the University of Wisconsin gave us some definitive facts on the matter. (1)
Working with a group of 8 men and 8 women aged 18-24, researchers tested the muscle activation in the biceps short head and the biceps long head as they performed a series of well-known bodybuilding exercises.
The exercises were:
- Barbell Curl
- Chin Up
- Incline Dumbbell Curl
- Narrow-grip EZ-bar Curl
- Preacher Curl
- Seated Dumbbell Concentration Curl
- Standing Cable Curl
- Wide-grip EZ-bar Curl
NOTE: This was a well conducted study. The researchers even looked for ways the participants might “cheat”, such as training harder on exercises they enjoy. This was counteracted by performing a “test workout” and noting each person’s max lifts, then ensuring they always worked with 70% of that figure on each movement.
The winners were:
Some people might be surprised to see that concentration curls came out on top, but it wasn’t even close! The seated position and the angle of the elbow trapped all of the tension in the target muscle, so when it comes to isolating the biceps this is the #1 exercise.
Interestingly, popular exercises like EZ-bar curls struggled to produce a large amount of muscle activation in the biceps brachii.
This doesn’t mean it’s a bad exercise, though, it just means that the surrounding muscles of the front delts and forearms take on more of the load than we expected (remember, we’re testing for how much of the rep is directed purely towards the biceps).
Here’s a quick demonstration of the top three exercises:
How Best To Apply These Findings To Your Own Training
This study gives us a couple of interesting take-aways.
The first is that you might’ve been ignoring exercises which are great for hitting the biceps (e.g. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone doing good old concentration curls), and the second is that we don’t need to discard every other biceps exercise.
You see, isolating a muscle with a single-joint exercise is a great way to create muscle growth – but it isn’t the only way! Metabolic stress and progressive overload are huge drivers of muscle growth, and there are certain movements which really excel at these, such as:
- Heavy EZ-bar Negatives
Barbell curls work best when they’re done heavy.
Sure, this will see assistance from the forearms and front delts, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because it gives you an opportunity to use a weight which is heavier than that which your biceps can handle on their own.
These surrounding muscles will help you during the first phase of the rep, and then you can focus all of your attention on ripping your biceps a new asshole during the negative phase (where biceps activation is at its highest).
Negatives involve performing a 5-count during the lowering phase of each rep, and they’ll have your arms screaming in no time at all. A few sets of 6-8 reps will give you a pump like no other biceps exercise – guaranteed!
- Standing Dumbbell Concentration Curls
I prefer to do my concentration curls in a standing position.
I find that performing them seated leaves too much room for cheating (it’s too easy to tilt your body back and use your knees for help).
So doing them in a standing position and creating a hinge at the waist, you can replicate the dead hang position of the original move while minimizing any cheating because you’ve taken away the ability to push your elbow into your knee for assistance.
- Growth Factor Curls
This is a little-known biceps exercise, which quickly became a favourite among my male and female clients at Powerhouse Gym.
It’ll trap blood in the biceps, causing your veins to push up against your skin, and make you feel like your arms are about to explode (see above)!
We do this by restricting ourselves to a top-half range of motion, which prevents the forearms from helping. It works even better when paired in a superset with a larger exercise (like biceps curls), because it enables us to push our biceps to the point of true failure. Also, your resting arm is continues to work in a static hold while the other side performs a rep, so there’s no escaping the burn, motherfucker!
Here’s A Killer Biceps Workout To Try
Alright, it’s time to grow!
There are two workouts below. I want you to do (A) on Monday, and (B) on Thursday for the next 6-weeks, and then take a look at your results.
These workouts apply all of the findings of this biceps study, plus the additional tips I gave you above. If you are a member of RussHowePTI.com you can also log in and try Biceps Boom; my comprehensive 6-week arm-building program which is packed with useful tips like the stuff you read above and a whole lot more. Your sleeves are gonna love you for it!
- Workout A
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chin Ups | 3 | 10 | 45 sec |
| EZ-bar Negatives | 4 | 8 | 60 sec |
| Seated DB Concentration Curl superset with Zottman Curl | 4 | 8 8 | 0 sec 45 sec |
| DB Kickbacks superset with Bench Dips | 3 | 20 20 | 0 sec 45 sec |
| Overhead Cable Extension superset with Rope Pushdown | 3 | 20 20 | 0 sec 45 sec |
- Workout B
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triceps Dips | 3 | 10 | 45 sec |
| Close-grip Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8 | 60 sec |
| Stretch Skullcrushers superset with Plate Push Backs | 4 | 8 8 | 0 sec 45 sec |
| Standing DB Concentration Curl superset with Standing Cable Curl | 4 | 20 20 | 0 sec 45 sec |
| Standing Barbell Curl superset with Growth Factor Curl | 3 | 20 20 | 0 sec 45 sec |
References:
- Young S., et al. ACE Study Reveals Best Biceps Exercises. Acefitness.org (2014).