Best Biceps Exercises for Men

Build Your Biceps to the Max with the Best Biceps Exercises

It should be noted that if you simply want bigger arms, it is very important to work the triceps along with the best biceps exercises. The triceps are larger and contribute more to the overall size of the arms.

You most likely already know this and look to build one of everyone’s favorite beach muscle. There are a few tricks to get the most out of biceps training. You will find that several components tie in to your biceps workout.

To create a workout which will help you and your individual needs you should most importantly take into consideration your training splits.The most important tip to get results from your biceps workout is to not overtrain the biceps.

Since the biceps is such a small muscle, you should not spend too much time on exercises which isolate the biceps unless your goal is to increase the size of the biceps.

If your goal is to tone or get better definition and body fat percentage is out of the low ideal category you should be doing exercises with larger muscle groups to maximize your time and get further results.

The best biceps exercises for men will help you in the future when your body fat percentage is low.

If this is the case for you, you can strengthen your biceps and burn more calories in the process with exercises for your back.

If your goal is to increase size and definition, and you are not overfat, the best biceps exercises for men will help you build the biceps most efficiently so you will get results as fast as possible.

All About “Your Muscle” or the Biceps

Your “muscle” as we used to say when we were kids is a very simple muscle compared to many other muscles in the body. While biceps anatomy may not be that simple here is the scoop.

The singular form of the muscle is the biceps brachii or biceps for short. It is plural because the name refers to the 2 heads. You have biceps on your left arm, and biceps on your right arm.

If you hear someone say bicep exercise you can correct them. Bicep only refers to one half of the muscle. You would only refer to the bicep if you were dead or your arm is severed.

All trivial information aside, the biceps is the muscle on the front of your arm. The biceps consist of 2 heads.

The biceps is primarily responsible for elbow flexion although it is important for different things during functional movements. Since the best biceps exercises for men focuses strictly on biceps you should only be concerned with flexion.

The other muscles which help flex the elbow joint are the brachialis and brachioradialis. The brachialis takes up a good percentage of your forearms muscle mass but is responsible for flexion mostly when the arm is in the thumbs up position.

The Brachialis Takes up a Significant amount of Upper Arm Mass

You don’t hear much about the brachialis because it is deep (under) the biceps. The brachialis is responsible for elbow flexion primarily in an isometric manner.

This means that if you hold a weight when your arm is at a 90 degree angle, the brachialis will activate and take work from the biceps.

It is important to know this, because if you train with the correct exercise selection, you can increase the size of the brachialis. A bigger brachialis will help push the biceps out which makes your biceps look bigger and more defined.

When is the Correct time to Perform the Best Biceps Exercises?

The right time for the best biceps exercises for men is dependent on your goals. This is mentioned continuously because it will never lose its importance. When to perform your biceps workout is dependent on your training splits.

There is usually never an absolute strategy to determine when to workout a specific muscle. Even if something is close to absolute, you will benefit from changing things up once in a while.

Beginner & Advanced Workouts

If you are just starting, it is the best strategy to perform biceps exercises on the same day as you perform your back exercises. Since most back exercises use the biceps as a synergist (helper) your biceps will get a lot of work during your back workouts. Working out your biceps on the same day as back will allow enough time for proper recovery for beginners.

If you are Intermediate or Advanced You have Many Effective Options

Since you have been working out for a while, you have hopefully learned how to target specific muscles. This will allow you to perform biceps exercises on any workout day. Since you can isolate your lats and avoid using too much biceps during back exercises, you can even perform the best biceps exercises a day before you have your back day.

It is best to perform the best biceps workout when your biceps are fresh. The best case scenario is to you have a workout split where you do not use any exercises which involve the biceps at least a day before or after the best biceps workout.

How many Sets and Reps Should You Do for the Best Biceps Exercises?

In order to get a complete upper arm flexion workout you should perform exercises which work the biceps from all angles. You must not neglect the brachialis and brachioradialis too.

If you read the sets and reps page, you should know that the number of sets and reps is insignificant if you do not contract the muscles properly. If you decide to perform the entire following best biceps workout, you should probably only perform one set to failure of each exercise.

If you perform the desired number of reps for one of these biceps exercises without failing, you should perform another set with a weight which will cause your biceps to fail around the desired number of reps.

The Best Biceps Exercises for Men to Build Mass, Definition, and Strength

Standing EZ Curl Bar Biceps Curls

Standing barbell curls are a great biceps exercise because you can use a significant amount of weight. 90% of the time, you should perform the exercise which you can use the most weight for a body part on the first exercise.

The problem is barbell curls put a tremendous amount of stress on your wrists. The stress on your wrists can be so much that if you do barbell curls more than once in a while, you are just asking for sore wrists or a wrist injury. This is especially the case if you have a desk job on the computer.

Start: Stand upright with the loaded EZ curl bar at your side. You should grab the bar on the outside bend of the EZ curl bar. Draw in your core and contract your glutes which will keep you from cheating.

Begin the motion: Keep your posture upright with NO ROCKING or JERKING. Try to keep your elbows at your sides. Keep your wrists in a neutral position and curl the bar up towards your chin. You only have to go up to where your elbows can remain at your side. Squeeze your biceps with the bar at the top position. Slowly lower the bar back to the original position with your arms fully extended.

Modifications: Although it is best to perform these curls with full range of motion, you can change the range motion to work specific parts of the motion which are week. Some people like to bring their elbows forward slightly but it is your preference.

You can modify these curls if you place a resistance tube or bungee cord around the EZ curl bar and step on the middle of the bungee. This will make the range of motion become more difficult at the end which is usually when it is easiest.

Preacher Biceps Curls

Preacher Curls Attempt to Target the Lower Biceps (insertion)

Start: Position yourself with your arm over the preacher bench. Your upper arms close to your armpits should be in contact to the bench. Hold a dumbbell or whichever form of resistance you chose in your hand with your arm at a 90 degree angle. Have your palm face toward the ceiling.

Begin the motion: Slowly lower the dumbbell until your touch the back of your arm to the bench. Keep your wrist straight, do not flex it and lift the weight back to the position you began from. If you are using dumbbells, you should always stop at 90 degrees because anything above that, your biceps will not be under tension.

Modifications: Preacher biceps curls can be performed from a preacher bench if you have access to one, a stability ball, a couch, weight bench or whatever you have available.

You can use a straight barbell, EZ curl bar, dumbbells, cables, tubing, or whatever resistance you have available. Cables actually have an advantage, because throughout the range of motion, there will be constant resistance. This will allow you to work the biceps more because at the top of the range of motion the biceps will still be under tension.

Bungee cords and surgical tubes are even more challenging because they offer increased resistance at the easiest part of the range of motion.

Incline Dumbbell Biceps Curls

Incline Biceps curls attempt to target the upper biceps (insertion.) They are called incline, because they are performed on an incline bench. You can also perform them on a cable machine if you can position your arms the same as the incline.

Start: Set the bench up to be at an incline from approximately 60-80 degrees. Sit with your back against the bench. Let the dumbbells hang down straight towards the floor with your palms facing away from your body. Keep your elbows in this exact position for the duration of the movement.

Begin the motion: Keep your wrists in a neutral position. Curl the weight up as high as you can without having your elbow move at all. Lower slowly and repeat. Make sure your lower arm is in line with your upper arm the entire range of motion.

Modifications: You can perform this best arms exercise with one arm at a time, or both arms at the same time. You can also perform the motion on a free motion or other cable machine.

Position yourself with the machine behind you. Walk forward slightly until your elbows are both behind your body. Curl the weights as far as you can without moving your elbows. This is the exercise which many people in the gym perform improperly.

Dumbbell Concentration Curls

Dumbbell concentration curls a a good exercise to use as the last biceps isolation exercise because they effectively isolate the biceps.

Start: Stand with a single dumbbell. If you are going to curl with your left arm put your right foot forward and vice versa. Lean forward and rest your forearm on your forward thigh.

Let your arm holding the dumbbell completely relax with the dumbbell hanging toward the floor. Internally rotate your arm as much as it can and hold this position for the duration of the motion.

Begin the motion: Hold your upper arm internally rotated and externally rotate your lower arm. Your palm should be facing up towards the ceiling.

Curl your arm up towards the ceiling and your opposite shoulder. Squeeze for a split second and lower under complete control. Make sure your elbow is always pointing straight towards the floor.

Modifications: You can perform concentration curls on a bench with your arm against your leg. This is the easier, but less effective way to do them.

Alternating Multi Curls

This is a great way to finish off the best biceps exercises for men. A set of three different alternating dumbbell curls will work all the flexors in your arms.

It is a great finisher because it will pump up your brachialis, brachioradialis and biceps to the max.

Start: You can either stand or sit on something. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your side and have your palms face your body.

Keep your body in upright posture and draw in your core and stabilize your shoulders back in retraction.

Begin the motion: Start with hammer curl. Curl your arms up with your thumb going up toward the ceiling. Slowly lower the weight all the way back to the original position.

Next, perform a supinating biceps curl. As the dumbbell passes your leg externally rotate your hand. Lower the dumbbell back down the exact opposite of the way you raised it.

The final curl is a reverse curl. Pronate (internally rotate) your hand slightly before you raise it. You do not have to fully pronate your hand. Do whatever your wrists are comfortable with while you try to keep your elbows in at your side.

Modifications: You can set your own rep scheme. Usually you will alternate each curl and do 21 reps, but you can do whatever you like. You can use a free motion cable machine instead of dumbbells for this and many grip exercises.

If you are pressed for time this set alone would be the expert’s choice for best biceps workout with a single exercise.

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To maximize biceps growth, make sure you have a balanced exercise program:

• Compound Biceps Exercises
  Here are some bicep training principles you must start following if you want to get your biceps to really start growing in size and strength.
• Best Arms Exercises for Men
  Check out this post for key biceps and forearms exercises. If you really want to increase the size of your arms, you should work all arms muscles.
• Here Are Five Favorite Biceps Exercises for Men
  Here are some of the best biceps exercises to increase muscle mass, size, tone, and definition.
• Best Triceps Exercises
  Here are some of the best triceps exercises to increase muscle mass, size, tone, and definition.
• Weight Training Volume
  If you really want to get the best results from any fitness or bodybuilding routine, you should keep track of your training volume. This will help you immensely with all training and even the best biceps exercises for men.
• Learn Why Proper Nutrition is Crucial for Achieving Your Fitness Goals
  Have you tried the best biceps workout and not had any success?

About Michael Behnken

Mike Behnken is a personal trainer who holds multiple NASM certifications and a MS in Exercise Science. Mike loves fitness, travel, and photography among many other interests.