The Best Arm Exercises for Killer Biceps
When you look at someone’s body who has been working out, it is likely that the first thing you notice is the size of their muscles. These are often not even the biggest or strongest muscle that they have, but it is just the most noticeable.
Working out your biceps is not hard – there are a number of ways you can exercise your upper arm. However, if you really want ‘guns’ that stand out then it is vital you exercise in the right way.
1. Hammer Curl
When you do this type of work out your whole elbow flexes and gives your whole arm a workout – in fact with hammer curls your brachialis are worked hardest. To get the best benefit out of this exercise you should use a preacher bench or a concentration curl.
2. Incline Hammer Curls
Many people rate the hammer curl the best workout for this muscle, simple because of the tension you’ll feel in your upper arms when you carry out this muscle. You’ll find that the strength of your biceps will be increased with this workout, but the hammer takes away some of the tension which means that it is not as effective as it could be if done differently
3. Standing Concentration Curl
Similar to the inner-biceps curl this will work out your upper arm – but it involves placing your arm in front of your body and rotating your shoulder. It is recommended that you put your free hand on your leg to support your weight, especially if you are doing a lot of reps of these and expect to get tired. You should alternate between the supinated and the hammer grip while carrying out these exercises.
4. EZ Bar Curl
A lot of people tend to go for this work out as it is more comfortable than a straight bar. The fact that you also don’t just work out your biceps brachii on this but your whole arm means that actually, EX bar curl is always the most effective when it comes to building your bicep muscles.
5.Wide-Grip Standing Barbell Curl
It is important that you take a wide grip with this bar so that you rotate your shoulder and force your humerus to change its position. This will make sure that the short head of your biceps is worked out too! It is important that you do this exercise rightly – don’t take the easy way out and lean back as you do them, or your work out won’t be as effective.
6. Inner-Biceps Curl
This exercise will stretch out your long head muscle to the max giving you maximum benefit. In fact the more horizontal the bench, the more benefit you will feel. Your bicep is made up of two different portions – heads – and it is the upper head that you want to work out – which this does!
7. Zottman Curl
The great thing about the Zottman Curl is that it works out your whole bicep – so it is a great all-around exercise for people struggling to know which work out to do. You should have your palms up on the way up and then palms down on the way down, this alternating between the way you have your palms will ensure that the work out gives you maximum benefit. Try and get into the habit of rotating your wrist on the way up rather than just at the bottom before you start – you’ll find it much easier this way!
8. Barbell Curl
Perhaps one of the best-known biceps exercises out there. If you did just this exercise you will still see a change in your biceps, although not as much as if you were to mix things up. You should use as much weight as you can with this curl and play around with the grip width. Try and rotate the wrists with different curls too so that you give your whole biceps brachii as much of a work out as possible.
9. Dumbbell Biceps Curl
Everyone who is anyone has done this type of work out and it is definitely not one that should be overlooked when you are looking to up your game with your bicep workouts. Just lift as much weight as you can and rotate your wrists to make sure you get maximum benefit from this easy exercise.
10. Overhead Cable Curl
Last but not least is the overhead cable curl. This is a good way to practice your front double biceps pose – which you need to make sure you get right if you want to get into bodybuilding. You should mix things up by doing one arm at a time. You can even try to get your arm straight up against your head and then stretch it to curl downwards behind your head.
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