Spice Up Your Barbell Curl For Bigger Biceps

The standing barbell curl is one of the most popular biceps builders on the planet.

Used since the early days of strength training, it’s successfully helped thousands of guys build thick and muscular arms that fill the sleeves of their t-shirts.

However, there are downsides to relying on just one single exercise for building a particular muscle group.

Firstly, it’s easy to get bored of doing the same exercise over and over. When you start to get bored of an exercise, it can become harder to put in the effort required to stimulate new gains.

Secondly, muscles can adapt to the exercise. Once this happens, it becomes harder for this exercise to generate results.

Finally, performing an exercise repeatedly with no variation can overwork the connective tissue and result in painful tendonitis.

Therefore, for optimal biceps development, it’s important to have a slew of variations on standby.

New exercises not only present a new challenge, which can help keep things feeling fresh and exciting in training, but they can also apply a different stress to the target muscle, and therefore help to spark brand new muscle growth.

They can also take the stress off the connective tissue and allow it to recover.

So if you feel like you need a break from the traditional barbell curl, but you still want to build bigger arms…

Here are 6 variations you can implement to spice up your training and continue developing your biceps.

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6 Barbell Curl Variations

1. ‘The Perfect Curl’

Popularised by the late Vince Gironda, the Perfect Curl is the complete opposite of a ‘cheat curl’ i.e. where you lean back and use momentum in order to help lift the weight.

As a result of zero momentum being used to lift the weight, the biceps are forced to work harder throughout the entire range of movement.

Although you will need to use less weight in the Perfect Curl compared to the regular standing barbell curl, you may get a much stronger mind-muscle connection due to the increased muscle stimulation.

How to perform Perfect Curls:

Start by holding the bar as if you were about to perform a regular standing barbell curl
Lean back and bent your knees slightly so you bring your bodyweight onto your heels
As you curl the weight up, begin leaning forward and bring your bodyweight onto the front of your feet
In the final position, you should be leaning forward slightly so that your shoulders are just over your toes
Curl the bar up to your forehead
Hold this position briefly and squeeze your biceps as hard as possible
Reverse the movement back to the start position

How to program:

Since Perfect Curls are quite technical, perform them at the beginning of the session when you have the greatest energy and focus. Do sets of 6-10 reps.

2. Leverage Curls

During a standing barbell curl, the tension on the biceps is maximal at the mid-point i.e. when the forearms are parallel to the ground.

At this point, the lever arm between the weight and the elbow joint is the longest.

However, a simple adjustment to body position can shift the resistance curve so you can overload the beginning range during the eccentric phase of the lift.

Doing this stimulates maximal tension in the muscle fibers when they are in an elongated position, which creates muscle damage and can be a powerful trigger for muscle hypertrophy.

How to perform Leverage Curls:

Curl the bar as normal.
As you lower the weight ‘push’ the weight away from you, allowing your upper arms to come forward from your body.
Maintain tension on the biceps the whole time.
Once you’ve fully extended your elbows, return the bar to the start position and repeat.

How to program:

Due to the stress placed on the muscle and elbow joint, perform the Leverage Curl at the beginning of your training session when you’re not in a fatigued state. Use a lighter weight than you’d typically use for the standing barbell curl and perform for sets of 6-10 reps.

3. Bent Over Curl

This is an old-school favorite that appears to have fallen out of fashion in recent years…

However, it’s capable of producing one of the biggest skin-splitting biceps pumps you’ll ever experience.

This is because the exercise shifts the resistance curve so the muscle is placed under maximal tension in the end range of movement i.e. the final few degrees of the movement, where the lever arm between the weight and the elbow is the longest.

In this range, the muscle fibers are in their shortest position and when subjected to maximal tension, it creates high amounts of metabolic stress, resulting in the ‘pump’ – a powerful trigger for muscular hypertrophy.

How to perform Bent Over Curls:

Stand upright whilst holding the bar in front of the body.
Lean forward at the hips so your torso is at approximately 45 degrees relative to the floor.
Curl the weight up in front of you without letting your upper arms drift forward.
Hold at the top for a brief moment whilst squeezing the biceps, and lower under full control.

How to program:

Perform these at the end of your training session so you finish your workout with a maximum pump. Do for sets of 10+ reps.

4. Drag Curl

Another exercise made popular by the legendary Vince Gironda.

The drag curl is a fantastic way to eliminate the shoulders from the movement so that more emphasis can be placed on the elbow flexors.

In Vince’s books, he also states that the Drag Curl can be used to develop the brachialis – the small muscle that lies in between the biceps and triceps on the outside of the upper arm.

It’s also a great exercise to take the strain off the elbow joint. So if your elbows are feeling ‘beat up’, then try a few weeks of the drag curl to let them recover.

Note that you won’t be able to handle as much weight with this exercise compared to a regular barbell curl, so make sure you leave your ego at the door before starting this exercise.

How to perform Drag Curls:

Stand upright whilst holding the bar in front of the body.
Instead of curling the bar up in front of you, ‘drag’ it up your body whilst pulling your elbows back behind you – the bar shouldn’t break contact with your body.
Make sure you use a slow and controlled tempo – don’t rush this movement.
Hold at the top for a brief moment whilst squeezing the biceps, and lower under full control.

How to program:

Perform at the end of your session for sets of 10+ reps.

5. Body English + Eccentric Overload

This exercise variation requires you to use a heavier weight than you would typically use in the standard barbell curl.

You’re going to ‘cheat’ and use momentum to lift the barbell during the concentric phase, but then lower the weight under strict control.

By doing this, you’ll overload the eccentric phase of the exercise, which can result in being able to handle bigger weights when you return to doing the regular barbell curl, thus triggering even more growth.

How to perform Body English + Eccentric Overload Curls:

‘Jerk’ the barbell up using ‘Body English’.
Lower under full and strict control.
Terminate the set immediately when you can no longer lower the bar under strict control.

How to program:

Since you’ll be handling heavier weights, perform at the beginning of your workout when you have the most energy. Do these for sets of 5-7 reps.

[Related: Eccentric Vs. Concentric Training]

6. BONUS: 60 Seconds of Pain

This isn’t actually an exercise variation, but rather a ‘super spicy finisher’ you can use at the end of your session to fully thrash the biceps and generate a maximum pump.

Your biceps will scream at you as it feels like a fire is raging through your upper arms, but the enormous pump you receive will make it totally worthwhile.

How to perform 60 Seconds of Pain:

Grab an empty bar
Aim to perform strict curls to failure without resting
As soon as you can’t perform another strict rep, use Body English to assist curling the weight up
Once you’ve curled the weight up, hold this position whilst squeezing your biceps
Even though you will begin to lower the bar, fight to keep it curled up
As soon as you perform strict reps non-stop for 60 seconds, add weight to the bar