The 13 Best EZ Bar Curl Alternatives for Massive Biceps

The EZ bar curl is a popular biceps exercise. EZ bars are curved, which means you can put your hands in a semi-supinated position, which some lifters find more comfortable than straight barbell biceps curls.

Most EZ bars also have narrow and wide hand positions, which you can use to target different biceps heads – wide for your inner/short head, and narrow for your outer/long head. Do both to increase biceps thickness and the size of your biceps peak.

However, while most gyms have EZ bars, some do not, and not everyone has access to one of these curvy, wavy barbells. Some people simply don’t like EZ bar curls. In addition, even an exercise as effective as EZ bar curls can start to lose some of its benefits if you do them all the time.

So, to keep your arm workouts fresh and interesting and keep your biceps growing, here are 13 great alternatives to EZ bar curls.

Top EZ Bar Curl Alternatives and Substitutes

Don’t get stuck in an EZ bar curl rut! Instead, add some much-needed variety to your arm workouts with these tried and tested alternatives.

• EZ Bar Cable Curl
• Cable Hammer Curl
• Supine Cable Curl
• Spider Curl
• Alternating Dumbbell Curl
• Zottman Dumbbell Curl
• Dumbbell Hammer Curl
• Dumbbell Concentration Curl
• Chin-Up
• Supinated (Reverse Grip) Lat Pulldown
• Preacher Curl (Cable, Dumbbell, or Barbell)
• Resistance Band Biceps Curls
• Barbell Reverse Curl/Biceps Curl Superset

1. EZ Bar Cable Curl

Not doing freeweight EZ curls doesn’t mean forgoing this excellent biceps exercise entirely. Cable bar EZ curls are an outstanding biceps exercise because they keep your muscles under constant tension. In addition, they’re perfect for intensity-boosting drop sets.

Using an EZ bar also means less elbow and wrist stress, leaving you free to focus on working your biceps to the max. You can use a wide or narrow grip as preferred.

How to do it:

1. Attach an EZ bar handle to a low pulley machine. Hold the handle with an underhand grip – wide or narrow as preferred.
2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, core braced, and shoulders down and back.
3. Without using your legs or arms for assistance, bend your elbows and curl the bar up to shoulder height.
4. Lower the weight until your arms are extended and repeat.
5. This exercise can also be done using a straight bar if preferred.

2. Cable Hammer Curl

Where EZ bar curls place your hands in a semi-supinated position, cable hammer curls use a neutral or palms-facing-in grip. This increases brachialis and brachioradialis engagement, which are muscles in your elbows and forearms that assist your biceps.

Like all cable exercises, cable hammer curls keep your muscles under constant tension, which is good for hypertrophy or muscle growth.

Read all about this excellent exercise here.

3. Supine Cable Curl

A lot of people find it very hard to do any type of biceps curl without cheating. They use their legs, back, or both to heave the weight up. While cheating may allow you to lift more weight or do more reps, it usually takes tension off the target muscles, making your workout less rather than more effective.

Supine cable curls are virtually cheat-proof, and you can do them using an EZ bar, straight bar, or rope handle as preferred.

How to do it:

1. Attach your chosen handle to a low cable machine. Sit on the floor with your feet against the bottom of the machine.
2. Hold the handle with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Lie down flat on the floor with your arms straight, core braced, and shoulders down and back.
3. Keeping your elbows close to your sides, bend your arms and curl the handle up to your shoulders.
4. Extend your arms and repeat.
5. Continue for the prescribed number of reps.

4. Spider Curl

Spider curls are an unusual exercise, and you probably won’t see many people doing them at your local gym. However, despite this lack of popularity, spider curls are an excellent biceps-building exercise and also virtually cheat-proof.

They’re very similar to preacher curls but keep your muscles under tension for longer and provide a significant peak contraction at the top of each rep. You can do spider curls with dumbbells, a barbell, or a cable machine. Try them; you’re going to like them!

Check out this article to learn more about this excellent exercise.

5. Alternating Dumbbell Curl

The biceps have three functions – elbow flexion, forearm supination, and shoulder flexion. This exercise involves all three of these actions, making it a very functional and effective movement. While you can curl both dumbbells up at once, the alternating action helps strengthen the mind/muscle connection and also makes it easier to stabilize your core and spine, especially when using heavy weights.

How to do it:

1. Seated or standing, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be straight, palms facing your legs.
2. Bend one arm and curl the weight upward. As your elbow reaches 90-degrees, rotate your forearm so your palm faces upward. Lift the weight all the way up to your shoulder.
3. Using the reverse action, lower the weight back down to your side.
4. Do your next rep with the opposite arm.
5. Continue alternating arms for the required number of reps.

6. Zottman Dumbbell Curl

Zottman curls, named after strongman George Zottman, are an old-school biceps exercise. They work both the biceps brachii and the brachialis, with a useful emphasis on the short head of the biceps. This means they’re a very time-efficient exercise and ideal for when you want a complete biceps workout but only have time for one exercise.

How to do it:

1. Sit on an upright exercise bench or stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent for balance. Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides, palms facing your legs. Make sure your torso is fully upright. Brace your abs.
2. While keeping your upper arms close to your sides, bend your elbows and curl the weights up to your shoulders. Rotate your wrists to turn your palms upward as you raise the weights. Curl the weights all the way up until your biceps are fully contracted.
3. Next, without lowering the weights, rotate your forearms so your palms are now facing downward. This is called a pronated grip.
4. Extend your arms and lower the weights down towards the starting position while keeping your hands pronated.
5. As the dumbbells near your legs rotate your wrists, so your palms face inward – a neutral grip.
6. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.

7. Dumbbell Hammer Curl

Like cable hammer curls, dumbbell hammer curls put your hands in a neutral position to emphasize your brachialis and brachioradialis. Your biceps also get a good workout. Like EZ curls, hammer curls are very comfortable and easy on your elbows and wrists, making them a welcome and valuable alternative to EZ bar curls.

Hammer curls are so-called because, when you do them, it looks a bit like you are using the dumbbells to hammer in a nail.

How to do it:

1. Seated or standing, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be straight, palms facing your legs.
2. Bending one or both arms together, curl the weights up to your shoulders without rotating your wrists. Instead, keep your thumbs up throughout.
3. Extend your arms, lower the weights, and repeat.

8. Dumbbell Concentration Curl                                         

According to a study by the American Council on Exercise, or ACE for short, concentration curls are among the best biceps exercises (1). They stop you from cheating and effectively isolate your biceps from the rest of your body.

Dumbbell preacher curls don’t work well with heavy weights. Still, with light to moderate weights and medium to high reps, they’re great for pumping up your arms and targeting the short head of your biceps.

Check out this guide to find out how to do dumbbell concentration curls.

9. Chin-Up

While chin-ups don’t look a whole lot like EZ bar curls, they actually work many of the same muscles. The main difference is that, with curls, you raise the bar to your shoulders, but with chin-ups, you raise your weight to the bar. This larger movement provides your arms with a great workout and also works your lats or back muscles.

Chin-ups are done with a supinated or palms-up grip, which maximizes biceps engagement and put your arms in a stronger position, making chin-ups feel a little easier than pronated (palms down) pull-ups.

Read how to do chin-ups here.

10. Supinated (Reverse Grip) Lat Pulldown

If you aren’t strong enough to do supinated pull-ups, supinated lat pulldowns are the next best thing. They work all of the same muscles but make it much easier to adjust your workload. Even better, you can do muscle-building drop sets, which is something that’s all but impossible to do with bodyweight pull-ups.

Learn more about supinates exercise here.

11. Preacher Curl (Cable, Dumbbell, or Barbell)

Preacher curls were one of Mr. Olympia Larry Scott’s favorite biceps exercises. Scott, who won the Mr. Olympia title in 1964 and 1965, was famous for his fantastic biceps development. He was so often photographed doing preacher curls that they are frequently called Scott curls in his honor.

On the downside, when you do preacher curls with a barbell or dumbbells, all muscle tension vanishes as your arms approach vertical. As such, your effective range of movement is limited to a little less than 90-degrees.

However, doing preacher curls with a cable means that you can bend your arms fully with no loss of muscle tension, resulting in a better biceps workout.

Read more about barbell and cable preacher curls here.

12. Resistance Band Biceps Curls

Resistance bands are perfect for home workouts or training when you are on vacation. With a good set of resistance bands, you can work out anywhere, anytime, including parks, beaches, or your hotel room. As an added benefit, resistance bands are also easy on your joints.

The tension comes on gradually and not all at once. Resistance bands are especially good for biceps exercises.

How to do it:

1. Stand on the middle of your resistance band and hold one end in each hand. Your feet should be roughly shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back. Move your feet wider apart to shorten the band at put more tension on your biceps.
2. Bend your elbows and curl your hands up to your shoulders. Keep your upper arms tucked into your sides.
3. Extend your arms and repeat.
4. You can also do this exercise using an alternating arm action if you prefer.

13. Barbell Reverse Curl/Biceps Curl Superset

Short on time but still want a tough-as-nails arm workout? Try this muscle-building superset! This exercise pairing takes your muscles from a position of weakness to one of strength, which means as well as being a superset, it’s also a mechanical advantage drop set.

Technicalities aside, this is a short but intense training method that’ll pump up your arms and trigger biceps and forearms growth.

How to do it:

1. Grip and hold a barbell with an overhand, shoulder-width grip. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Brace your abs and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Without using your legs or back for assistance, bend your arms and curl the weight up to your shoulders.
3. Extend your arms and repeat.
4. On reaching failure, switch your hands to an underhand, shoulder-width grip and rep out again to failure.
5. On completion, rest a moment and then repeat the pairing twice more for a great arm workout in under ten minutes.

More Alternative Exercises:

• Barbell Curl Alternatives for Bigger, Stronger Biceps
• Spider Curl Alternatives for Bigger, Stronger Biceps
• Preacher Curl Alternatives for Bigger Biceps
• Pec Deck Alternatives for an Awesome Chest
• Best Bench Press Alternatives
• Best Back Extension Alternatives
• Best Cable Crossover Alternatives
• Triceps Pushdown Alternatives
• Power Clean Alternatives
• Best Face Pull Alternatives

EZ Bar Curl Alternatives – Wrapping Up

EZ bar curls are a great alternative to regular barbell biceps curls. Still, you need more variation than that if you want to build bigger, more muscular biceps. In this article, we have revealed 13 more exercises you can use to pump up your arms and sculpt the biceps of your dreams.

But, don’t try and use all these variations at once – that would be crazy! Instead, use 2-3 for a month and then switch things up with a different 2-3 exercises. That’s arguably the best way to stay out of training ruts and maintain your muscle-building progress.

Finally, remember to train your triceps, too. After all, the triceps actually make up about two-thirds of your upper arm mass, so they’re every bit as important as your biceps.

References

1 – American Council on Exercise (ACE): ACE Study Reveals Best Biceps Exercises acefitness.org

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