3 Best Exercises To Build Your Biceps Brachii
The biceps brachii, more commonly known as the biceps, is a two-headed muscle located on the front of the upper arm. Though it is relatively small compared to other muscles in the body, it is very important in aiding forearm and elbow movement.
The biceps is often trained with exercises such as the curl, which primarily works the short head of the muscle.
However, to fully develop the biceps, it is important to also include exercises that work the long head of the muscle. Here, we will explore three of the best exercises for biceps brachii development. These exercises are guaranteed to help you build bigger, stronger biceps!
Barbell Curl:
- Get into the starting position with your palms facing your body, holding the barbell just outside your hips with an underhand grip.
- Keep your chest high and elbows close to your sides, then raise your hands so you feel the muscles in your biceps contract.
- Maintaining tension on these muscles, curl the bar up to shoulder height, squeezing for a second.
- Slowly lower it back down until it’s in the starting position and then straighten your arms fully to tense your triceps as well.
Drag Curl:
- To start, stand with a shoulder-width grip on a barbell and place the bar across your thighs and chest up, shoulders down, and face straight.
- Start Pulling your elbows back to contract your bicep and “drag” the bar up toward your body until it’s at chest level.
- Hold for a second or two then slowly lower the bar along the same path back to where you started.
- Reset, adjust your stance as needed, and repeat.
Cable Curl:
- To adjust the machine, slide the metal grip down so that it’s resting at the bottom. You should be able to grab it fairly comfortably with your arms extended and your palms facing up.
- With your knees slightly bent, stand on firm ground with a strong back and steady head. Brace your abdominal muscles and straighten your back as you exhale. Curl the weight and move it towards your chest while breathing out.
- The only thing that moves are the forearms, which rises from the elbow as you hold for one second at the contraction at the top of the curl.
- Slowly lower your back to starting position with an inhale before you release the tension on the cable.
Dumbbell Curl:
- Begin this exercise by standing with a dumbbell in each hand. Keep both of your elbows close to your torso and then rotate the palms of your hands until they’re facing forward.
- Hold this position, making sure that the upper arms remain stationary.
- Now, as you exhale, curl the weights up and contract your biceps until they’re fully locked. Hold this position for a second before slowly beginning to lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position.
- Repeat the steps for the recommended or your required amount of repetitions.