The 18 Best Bicep Workouts to Build Arm Muscle and Strength

Biceps have a bit of reputation as muscles worthy of showing off. But building strength in these essential arm muscles is about so much more than just looks. The best biceps workouts will help you lift, hold, and carry heavy objects—and not just in the gym! 

Keep reading to learn how to program the best bicep workouts, including: 

• What are the biceps?

• The 18 best biceps exercises

• How to program your bicep workouts

• Common biceps workout mistakes to avoid

• Tips to maximize your biceps gains

• Sample biceps workout routine

What are the biceps?

Your biceps muscles, technically called the biceps brachii, are two large, firm muscles on the front sides of your upper arms. They’re the muscles you see bulge when you do a standard flex in front of a mirror—or in the muscle-flexing emoji! These muscles allow you to bend your elbow and rotate your palm.

The 18 best biceps exercises

Good biceps workouts are going to include classic curl exercises and variations on this type of movement. There are lots of different biceps exercises to choose from, but you shouldn’t do too many of these in the same workout because they’re so similar. (Keep reading to learn how to create the ultimate biceps workout!)

Here are our picks for the 18 best biceps workouts: 

• Dumbbell biceps curl

• Resistance band biceps curl

• Barbell biceps curl

• Hammer curl

• Chin-up

• Pull-up

• Reverse grip biceps curl

• Cable biceps curl

• Crucifix curl

• Concentration curl

• Zottman curl

• Incline dumbbell curl

• Wide-grip EZ-Bar curl

• Narrow grip EZ-Bar curl

• Preacher curl

• Drag curl

• Spider curl

• Bent-over barbell row

1. Dumbbell biceps curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides, palms facing upwards.

2. Engage your core and squeeze your arm muscles as you curl the weights toward your shoulders.

3. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

4. Slowly and with control, lower the weights back down to the starting position.

5. Continue for your desired number of reps.

2. Resistance band biceps curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet shoulder-width apart standing on the middle of a resistance band. Hold one end of the band in each hand by your sides, palms facing upwards.

2. Engage your core and squeeze your arm muscles as you curl your hands toward your shoulders.

3. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

4. Slowly and with control, lower your hands back down to the starting position.

5. Continue for your desired number of reps.

3. Barbell biceps curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding a loaded barbell with both hands in front of your thighs, palms facing upwards, thumbs wrapped around the bar.

2. Engage your core and squeeze your arm muscles as you curl the barbell toward your shoulders.

3. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

4. Slowly and with control, lower your hands back down to the starting position.

5. Continue for your desired number of reps.

4. Hammer curl

1. Start standing tall with your feet planted shoulder-width apart holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides, palms facing inward.

2. Engage your core and squeeze your arm muscles as you curl the weights toward your shoulders.

3. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

4. Slowly and with control, lower the weights back down to the starting position.

5. Continue for your desired number of reps.

5. Chin-up

1. Stand under a sturdy bar with your arms overhead, palms facing toward you.

2. Grasp the bar firmly (you may need to jump or stand on another piece of gym equipment to do so) with your thumbs wrapped around the bar.

3. Engage your core and exhale as you pull your body upward. Think about pulling your elbows and shoulders back and down.

4. Pull until your chin is level with the bar.

5. Pause here briefly, then lower back down with control until your arms are fully extended.  

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

6. Pull-up

1. Stand under a sturdy bar with your arms overhead, palms facing away from you.

2. Grasp the bar firmly (you may need to jump or stand on another piece of gym equipment to do so) with your thumbs wrapped around the bar.

3. Engage your core and exhale as you pull your body upward. Think about pulling your elbows and shoulders back and down.

4. Pull until your chin is level with the bar.

5. Pause here briefly, then lower back down with control until your arms are fully extended.  

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

7. Reverse grip biceps curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing toward you.

2. Engage your core and squeeze your arm muscles as you bend your elbows to pull the weights toward your shoulders. Keep your upper arms still by your sides.

3. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

4. Slowly and with control, lower the weights back down to the starting position.

5. Continue for your desired number of reps.

8. Cable biceps curl

1. Connect a handle to a cable machine and position the handle at the bottom of the cable tower. 

2. Stand tall and face the cable tower with your feet planted shoulder-width apart. 

3. Grip the handle with both hands, palms facing up.

4. Engage your abs as you curl the cable machine handle up toward your chest.

5. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

6. Slowly and with control, lower the handle back down to the starting position. Always maintain tension in the cable.

7. Continue for your desired number of reps.

9. Crucifix curl

1. Set up a cable tower with a handle at about elbow height. 

2. Stand with the handle on your right side and hold the handle in your right hand, with your right arm extended out to your side.

3. Engage your core as you squeeze your right biceps to curl the cable toward your right shoulder. 

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, return the cable machine handle to the starting position.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps, then repeat on the other side.

10. Concentration curl

1. Start sitting on a workout bench or another sturdy surface holding a single dumbbell in your right hand. 

2. Spread your legs and rest the outside of your right upper arm on your right thigh, just above your knee, with the weight hanging down between your legs. You can place your left hand on your left thigh for balance.

3. Squeeze your right biceps as you curl the weight up toward your shoulder.

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the weight back to the starting position.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps, then repeat on the other side.

11. Zottman curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides, palms facing upwards.

2. With your core engaged, curl the weights up toward your shoulders.

3. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

4. Rotate the dumbbells so your palms face away from your face.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the weights back to the starting position.

6. Rotate the dumbbells so your palms face up again.

7. Continue for your desired number of reps.

12. Incline dumbbell curl

1. Start sitting on a workout bench that’s set to a 45-degree angle.

2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing up, and allow the weights to hang at your sides.

3. Curl the weights up toward your shoulders.

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the weights back to the starting position. Make sure you’re straightening your arms and allowing the weights to hang below the bench.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

13. Wide-grip EZ-Bar curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding an EZ-Bar in front of your thighs with your palms facing upwards and your thumbs wrapped around the bar. 

2. Position your hands eight to 10 inches apart.

3. Engage your core and curl the bar toward your shoulders.

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the bar back to the starting position.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

14. Narrow grip EZ-Bar curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding an EZ-Bar in front of your thighs with your palms facing upwards and your thumbs wrapped around the bar. 

2. Position your hands three to four inches apart.

3. Engage your core and curl the bar toward your shoulders.

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the bar back to the starting position.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

15. Preacher curl

1. Position the seat on a preacher bench so your upper arms can comfortably rest on the padding when you sit down.

2. Sit on the bench and grip the EZ-Bar with your palms facing up. You can use the wide or the narrow hand positioning described above.

3. Lift the bar off the rack with your arms slightly bent. This is the starting position.

4. Keeping your back straight, curl the bar toward your shoulders until your forearms are perpendicular to the floor.

5. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

6. Slowly and with control, lower the bar back to the starting position.

7. Continue for your desired number of reps.

16. Drag curl

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding a loaded barbell with both hands in front of your thighs, palms facing upwards, thumbs wrapped around the bar.

2. Engage your core and pull your elbows back to “drag” the bar upward toward your shoulders.

3. Pause briefly when the bar reaches your lower chest.

4. Slowly and with control, lower the bar back down to the starting position.

5. Continue for your desired number of reps.

17. Spider curl

1. Position the backrest of a weight bench so it’s between 30 and 60 degrees to the floor. 

2. Hold a barbell or a pair of dumbbells with your palms facing up and lean your torso against the backrest of the bench so your weight is supported by the bench. Your arms should hang straight down.

3. Squeeze your arm muscles as you curl the weights toward your shoulders until your forearms are parallel with the floor.

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the weights back down to the starting position.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

18. Bent-over barbell row

1. Start standing tall, with your feet planted shoulder-width apart, holding a loaded barbell with both hands in front of your thighs, palms facing upwards, thumbs wrapped around the bar. This grip recruits more of your biceps during this exercise, which otherwise works more of your back and shoulders.

2. Hinge at the hips and push your butt back, leaning your torso at about 45 degrees to the floor.

3. With your glutes and core engaged, row your elbows back to lift the bar toward your ribcage.

4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.

5. Slowly and with control, lower the bar back down to the starting position.

6. Continue for your desired number of reps.

How to program your bicep workouts

If you’re solely focused on building your biceps, you can do a biceps workout with a handful of the exercises above. But these movements are all pretty similar, so it’s often safer to incorporate a couple of biceps movements into a larger arm workout or even a full-body routine to build well-rounded strength and avoid overuse or injury. 

Aim to exercise your biceps at least twice a week and as often as six days a week, as long as you build up to that frequency gradually, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).

Try to do eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise. You can start with just one set if you’re new to biceps workouts and build up to three to five sets over time. Rest for 30 to 90 seconds between sets.

Common biceps workout mistakes to avoid

To maximize your bicep-building efforts, try to steer clear of these common missteps.

• Swinging your weights. Avoid using the momentum of your arms to simply swing the weights up and down rather than intentionally curling toward your shoulder. Engage your glutes and core to help limit any excess movement. Think about squeezing your upper arms to lift your weights toward your shoulders.

• Not using your full range of motion. Especially if you’re trying to curl too much weight, you might unintentionally be cutting off the bottom part of your curl. Think about extending your arms until they’re nearly straight at the bottom of your curl, but don’t lock out your elbows.

• Curling too fast. Rushing your reps won’t deliver the results you’re looking for. If you need some help slowing down, try doing biceps workouts at a 4-2-4 tempo: Take four seconds to lift your weights, pause for two seconds at the top of the movement, then lower the weights for four seconds.

• Lifting too heavy or light. Sometimes, people get so pumped to see their biceps grow that they take on too much weight too soon. This can put you at risk of overuse injuries and ultimately stall your progress. But lifting too light isn’t the idea, either. The last couple of reps of every exercise in each set should feel challenging but still doable with good form. If they don’t, it’s time to either do more reps or sets or move up to a heavier weight. This concept, called progressive overload, means your biceps will keep growing bigger and stronger rather than plateauing.

Tips to maximize your biceps gains 

Like with any type of strength training, it’s important to nurture other aspects of your health if you really want to see biceps progress.

For starters, make sure your diet is fueling your efforts. Take in enough carbs that you have the energy for exercise and enough protein to spark muscle growth. While recommendations vary, a helpful general benchmark is 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight every day. Drink plenty of water, too, as dehydration can stifle biceps strength, according to the NASM. 

While you’re undoubtedly eager to keep making progress, don’t skimp on rest and recovery. During rest, your muscles heal and repair, leading to stronger and bigger biceps.

If you’re planning to work your biceps regularly, give yourself 24 hours between workouts. Otherwise, 48 to 72 hours of recovery time between biceps workouts can be safer, according to the American Council on Exercise. 

And while it might seem less important than warming up before larger, heavier lifts, it’s still worthwhile to prep your biceps before strength training. Start with a few minutes of light rowing to get your heart rate up and include some dynamic warm-up exercises like arm circles and swings before you grab your weights.

A sample biceps workout routine 

If you’re new to biceps workouts, start with two per week, with two to three days of rest from biceps exercises in between, per the NASM. One smart approach is to include some biceps exercises in full-body strength workouts, like so:

• Monday: Cardio workout

• Tuesday: Full-body strength workout (with one to two biceps exercises)

• Wednesday: Recovery or active recovery day 

• Thursday: Cardio workout

• Friday: Full-body strength workout (with one to two biceps exercises)

• Saturday: Cardio workout

• Sunday: Rest day

If you’re more experienced with strength training, you might split up your strength workouts by body part. Here’s how biceps workouts fit into this strategy: 

• Monday: Lower-body strength workout

• Tuesday: Cardio workout

• Wednesday: Upper-body strength workout (with two to three biceps exercises)

• Thursday: Lower-body strength workout

• Friday: Active recovery or mobility day

• Saturday: Upper-body strength workout (with two to three biceps exercises)

• Sunday: Rest day

Ready to start building your biceps? 

If you’re looking for someplace to start with your biceps workouts, be sure to explore Hydrow’s library of guided strength-training routines. Our upper-body workouts cover lots of biceps exercises for every fitness level. And our elite Athletes will motivate you to keep coming back. Plus, you can build biceps rowing, too—the biceps are among the 86% of muscles worked in the rowing stroke!

Learn more about Hydrow’s strength training workouts today!