Biceps Exercises

The biceps crosses both the elbow and the shoulder, which is why curl variations aren't interchangeable. Curling with the upper arm behind the body — incline curls, Bayesian cable curls, spider curls — trains it in a stretched position, while preacher curls put the hardest part at the top. Hammer and reverse curls shift work onto the brachialis and the forearm, which sit beside and underneath the biceps and add to how thick the arm looks.

Biceps recover quickly, so 8–15 sets a week over two or three sessions is plenty, mostly at 8–15 reps. Pick two variations that place the stretch differently, keep the elbows from drifting forward as you curl, and take two seconds to lower the weight instead of dropping it. Every heavy pull already trains the biceps hard, so count your chin-ups and rows toward the weekly total rather than stacking curls on top of them.