Best Bicep Exercises12 Picks, Ranked
Your biceps sit on the front of your upper arm. They bend the elbow and turn your palm up, and the brachialis underneath helps with every curl. Curls are the core of biceps training, and the details change the feel: on an incline the arms hang behind your body and the muscle works from a long stretch, a preacher pad keeps the upper arm still, and a neutral hammer grip brings in the brachialis and forearm. Mixing grips and arm positions covers both heads and the muscles around them.
- Weekly working sets
- 8–26
- The weekly range KasMaker measures biceps volume against. Fewer is a light week; more is past what most lifters recover from.
- Recovery window
- ~36 hours
- The base time KasMaker's recovery map allows for biceps to recover, scaled up or down by how much you did.
The list
The list mixes barbell, dumbbell, cable and machine curls. Pick one or two from the top as staples, such as Barbell Curl or Dumbbell Bicep Curl. Then add a variant that changes the angle, like Incline Dumbbell Curl, or the grip, like Hammer Curls. Your biceps also work during rows and pull-ups, so count that work when you plan your week. Progress slowly over the weeks by adding reps first, then a small amount of weight.
Covers: Biceps brachii (long and short heads), with the brachialis beneath it.
Barbell Curl
The foundational bicep exercise. Allows heaviest loading. Everyone knows it. Simple progressive overload.
Dumbbell Bicep Curl
Unilateral version, fixes imbalances. Allows supination through the ROM which maximizes bicep short head activation.
Hammer Curls
Targets the brachialis and brachioradialis alongside the bicep. Builds arm thickness. Neutral grip is easy on the wrists.
EZ-Bar Curl
Angled grip reduces wrist strain compared to straight barbell. Hits the same muscles, just more comfortable. Very common gym sight.
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Puts the bicep in a stretched position at the bottom. Greater long-head activation. Science-backed for stretch-mediated hypertrophy.
Concentration Curls
Peak contraction isolation. Eliminates momentum cheating. A classic from the Arnold era that's still in every gym.
Cable Hammer Curls (Rope Attachment)
Constant tension through full ROM. The rope attachment allows natural wrist positioning. Covers the cable equipment category.
Machine Preacher Curls
Machine-guided preacher curl isolates the bicep with zero momentum. Great for beginners and focused hypertrophy.
Cross Body Hammer Curl
Cross-body motion targets the brachialis more than standard hammer curls. Builds the outer arm sweep.
Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl
Alternating version allows heavier loading per arm. Incline angle provides a deep stretch on the long head.
Cable Preacher Curl
Cable preacher curl provides constant tension in the peak contraction zone where dumbbells lose tension.
Close-Grip Standing Barbell Curl
Close grip shifts emphasis to the outer (long) head of the bicep. A simple grip variation for targeted development.
Other muscle groups
See how much each muscle is getting
KasMaker colors every muscle on a body map by how much you've trained it, so you can tell at a glance whether your biceps got enough work this week. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
