The Ultimate Bicep Workout: Top 5 Exercises for Bigger Arms
- Ryan O'Connor
- Nov 17
- 8 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Are you looking to build massive biceps that will have people asking you what your secret is? Well, you're in luck because after years and years of trying different exercises, I've identified the top five bicep exercises that maximize muscle growth.
Why Training Your Biceps Matters
Most lifters train biceps because they want bigger, more defined arms, and that’s a perfectly good reason. But the benefits of strong biceps go far beyond aesthetics.
Your biceps play a major role in nearly every pulling movement you do in the gym. Rows, pull-ups, lat pulldowns, even deadlifts all rely on bicep strength for stability and control. When your biceps are weak, your back training suffers, your grip fails sooner, and your overall pulling strength hits a ceiling.
Well-developed biceps create visual balance. Big shoulders and a wide back don’t look complete without full, rounded biceps to match. If you want arms that look strong from every angle, bicep training needs to be intentional.
Quick Overview of Bicep Anatomy
You don’t need to be an expert in anatomy to build impressive arms, but knowing the basics will help you make smarter exercise choices. The biceps aren’t just one muscle, they’re a group working together to flex your elbow, supinate your wrist, and stabilize your shoulder.
Biceps Brachii (The Main Muscle)
Consists of two heads:
Long Head: Runs along the outside of the arm and forms the classic “bicep peak.” It’s more active when your arms are behind your torso or when the exercise emphasizes supination.
Short Head: Sits on the inner side of your upper arm and adds thickness and width. Exercises that keep your elbows slightly in front of your body or use a closer grip hit the short head more directly.
Brachialis (The Sleeper Muscle)
The brachialis sits under the biceps. When it grows, it literally pushes the biceps up, making your arms look fuller and thicker. It’s trained best through neutral-grip or hammer-style curls.
Brachioradialis (Forearm Muscle)
While it's technically not part of the biceps, it heavily contributes to arm size and strength in curling movements. Reverse grip curls activate it strongly.
Why this matters: The most effective routine hits all three muscles so your arms grow in peak, width, and overall thickness.
What Makes a Bicep Exercise Effective?
There are dozens of curl variations, but only a handful truly deliver consistent growth.
Consistent Tension
You want tension on the biceps through the entire range of motion. Free weights often lose tension at the top. Cables and incline setups help maintain it.
Strong Stretch at the Bottom
Muscles grow best when trained in the lengthened position. Exercises like incline dumbbell curls or Bayesian cable curls (one of my favorite exercises) apply heavy load at the stretch, where it matters most.
This is one of the most evidence-backed principles for hypertrophy.
Natural Supination
The biceps’ strongest contraction comes when the wrist turns from neutral to fully supinated. Movements that emphasize this (like dumbbell curls done with intentional rotation) recruit more bicep fibers.
Stability for Progressive Overload
If you’re swinging the weight, the biceps aren’t doing the work. Stable movements like cables, preacher benches, and machine curls let you push closer to failure.
Top 5 Bicep Exercises for Building Muscle
Below are the five most effective bicep exercises for building mass, strength, and shape. These movements hit the long head, short head, and brachialis while providing strong tension, stability, and the ability to train close to failure. These exercises should certainly be layered in throughout your workout routine.
1. Preacher Curls
Preacher curls are one of the best isolation exercises for building full biceps because they keep your upper arm stabilized and eliminate momentum. This forces the biceps to do 100% of the work from start to finish.
Why it’s effective:
Eliminates cheating and swinging
Loads the biceps in the mid–to–shortened range
Creates strong isolation and mind-muscle connection
How to perform it:
Sit on a preacher bench with your armpits snug against the pad.
Hold a dumbbell or barbell with palms facing up.
Keep your chest against the pad and extend your arms fully.
Curl the weight up under control, squeezing at the top.
Lower slowly until your arms are fully extended and stretched.
No preacher bench? Stand behind an incline bench set to 55–70°, plant your upper arm firmly against the pad, and curl one dumbbell at a time. This creates the same isolation and prevents shoulder involvement.
2. Bayesian Cable Curls
Bayesian cable curls are one of the most underrated bicep movements and great for hypertrophy. They load the biceps in a lengthened position, which is where muscles grow most effectively.
Why it’s effective:
Huge stretch on the long head of the biceps
Constant tension throughout the entire rep
Minimal forearm involvement
Great for developing the “peak” and upper bicep fullness
How to perform it:
Set the cable to hip height, not low like traditional single-arm curls.
Stand facing away from the cable, arm slightly behind your torso.
Lean forward to create a bigger stretch.
Curl with a slow, controlled motion and squeeze at the top.
Keep your elbow behind you through the full movement.
Pro tip: Keep the reps slow and steady, fast reps kill the benefit of the stretch-loaded tension.
3. EZ Bar Cable Curls
The EZ bar curl is a classic mass-builder, and using a cable attachment makes it even better. Cables keep tension on the biceps at every angle, especially at the top of the curl when dumbbells often have reduced tension.
Why it’s effective:
By far one of the best exercises for consistent tension
Multiple grip widths allow targeting of different bicep heads
Easy to overload progressively
How to perform it:
Attach an EZ bar to a low cable pulley.
Stand facing away from the machine so the cable runs through your legs. (This increases tension in the shortened position.)
Keep your elbows pinned to your sides.
Curl the bar up until your forearms are vertical.
Lower with control, keeping tension on the biceps.
Variation: Doing a superset of close grip and wide grip EZ bar curls will provide a massive pump.
Advanced Variation: Lying cable curls might feel awkward and look a little weird, but the payoff is huge. When you lie flat, the cable line stays perfectly aligned with your biceps through the entire rep. That means no loss of tension at the top, no cheating from momentum, and constant load where it matters most.
4. Reverse Grip Cable Curls
Reverse grip cable curls shift emphasis from the biceps brachii to the brachialis and brachioradialis, two muscles that dramatically increase arm thickness. When your brachialis grows, it literally pushes the biceps higher, giving your arms that rounded, “3D” look.
Why it’s effective:
Targets the brachialis better than most traditional curls
Builds thicker upper arms and stronger forearms
Provides smooth, consistent tension
How to perform it:
Use a straight bar or angled bar cable attachment.
Grab it with an overhand (palms-down) grip.
Keep elbows tight to your body and wrists neutral.
Curl the bar upward slowly.
Lower the weight under control through the full stretch.
Training note: Don’t go too heavy. A moderate load with strict form lights up the brachialis.
5. Incline Hammer Curls
Incline hammer curls combine two of the most powerful bicep-building principles: (1) a stretched position from sitting back on an incline bench, and (2) a neutral grip that targets the brachialis and long head.
Together, this creates an exercise that builds arm thickness and peak at the same time.
Why it’s effective:
Deep stretch on the long head of the biceps
Hammer grip targets the brachialis and brachioradialis
Prevents shoulder momentum
How to perform it:
Set an incline bench to about 45–60 degrees.
Sit back with your arms hanging straight down.
Hold dumbbells in a neutral grip (palms facing in).
Curl upward without letting your elbows drift forward.
Lower slowly into the full stretch.
Form tip: Keep the reps smooth and controlled. Avoid bouncing your shoulders off the bench to start each rep.
How to Program Your Bicep Workout
Training your biceps effectively is about more than choosing the right exercises, it’s about structuring your workout so you can train hard, recover, and build muscle consistently.
Training Frequency
Aim for 2–3 bicep-focused sessions per week, whether standalone or paired with back, shoulders, or an arm day. It's better to split volume across the week for hypertrophy rather than cramming everything into one long session.
Total Weekly Sets
Most lifters grow best with 10–16 hard sets per week. Beginners can start with 6–8 sets. Advanced lifters may push up to 18–20 sets, but only with good recovery.
Exercise Selection
A well-rounded bicep routine should include:
One stretch-loaded exercise (Bayesian curls, incline curls)
One peak-tension exercise (cable curls, preacher curls)
One brachialis-focused exercise (reverse curls, hammer curls)
This hits every part of the arm that contributes to size and thickness.
Rep Ranges
Use a mix of rep ranges to fully challenge the muscle:
6–10 reps: Heavier work for overall strength
10–15 reps: Bread-and-butter hypertrophy
15–25 reps: Lighter, metabolic sets for deep fatigue
Effort & Progression
The biceps respond extremely well to training close to failure. Aim for 1–2 reps in reserve (RIR) on most working sets. Consistent progression is what forces new growth.
7. Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even though bicep training looks simple, these mistakes can slow down progress or limit growth.
Using Too Much Momentum
Swinging your torso to get the weight up means your biceps aren’t doing the work. Slow down, lock your elbows in place, and control every inch of the rep.
Training Too Heavy
Biceps thrive on tension, not excessive weight. Going too heavy shifts the load to your shoulders and forearms, reducing bicep activation.
Shortening the Range of Motion
Cutting the bottom portion of the rep eliminates the stretch, one of the most important drivers of hypertrophy.
Ignoring the Brachialis
Only doing supinated curls leads to limited overall arm growth. Neutral and reverse grip work builds thickness and pushes the biceps up visually.
Conclusion
Building impressive biceps comes down to a smart mix of the right exercises, proper technique, and consistent progression. While curls might look simple, the difference between average arms and standout arms is in the details (using full range of motion, maintaining tension, and training close to failure).
By combining stretch-focused movements like Bayesian curls, isolation work like the preacher curl, and brachialis-focused exercises like reverse cable curls, you'll hit every part of the upper arm that contributes to size, thickness, and shape.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many times per week should I train biceps?
Most people grow best with 2–3 bicep-focused sessions per week. This allows enough stimulus while giving your arms adequate time to recover and grow.
How many sets should I do for biceps?
Aim for 10–16 hard sets per week, split across your weekly sessions. Beginners can start with 6–8 sets and gradually increase volume as strength and recovery improve.
Do I need heavy weight to build bigger biceps?
Biceps grow best from moderate weight with high tension and proper form. Using weight that’s too heavy often leads to momentum and poor activation. Choose a weight you can control through the full range of motion.
Why do my shoulders take over when I curl?
Your shoulders jump in when either:
the weight is too heavy,
your elbows drift forward, or
you’re swinging the weight.
Focus on strict form, keep your elbows pinned, and reduce the load if needed.
What is the most effective bicep exercise?
There isn’t one “best” exercise, but Bayesian curls, preacher curls, and incline curls rank among the most effective because they challenge the biceps in their strongest hypertrophy-producing positions (stretched and shortened).
Should I train biceps on back day or arm day?
Either works.
Back day is efficient since pulling exercises already warm up the biceps.
Arm day allows you to focus more intensely on isolation movements.Choose the setup that fits your weekly routine best.
Can I build big biceps with just dumbbells?
Yes, but cables offer a more consistent tension curve. If you only use dumbbells, include a mix of:
Incline curls
Hammer curls
Dumbbell preacher curls
Comments