How many reps should I do for bicep curls?

Author: Prof. Gregorio Morissette IV  |  Last update: Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Biceps Curls Palms should face forward. Squeeze the biceps and bend the arms, curling the weights towards the shoulders. Keep the elbows stationary and only bring the weight as high as you can without moving the elbows. Repeat for 1-3 sets of 8-15 reps.

Should I do 3 or 4 sets of bicep curls?

This is the range that stimulates the most muscle growth. This is also the rep range recommended by most body building programs and the reps you'll find listed in most off the shelf magazines like Flex, Muscle and Fitness, etc. The conventional wisdom is 3–5 sets of 8–15 reps.

Is 3 sets of 10 enough for biceps?

This holds that regardless of whether you're trying to build muscle, strength, power, or endurance, performing three sets of 10 reps per exercise is a good place to start. The scheme mostly works, especially if you're just starting out with strength training—because everything works in the beginning.

Should I do 3 or 4 bicep exercises?

One should do 3 exercise for biceps and 3 exercise for triceps. More than that is not required. because biceps and triceps are smaller muscles and they also work with the major muscles of their group. So doing so many exercises for smaller muscles is the waste of time.

Is 5 sets of bicep curls enough?

If you train three non-consecutive days in a week, you can perform 3-4 bicep workouts with at least 5 sets or a maximum number of sets you can perform easily; however, if you train five days each week, it is best to reduce the number of sets down to two.

How Many Sets Do You Really Need to Build Muscle?

Is 4 sets too much for biceps?

There is a minimum effective dose of 4 sets per muscle group per week for hypertrophy. For increasing strength, both higher volume and frequency contribute. However, results diminish beyond 4 sets per week. There is a minimum effective dose of 1 set per week per muscle group for strength gains.

Is 1 set till failure enough?

If you're tight on time, single-set training working close to failure could be an effective method for achieving strength and muscular gains.

Should biceps be heavy or light?

Because the bicep muscles are proportionately small, at least in relation to your chest and back, you should always use a weight that allows you to flex and release with isolation (meaning that no other muscle is involved), but heavy enough to cause fatigue at the end of the set.

What exercise hits all 3 bicep heads?

The Weighted Chin Up is the best biceps exercise for hitting all three functions (elbow supination, elbow flexion and shoulder flexion) of the biceps with overload. This exercise will help you build strong arm muscles as well as build muscle mass and should be a mainstay in all your upper body workouts.

Can you overtrain biceps?

The biceps are a secondary muscle in compound exercises like underhand grip rows or chin-ups, therefore they are still working. As a secondary muscle in a compound lift, the biceps encounter even more volume and muscle breakdown than during a biceps curl. Avoid overtraining the biceps after an entire workout.

How many reps is too much for biceps?

If you are training the biceps directly for strength, it is recommended that you train in the 5-10 rep range, or the 8-10 rep range to minimize overloading the tendons and ligaments of the elbow joint due to the single joint nature of most biceps isolation exercises.

What happens if you hit your arms every day?

Incorporating arm exercises into your fitness routine is essential for maintaining your strength. But it's also important for healthy movement, stronger bones, better balance, and keeping injuries at bay.

How long should I rest between sets?

Rest between set durations should be based on sets/exercise (volume), and not load or training goal. General recommendations include moderate (2 min) rest between sets if performing 2 sets/exercise, long rest (3 min) if performing 3 sets/exercise, and very long rest (> 4 min) if performing 4 sets or more/exercise.

Is 3 bicep exercises too much?

Within a single week (microcycle) of training, we recommend between 2 and 5 different biceps exercises.

Is 3 sets of 10 enough to build muscle?

Your rep range doesn't matter nearly as much as you think, so don't overthunk it! Here are some examples: If you're trying to build muscle and get bigger, doing sets of 3 or sets of 5 or sets of 10 will ALL help you get bigger, if you're eating enough to get bigger!

How long do biceps take to grow?

Typically, it takes around 6-8 weeks for you to start noticing changes in the appearance of your arms. At around the 12 week mark, this is typically when you can expect to see more significant changes, especially if you didn't already have a large amount of muscle mass in the area!

How to get thicker biceps?

The best exercise for growing the bicep muscle is any variation of the curl. Curls are best done using a barbell and weights or a set of dumbbells. If you're training in the gym, sitting at a bench or using the preacher curl machine can help to further concentrate tension on the bicep muscle, leading to bigger gains.

What is the scientifically best bicep exercise?

THE STUDY
  • Cable curl.
  • Barbell curl.
  • Concentration curl.
  • Chin-up.
  • EZ Curl (with both wide and narrow grip)
  • Incline curl.
  • Preacher curl.

How many bicep curls a day to build muscle?

This couldn't be simpler. Each day you're going to perform 100 bicep curls, using a weight you could curl for around 20 reps before you hit failure. Your goal is to perform all 100-rep— with impeccable form and controlled tempo — in as few sets as possible, resting for no longer than 5-10 deep breaths between each set.

Are high reps better for biceps?

High rep training is a great way to build bigger biceps.

Is it bad to do the same workout routine every day?

According to Stewart, it's OK to do the same workout routine daily if the intensity is not too extreme. Frequency can be a good thing if it's done safely. However, varying your workouts can decrease overuse and optimize physical benefits.

How intense should you do flexibility?

Breathe normally and hold each stretch for about 30 seconds; in problem areas, you may need to hold for around 60 seconds. Don't aim for pain. Expect to feel tension while you're stretching, not pain. If it hurts, you've pushed too far.

Why do powerlifters not train to failure?

Training to muscular failure is very stressful on the central nervous system, muscles, & tendons; and can take days or even a week to recover from. While there may be a slight additional benefit to training to failure vs. not, from a hypertrophy/strength standpoint, the fatigue level outweighs any potential upside.

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