The one that achieved the greatest muscle activation was the concentration curl. The authors of the study suggest that it's the most effective bicep exercise because it isolates the biceps more than any of the other exercises. To do a concentration curl: Sit at the end of a flat bench with your legs open in a V shape.
Nippard crowned Bayesian cable curls king of biceps exercises; preacher curls a close second! Though the biceps are small muscles that flex the arm, when well-developed, they command a visual prominence comparable to much larger muscles, which requires proper training.
To get bigger biceps, start by doing biceps-specific exercises like dumbbell curls, concentration curls, and chin-ups to build muscle. Next, build the muscles that surround your biceps by incorporating pectoral fly exercises, push-ups, and daily stretching into your exercise routine.
Concentration Curls
This increased mind-muscle connection during the concentration curls could be part of the reason why it has been rated as the best bicep exercise in several studies [3, 4].
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.
Concentration curl (~98% activation) Cable curl (~81% activation) Chin-up (~80% activation) Barbell curl (~76% activation)
Do Push Ups Work Biceps? Whilst the biceps help to stabilize the shoulder and elbow joints during the lowering phase of a push up, they don't directly work the biceps. If your goal is to build your biceps, you'd be better off focusing on bicep isolation exercises such as bicep curls, hammer curls, or chin ups.
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!
The Squat is the king/queen of movements – no other movement is as complex or as basic as a squat.
Therefore, you must give yourself enough time to recover in between your bicep workouts. Generally, a 24-48 hour resting period is sufficient to avoid any injury. In case you're using heavy weights, make sure to rest at least for two consecutive days.
Research shows that the cable curl is one of the best bicep peak exercises for women and men. The arm positioning in this exercise makes it one of the best to target your bicep long head. Muscles worked: Biceps, brachialis, forearms, anterior deltoids.
Doing 100 push-ups a day can be an impactful element of your overall strength-building and -maintaining routine. And you don't need to be at a gym to do them. “It's a quick and efficient way to strengthen some upper body muscles,” Rad says.
While planks focus primarily on the core muscles in your abdominals and lower back, they also work your shoulders, chest, triceps, biceps, back and legs. Planks are an especially great exercise for people who want to develop core strength and improve posture, especially if you sit for long hours or have low back pain.
Pull ups and chin ups are a multi-joint movement, meaning that they engage multiple muscle groups (lats, biceps, shoulders, and upper back). They promote overall upper body muscle development and can lead to some serious strength gains.
High-protein foods –– such as chicken, fish, and tofu –– provide amino acids that help your body repair muscle damage and build muscle. The best muscle-building foods may also contain other nutrients, like omega-3 fatty acids and iron, that help fuel muscle growth.
And when scientists examine all bicep exercises, they conclude the most effective one is the concentration curl (1,2). The concentration curl is so effective because it takes out the use of the anterior deltoid (front of the shoulder), that's utilised quite heavily during other bicep exercises (3).
The Weighted Chin Up hits all three functions of the bicep: elbow supination, elbow flexion and shoulder flexion. We can utilize an intensity technique if we pair up the Weighted Chin Up with heavier weights in a drop set with the Peak Contraction Chin Up.
In general, like all muscles, the biceps benefit from weights in the 30%-85% 1RM range, which in many people roughly translates to a weight that results in between 5 and 30 reps on a first set taken to failure.