5 best basic and isolation biceps exercises

The pronounced relief of the arms and strong broad shoulders have at all times been considered a symbol of beauty and courage. To achieve the desired result - to make your arms beautiful and strong - do basic biceps exercises correctly and do not forget about isolation.

Why is biceps not growing?

Strength training has been of interest to men since adolescence. Visiting sports sections or exercising on their own, representatives of the stronger sex almost without fail load the biceps muscle of the arms, but not everyone develops and increases it. Someone's muscles are noticeably rounded even from home workouts with dumbbells or a barbell, and for someone, exercising in the gym on simulators is ineffective for a number of reasons.

Physicians confirm that the principles of effective strength training exercises are accurate and consistent for all athletes, regardless of their physique. However, each person has a unique ratio of "red" and "white" muscle fibers, so different athletes use several exercises to train the biceps muscle, choosing the most effective ones.

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The reasons

Reasons for the lack of biceps growth:

• wrong choice of technique, excessive use of cheating;
• incorrect choice of load (working weight);
• overtraining;
• insufficient nutrition for muscle growth;
• monotonous loads.

The most common mistake is overtraining. In second place, perhaps, you can put the wrong diet.

In order to quickly get the coveted 40 cm of biceps girth, many begin to work hard on pumping it, using all the exercises - both familiar and unfamiliar. Often, many beginners do 3-5 exercises, and even several times a week. At the same time, they also swing the back, where the biceps also works very well. The result is overwork on one muscle group. She simply does not have time to recover.

In order for the increase in the biceps brachii to move at the desired pace, you need to evenly build muscle mass throughout the body. At first, a fullbadi scheme is most suitable for beginners, in which all muscles are worked out in each workout. In this case, just one biceps exercise will be enough. When switching to split, it is best to combine this muscle group with the back. In this case, 2, maximum 3 exercises are enough.

Overtraining is caused not only by a high load on the muscles, but also by too short rest periods between approaches, which leads to fatigue and loss of strength. Insufficient sleep time can also cause the problem.

With regard to nutrition, this is the most important step for increasing any muscle group. If you do not have a daily calorie surplus, a sufficient amount of protein and complex carbohydrates, then you will have to forget about weight gain, no matter how correctly you train.

Errors

The most common mistakes in pumping the biceps muscle, due to which the biceps stops increasing, include:

• a barbell cast, in which the whole body participates, not just the arms;
• protruding elbows when doing exercises;
• raising the elbows up when bending the arms;
• short amplitude.

Try to keep your elbows pressed against the body during the exercises so that the load on the muscles of the arms is constant. At the lowest point, do not extend your arms to the end, do not let your biceps rest. At the top point, when the biceps is tense as much as possible, you can linger for 1-2 seconds, straining the target muscle.

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Basic biceps exercises

Beginning each workout, do not forget to warm up your ligaments and stretch your forearms. Take 2 kg light dumbbells and bend your elbows at right angles. Roll your brushes in and out. Raise your hands 20 times while holding dumbbells. After warm-up, start strength training.

Due to the nature of the structure, there is only one basic exercise for biceps - pull-ups with a narrow reverse grip. All the rest are insulating, since only one joint works in them - the elbow, and the load falls only on the biceps muscle of the shoulder. But not everything is so bad - the biceps can be worked out with isolation, especially if you do it after exercises on the back, where it works great in almost all movements. Many even attribute some of the cravings to the basic ones for the biceps, but nevertheless, the back muscles work there first of all, so this is not entirely true.

Pull-ups on the horizontal bar with a narrow reverse grip

Pull-ups on the horizontal bar with a reverse grip load the biceps and latissimus dorsi. The narrower the grip, the more emphasis is on the arms, the wider, the more on the back. The biceps here is turned on to a greater extent due to the supinated hands - it is in this position that the rest of the exercises for this muscle group are performed.

Raising the body when performing pull-ups with a narrow grip is performed by bending the arms at the elbows. The biomechanics of movements in it is the same as that of lifting a barbell. You do not need to use straps - in this case, they will only prevent you from emphasizing the load on the biceps.

Execution order:

1. Hang on the bar with a narrow open back grip so that your thumb is not opposed to others.
2. Bend your elbows and as you exhale, rise above the horizontal bar. Your chin should be on top of the bar.
3. As you inhale, slowly lower yourself to the starting position. When lowering, try to resist the force of gravity by engaging your biceps.

Watch the position of your elbows. It is important that they are closer to the body, otherwise the maximum load will go to the back muscles, and not to the arms.

Best Isolation Biceps Exercises

You can think of dozens of isolating exercises for the muscle group under consideration. We have selected the most effective ones.

Standing straight grip barbell curl

This is a standard exercise that is considered by many to be basic, although it is not. He has only one drawback - a significant load on the wrist area due to the fact that the hands at the top of the movement are spread wider than the elbows, so the main weight of the bar is on them.

Use a curved EZ bar to reduce stress on the hands. It relieves pressure on the wrists and puts equal stress on both sides of the biceps. If it is more convenient for you, you can do it with direct.

Execution order:

1. Take a barbell with a straight open grip. Take a comfortable, stable position: feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly apart. Stand up straight, do not bend forward and backward, do not round your back. The grip width can be changed, sometimes making it slightly narrower than the shoulders, sometimes a little wider.
2. As you exhale, bend your arms and, using the effort of the biceps, lift the bar up to chest level. The elbows are fixed in one position on the sides of the body and do not go forward.
3. Slowly lower your arms while inhaling. Do not unbend them all the way, but immediately start the next repetition.

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Lifting dumbbells for biceps while standing

This exercise has several varieties. It can be performed simultaneously with two hands (or one at a time), while initially expanding the hands as when lifting the barbell - you will get an almost complete analogue of the previous exercise, the only difference is that you can slightly increase the amplitude, since in the lower position you will no longer be disturbed by the body.

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But the best option here would be to lift dumbbells with supination of the hand. This turn during lifting is extremely effective for the development of the biceps.

Execution order:

1. Pick up dumbbells. Stand straight with your arms extended along your body. The palms look at each other - the grip is neutral.
2. As you exhale, raise your arms to a level where your forearms are approximately 45 degrees to the plane of the floor. As you lift, turn your hands so that the palms are facing away from the body. At the top point, lock in for a second or two and strain your biceps as much as possible. You can also bend your arms alternately.
3. As you inhale, lower your arms down, turning them back.

Make sure to keep your elbows close to your body. Do not help yourself with bends or back movements. Try to feel every movement.

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The exercise (in both variations - with and without supination) can be performed while sitting - so you have fewer options for cheating.

Lifting dumbbells for biceps while sitting on an incline bench

Also one of the best biceps exercises. The emphasis here is on its long head. The main difference from the previous one is the position of the body and arms, here, even in the initial position, the biceps are stretched and tense.

Execution technique:

1. Set the bench back at a 45-60 degree angle. Sit on it and grab the dumbbells. Unfold the hands so that the palms are facing away from the body. You can also do the same as in the previous exercise and use supination when lifting.
2. As you exhale, bend your arms, while do not move your elbows, they should be fixed.
3. At the top, do not forget about the peak contraction of the biceps for 1-2 seconds.
4. Lower your arms in a controlled manner, without bending them to the end, and immediately begin a new repetition.

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Concentrated dumbbell curls

It is often believed that this exercise can pump up the peak of the biceps. This is completely wrong - the peak cannot be pumped up, in principle, the shape of the muscles is set genetically. But these flexions work out the two-headed one very well in isolation - here you can easily control the amplitude and speed of movement, and focus on the negative phase. The weight will be small - there is no need to chase after it.

Execution order:

1. Sit on a bench with your legs wider than your shoulders.
2. Take a dumbbell in your working hand. Press the lower part of the triceps into the thigh of the leg of the same name. With the other hand, you can lean on the other leg for stability.
3. Bend your arm with biceps. Lock at the top point for 1-2 seconds. You don't need to take your hand off your hip.
4. Slowly and under control, lower your hand down. As in other exercises, you do not need to unbend it to the end.

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These flexions are usually placed at the end of the workout.

Training example

You need to perform exercises for biceps systematically, using a training program. For most, a split is suitable, in which the biceps is pumped after the back:

More experienced athletes can pump their arms on a separate day (this is not the best option for beginners):

In home workouts, you can do the same by matching exercises with the equipment you have.

Watch the video: 10 BEST Exercises for WIDER BICEPS! (May 2025).