If you’re looking to tone your arms, exercises for your biceps are a natural choice. To get a good all-round workout for this muscle group, you need to work all three muscles: the brachii, brachioradialis and brachialis. There are specific exercises that target each of these muscles for a more defined look. Consult your health care professional before doing any new exercises.
This is a good exercise to do at the beginning of your strengthening programme because it doesn’t require joint movement or muscle flexion. Physioadvisor.com (References 1) says to hold on hand out in front of you, keeping the elbow fixed in to your waist, the forearm bent to 90 degrees and the palm facing up. Place your other hand face-down on top of your outstretched hand and press the two together. Apply as much pressure as you need to in order to feel tension in both biceps.
Bicep Curls
This exercise targets your biceps brachii and brachioradialis, which allow you to bend your arm upwards and rotate your forearm, respectively. Use hand weights or a resistance band for the standard bicep curl. If using a band, stand on it with both feet and hold the ends, one in each hand. Start with your hands resting on your thighs, palms facing outward, then bend your elbows and bring your hands up toward your chest. Make sure the movement comes only from your forearms – your elbows and upper arms should remain fixed to your sides.
Preacher Curl
This version of the regular biceps curl requires the preacher’s bench, which isolates the biceps. Grab hold of a hand weight using the underhand grip, and rest your upper arm over the top of the bench. Start with your arm straight then engage your biceps to bring the weight up in front of your face. Keep your biceps contracted as you lower your arm back to the start position and repeat.
Hammer Curls
This exercise works the brachialis muscles, which allow you to straighten your arm. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight down by your sides and palms facing inward. Keeping your hands in this position, slowly raise the weights up until your forearms are about parallel to the floor. Hold for a second then slowly lower and repeat.
Reverse-Grip Barbell Curls
Take hold of a barbell loaded with relatively light weights, using an overhand grip – that is, with your fingers wrapped over the bar and your palms facing down. Start with the bar resting against your thighs then contract your upper-arm muscles to lift the bar up to about waist height. Keep your elbows and upper arms tucked into your sides as you lift and lower back to the start position.
Twisting Curls
Sit on an exercise or bench and take hold of a weight in one hand. Position your feet a little wider than hip-width apart then lean over and rest the elbow of the working arm against your inner thigh. Start with your palm facing in, and curl upward. As you do so, turn your palm up to face the ceiling. Hold your arm in the elevated position then slowly lower to the start position.
Prone Curl
Sit on an exercise bench with the back support angled at about 45 degrees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie back, dropping your arms down by your sides so your hands are below your shoulders. As you begin to curl, keep your palms facing inward, but as you reach the top of the movement, rotate your wrists up and out. The benefit of this exercise is that it allows for greater range of motion between the straight and curled positions.
Chin Up
To start, hang from a fixed, elevated bar with your hands about shoulder-width apart and your arms straight. Your hands should be positioned so that your palms are facing away from you. Use your shoulder and upper-arm muscles to draw your torso up so that your chin passes over the bar then use muscle control to slowly lower back down.
Press Up
Tie the middle of a resistance band around a secure object and hold on to the ends. Extend your arms so that your hands are slightly behind your hips then engage your upper arm muscles to bring your forearms up to waist height. To make sure your biceps do all the hard work, keep your back straight and your upper arms still as you perform this movement.
Rowing
This exercise works your back and shoulder muscles as well as your biceps. You can do it on a rowing machine or using a resistance band. Either way, stand up straight with your spine, shoulders and neck aligned and your arms straight, holding the weight/resistance out in front of you. Tighten your biceps to pull the rowing-machine handles or band-ends toward your chest. Don’t allow your elbows to drop as you pull and return to the start position.
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