Clicky

HomeFitnessDumbbell Bicep Workout: Build Big Biceps With These 3 Exercises

Dumbbell Bicep Workout: Build Big Biceps With These 3 Exercises

Dumbbell Bicep Workout

When it comes to building big biceps fitness magazines and most personal trainers will tell you that you need to hit a multitude of different curl variations with machines, dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands and the like. They'll try to convince you that you need to not only use a diverse range of equipment, but you need to change up your exercise order, grip placement and rep range every other workout to confuse the muscle and force it to grow.

That's BS.

Here's the truth...

You honestly do not need to do the vast majority of those things.

You can 100% build an impressive pair of bulging biceps with one pair of dumbbells and three exercises.

Below you'll find my dumbbell bicep workout along with an explanation and form guide to the 3 exercises I attribute to bulking my arms up from 12" all the way to 17".

Dumbbell Biceps Curl


Form

Stand upright with a dumbbell held close by your side at arms length with palms facing towards your torso.

While maintaining the position of your arms curl the dumbbell upwards one at a time as you rotate your palm forwards.

Contract and squeeze your biceps at the top of each repetition.

Twist your palm as you slowly lower the dumbbell back to its original position.

Alternate with the other arm.

Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Dumbbell Hammer Curl


Form

Stand upright with a dumbbell in each facing your sides. Keep the dumbbells at arms-length while keeping them close to your body.

Contract your biceps to curl the weight upwards.

Continue until you have reached a full contraction before holding and squeezing for a second.

Slowly lower the dumbbell back to arms-length by your side.

Alternate with the other arm.

Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Dumbbell Concentration Curl


Form

Utilize an incline bench adjusted at a suitable angle for a shoulder press.

With your palm up hold a dumbbell and place your arm over the incline bench, holding onto the incline bench with the other arm for stability.

Utilize a wide stand while pressing your chest up against the bench.

While keeping your arm in place curl the dumbbell up while squeezing and contracting your biceps.

Ensure your upper arm stays in place as only your forearm should be moving.

Slowly begin to lower the dumbbell back to the starting position.

Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Switch arms as necessary.

Common Dumbbell Biceps Exercise Mistakes

Swinging

Every guy in the gym wants to swing around heavy weight on biceps, I get that.

See also
Supply And Demand In Bodybuilding - The #1 Principle To Building A Beastly Physique

As I said earlier – if you want to build big arms you’re going to have to lift heavy, HOWEVER form always have and always will take priority over the weight being lifted.
The bottom portion of a bicep curl is without a doubt the hardest portion of the movement, and when lifting too heavy many gym-goers attempt to swing backwards or hip thrust to attempt to move the weight.
Using momentum to move the weight takes tension off the bicep, doing you no good.
If you’re swinging and swaying your back on every repetition you’re also placing your lower back at a high risk of injury – not good.

Pick a weight that’s heavy for you to perform with good form, save the cheat curls for Arnold.

Arm Training Frequency Too High

It didn’t take me long to realize that training my arms every single day wasn’t getting me very far in terms of results given all the effort I was exerting.

Train smart.

The biceps act as the secondary muscle group when we’re training back, and the triceps act as the secondary muscle group when we’re training chest.
Training chest, back and one dedicated arm day per week (or triceps and biceps split up onto seperate days instead) is more than enough to build big, strong arms.

See also
Is Sweating A Lot Good? Here's What Sweating Says About Your Fitness

More isn’t always better – if you’re training frequency is any higher than this you may very well be hindering your own progress, like all other muscle groups the biceps and triceps require time to recover.

Lifting Too Light

If you don’t generally train in the lower rep range I recommend you give it a try, stop lifting in the 10 – 15 rep range for at least a month and focus on heavy, low rep sets. Once you start to see results you won’t want to go back.

Now, you may still think high reps are beneficial, but let me tell you they’re far from it.

High repetitions result in increased stress on your CNS, increase in localized inflammation and increased soreness.

“Movements or exercises that do not give the muscle the required resistance, but are the kind that involve a great number of repetitions, never break down any tissue, to speak of. These movements involve a forcing process that cause the blood to swell up the muscle, and simply pump them up”– George F. Jowett, 1926

Putting It All Together... The Workout

Dumbbell Biceps Curl - 4 sets - 10 reps per set (per arm)

Dumbbell Hammer Curl - 5 sets - 8 reps per set (per arm)

Dumbbell Concentration Curl - 4 sets - 8 reps per set (per arm)

Here Are The ONLY Pair of Dumbbells I'll Ever Recommend...

Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Weights

Instead of buying multiple sets of dumbbells or messing around screwing weight plates on and off your dumbbells between sets and exercises the Bowflex adjustable dumbbell makes progressing with your routine and exercise so much easier and efficient.

Adjustable in 2.5lb increments all the way up to 52.5lbs per dumbbell, ideal for the beginner or intermediate gym-goer

You can invest in a pair of these dumbbells that'll last you forever here.

What's Your Take On My Dumbbell Bicep Workout? Let Me Know Below!

Scott J.
Scott J.https://ignorelimits.com
I’m SJ. I’m a fitness enthusiast and published author. I transformed my body from a skinny fat 135lbs with 18% body fat to a solid 192lbs at 8% body fat. I became qualified in a field I was passionate about. I founded several online businesses that allow me to pursue ideas and projects in my life that I am passionate about without having to constantly worry about money. I published several eBooks explaining the training and dieting techniques I used to achieve the body I have today. I learnt a plethora of new information on dieting and fitness by reading and applying what I read, to find out what does work and what doesn’t work, because as I’m sure you’ve noticed the health and fitness industry is full of non-sense claims and BS. I found out what was true and what worked for me and applied that knowledge. And you bet I had fun during the whole process.

Stay in Touch

To follow the best weight loss journeys, success stories and inspirational interviews with the industry's top coaches and specialists. Start changing your life today!

Related Articles