Whether you own a barbell, a pair of dumbbells, or even a quality kettlebell — you can curl! You don’t need to haul a cable machine into your home gym to build a set of Larry Scott-like sleeve-huggers. You can do barbell curls in about a square foot if you really needed to. They’re simple and easy to execute. Muscles Worked No! Your biceps are a small muscle and just as injury prone as other, larger muscles. Before curling — especially if you plan to lift heavy — be sure to curl light weight for a few sets. Do two to three warm-up sets and add a little weight to each set. After you’ve done those, you can begin your working sets. More Arm Training Tips Form Tip: Squeeze the pinkies on the barbell, like you are going to snap the bar. This will help to activate the rest of your grip. Step 3 — Curl Up and Slightly Out The eccentric curl is a way to overload the biceps and creates massive amounts of tension on the tissues. Eccentric training and the eccentric aspect of muscle contraction (lengthening under load) has been shown to result in high amounts of DOMs and muscle growth. To do this, curl the weight up (you can have a partner help you) and slowly lower the load under control, and on a tempo (such as three to five seconds down). Drag Curl Aim to do five to eight sets of eight to 15 repetitions. Again, perform a couple of warm-up sets until the movement feels fluid and you’re ready to crush your working sets. Barbell Curl Variations

The standing barbell curl is the cornerstone of many bicep building routines. Grasp a barbell or Olympic bar at around shoulder width apart using an underhand grip (palms facing up). You know this, of course, but here’s some biceps knowledge you may not be privy to. Your biceps has one function, and that’s to flex your elbow (meaning bring your lower arm towards your face). Think about that for a second, and you’ll realize that your biceps are good for a lot more than just curling weights. The work doesn’t end when you get the bar up — that’s just half the exercise. Lowering the barbell slowly (like to a count of two to three seconds) will tax more muscle fibers. Your muscle is still under a load, so there’s still an opportunity to breakdown muscle tissue in the biceps and build more mass. Don’t relax. Lower that bar slowly. Instead of dragging the bar up the body, think about keeping the elbows slightly in front of the body at all times. Imagine yourself curling from a side view — your elbows should travel slightly in front of your torso. Continue to curl up, focusing on not letting the shoulders come forwards. Your shoulders will slightly — slightly! — come into to play when your elbows drift forward. Remember to primarily curl with your biceps. The point of letting your elbows come forward a bit is to further isolate the biceps. The barbell curl is a single-joint accessory/hypertrophy exercise that can be highly effective at targeting the arms, specifically the muscles below. BicepsThe seated curl is a partial range of motion barbell curl, as it often omits that bottom segment of the range of motion. This exerciser can be effective at increasing the loading on the bicep as well as isolating the upper aspects of the biceps. Barbell Curl Alternatives

Below are four benefits of the barbell curl that strength, power, and fitness athletes can benefit from. 1. Improved Grip Strength Olympic Weightlifting: While weightlifters don’t want to pull with the arms during snatches and clean & jerks isn’t something we want in most lifts, stronger arms, in general, can increase pulling and grip strength. Having strong arms can also help during the pull under phase as well. Below are three barbell curl alternatives that can be done to vary programming, challenge lifters, and more. Hammer CurlForm Tip: Actively flex your biceps throughout the entire movement, especially at the top. Step 5 — Control the Bar on the Way Down The preacher curl is a biceps curl variation that can be done with the barbell, dumbbells, EZ bar, or machine (just to name a few). This exercise has the lifter place the arm at an angle, on a preacher curl bench, with the arm and shoulder supported on a pad (to minimize movement), to help isolate the bicep completely. Chin-Up Form Tip: Think about having your hands finish slightly in front of the body like you are giving inconspicuous low hanging high fives. 4 Benefits of the Barbell Curl Want bigger arms? Then you need to leave your ego at the door and focus on the contraction. This means lowering the weight on the bar and performing the barbell curl slowly and with intention. A goo rule of thumb is to use a weight that you can perform for two more reps than your target reps. https://youtube.com/watch?v=X4qkHHlFouQ Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: 5 Mass Building Bicep Exercises | What's Your Favorite? (https://youtube.com/watch?v=X4qkHHlFouQ)

Another mistake is not keeping the elbows fixed and in at the sides. You should not let your elbows come forward when moving the weight up. The biceps are responsible for elbow flexion as well as supporting the grip muscles in pulls and loaded carries. Weak and underdeveloped biceps can cause grip issues, strain to the biceps, and in some cases muscle tears. A stronger biceps is a more resilient biceps. Hey, not every benefit has to do with filling out your shirt. 3. Increased Upper Body Mass Also, the barbell curl can be loaded up with relatively more weight than other curling exercises. That means you can load the muscle faster and progress for longer without hitting a plateau. 4. They’re Accessible Technically yes, but we don’t suggest that. All curls involve moving your lower arm up and down, so we can see why you think you only need one exercise. That said, there’s an advantage to using dumbbells, bands, and cables. Also, changing your hand position and arm angles are ways to keep your training fresh while changing the “feel” of an exercise. Curls are simple, so I can sip my workout right?

Standing Barbell Curl Instructions

Form Tip: Think about squeezing your shoulder blades together and keeping your chest up. Otherwise, you risk slouching forward and disengaging your biceps. Step 4 — Find the Contraction and Hold it Do four to six sets of four to eight repetitions. Remember to start with lighter weight and perform one to two warm-up sets before increasing the weight on the bar and going for broke. Compared to the muscle-building sets below, the volume here is lower. But that’s because lifting heavier weights is fatiguing to both your muscles and nervous system. Put simply: it’s harder! To Build Muscle General lifters will benefit from the two reasons mentioned above. Even if they don’t need the size of a bodybuilder or strength of a strongman, everyday gym-goers can still strive for more mass and strength. It’ll help with their general gym performance, confidence, and biceps mobility. Barbell Curl Sets, Reps, and Weight Recommendations How you structure your volume (sets and reps) will determine whether you gain more strength or muscle. If you’re looking to increase the strength of your biceps, then we suggest performing more sets for fewer reps. That said, you don’t want to lift too heavy (less than four reps). The biceps are a small muscle, and if you try and lift too much you can risk injury. Strength and power athletes can use the barbell curl, primarily to improve arm and grip strength, enhance eccentric loading potentials (injury prevention from strains and tears) during heavy deadlift and pulling training. Here’s more about how stronger biceps can help in specific strength sports:

The barbell curl can be done to help improve grip and arm strength, both of which can impact pulling strength and performance. Your biceps are moving the weight, but your hands, wrists, and forearms are supporting it All those secondary muscles will be taxed and you’ll have a crushing grip as a result. 2. Injury Prevention (to the elbows/arms) Below are two primary training goals and programming recommendations when programming barbell curls into training programs. To Gain Strength Besides looking good — because a pair of meaty arms are aesthetic — bigger biceps serve some practical functions, too. The biceps muscle is a key player in most pulling exercises. Anytime your pull a heavy deadlift, your biceps are involved. The same is true for pull-ups, barbell rows, and more. Strengthening the biceps will carry over to those moves as well as help protect them from injury.

Here’s what you need to know about doing the barbell curl — a tried-and-true size and strength builder for the biceps: It’s hard to have alternatives for 21s because it’s hard to replicate the ‘deep burn’ that 21s create. 4 x 4s are one of those rare exercises that do.