Struggling to get a good pump on bicep day? Then it's time to change things up! If you find yourself stuck doing the same sorts of stale curls, this article is for you.
There are a million different ways to do curls, so we decided to walk you through a few of our favorites. Get ready to blast your biceps with these curl variations!
Preacher Curl
Preacher curls are great for isolating your biceps. The specially designed bench prevents you from using any other part of your body, kicking your biceps into over drive.
To perform a preacher curl sit down at the preacher bench and adjust the seat height so your upper arms and chest are both resting on the pad. Grab the E Z bar with an underhand grip about shoulder-width apart. Then squeeze those biceps to life the bar to shoulder height.
Drag Curl
Like all good curl variations, drag curls are yet another way of isolating your biceps.
Instead of bending your elbows and curling up toward your shoulders, you’re dragging the barbell up to your body while your elbows move behind you. This strict, short range of motion takes the shoulders out of the equation so you can focus more on growing your biceps.
Concentration Curl
To execute a concentration curl, you'll want to sit on the bench with the dumbbell between your legs and your curling elbow resting snuggly against your thigh. Once you're in position, squeeze with all your might to lift the dumbbell to your chest.
This position forces you to move only at your elbow, allowing you to emphasize the muscle contraction without help from your shoulders.
Hammer Curl
Hammer curls are great for working your biceps and forearms at the same time. There's even a bit of tris involved too. The basic motion is indistinguishable from a traditional dumbbell curl, except that your palms face inward (neutral grip).
Still not entirely sold on hammer curls? In addition to targeting more muscles than a traditional curls, hammer curls also train a different part of your bicep. Most curls target the short head of the biceps brachii, but the hammer curls' unique grip activates the long head of the biceps brachii and the brachialis, also known as your elbow flexor muscles.
Spider Curl
Spider curls isolates the short head of the bicep brachii by supporting your chest against a bench. Taking your bodyweight out of the equation removes any momentum assistance you might have enjoyed during your bicep curls.
7-7-7s
If you really want to make your biceps scream (and yes, biceps can scream), you'll want to make sure and end your work out with a couple sets of 7-7-7s.
One of Arnold's personal favorites, this relatively simple exercise torches your biceps by shifting your range of motion from what's standard in most curl variations and forcing you to complete a relatively high number of reps
Also known as 21s, this exercise can be broken down to 7 reps lifting the bar from your legs to midline, 7 reps from your midline to shoulders, and 7 reps from your legs to shoulders.
The Secret to Sleeve-Bursting Biceps
To add even more spice to your bicep routine, talk to a trainer for pro tips on how to get the absolute most out of arm day!