Try this intense workout to build toned, stronger biceps

Strengthening your biceps not only make you look muscular, but also add muscle endurance, strength, and stamina to your arms. The functional strength provided by training bicep muscles are immense, helping you carry out daily tasks more efficiently.  

• Fat loss: An entire bicep workout can help you in losing fat from the arms. Training muscle groups independently consume more energy which causes fat loss from the particular body part you're training.
• Overall strength: Gradually increasing the intensity of the workout engages core muscles, which helps during workouts using body weight, lifting heavier, and even while training the abdominal muscles.
• Functional strength: This workout also includes strengthening of forearms and wrists. Lifting the heavy grocery bags over the weekend, or giving a hand while moving furniture becomes a breeze.

Here's a series of exercises that you can perform while training your biceps on a particular day. Training your upper arms separately can have the positives mentioned above, besides making it quite fun.

This may look like an easy movement but can be considered to be the toughest bodyweight exercises out there. The chin-up is a compound exercise that trains the shoulders, back as well as the entire arm. Chin-ups are great to train your upper body with a single move. You can use this as your warm-up exercise before starting your bicep workout.

Muscle targeted

• Biceps
• Back
• Shoulders
• Arms

Equipment required

• A parallel bar

Intensity

• Low (trainee)

Sets & reps

• 3 sets of 10-15 reps each

How to do it

• Hang on a bar with your hands facing towards you inside your shoulders' width
• Stretch your arms out and pull yourself up until your chin goes over the bar
• Squeeze your biceps as much as you can at the top of the move
• Slowly bring yourself down by un-flexing your arms. This is one rep.

Tip: Compress your shoulders and back inwards for better results.

A favourite among most gym enthusiasts, holding a straight barbell and curling a disproportionate amount of weight towards you is a simple yet effective exercise. To target both biceps with the same tension, the straight barbell curl is incomparable.

Muscle targeted

• Biceps

Equipment required

• A barbell rod
• A pair of weighted plates

Intensity

• Low (trainee to experience)

Sets & reps

• 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps each

How to do it

• Hold the barbell with an underhand grip shoulder width apart
• To target the inner biceps, hold the barbell with a closer grip, and for the outer biceps, you can go wider than shoulder width as well.
• Contract your core, and without bending yourself back, pull the bar towards your chest
• Curl your wrist inwards for the added squeeze at the top of the movement
• Bring the barbell down slowly back to the starting position. This is one rep.

Tip: To maximise the results hold the barbell at the top for a few seconds.

The alternate dumbbell curls help give more definition to the bicep muscle and allows you to train your entire bicep (long head to short head) in a single move.

Muscle targeted

• Biceps

Experience level

• Low (trainee)

Equipment required

• A pair of dumbbells

Sets & reps

• 3 sets of 10-12 reps each

How to do it

• Stand straight with the legs shoulder-width apart with a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip
• Bend the right elbow to bring the dumbbell up towards your chest
• Curl your wrist inwards to squeeze the bicep muscle
• Slowly bring the dumbbell back down to the starting position. This is one rep.
• Repeat the movement with the left arm.

​Tip: Those not used to the movement tend to bend their backs in the opposite direction in order to pick up the dumbbell. To reduce the chances of injury, perform the same exercise while being seated on an upright bench.

Each 'curling' movement impacts your upper arm. The hammer curl is another great exercise to lift more weight for well-defined, muscular biceps. The alternate hammer curl helps add muscle mass, strengthens the wrist with its neutral grip as well as the forearms.

Targeted muscle

• Biceps
• Forearms

Equipment required

• A pair of dumbbells

Intensity

• Low (trainee)

Sets & rep

• 3 sets of 10-15 reps each

How to do it

• Pick up a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other
• Keep the dumbbells near your pelvis, or in front of your thighs
• Lift the right hand first, only from the elbow
• Curl your wrist inwards at the top of the movement
• Bring the dumbbell slowly down to the starting position. This is one rep
• Repeat the movement with the left arm

Most Indian gyms know it as the “zig-zag rod preacher curl”, specifically designed for arm exercises. Locked arms on the resting preacher bench makes it simple yet effective.

Muscle targeted

• Biceps

Equipment required

• A preacher bench
• EZ bar

Sets & reps

• 3 sets of 10-12 reps each

How to do it

• Sit on a preacher bench and put your arms on the cushion
• Your entire torso should be resting on the cushion
• Hold the bar with an in-hand grip at shoulder-width
• Tighten your back and pull up the bar towards your head
• Reaching the top, curl your wrists to put tension on your biceps
• While inhaling slowly bring down the bar. This is one rep

Tip: Do not raise your body to lift the weight as it can put unnecessary pressure on your lower back.

It is important to train every muscle group of the body through a variety of movements, as repeatedly performing the same muscles not only increase chances of injury, but they tend to become boring with each passing day. Bicep workouts can be intense but fun, given the amount of variations available at your disposal.