The 14 Best Bicep Exercises For Building Bigger Guns

We all want to have a big set of guns that look impressive, lift heavier weights, and get people wondering what the secret is to those massively muscular arms.

If you’re looking to build more muscle mass and take your arm gains to the next level, you’re in the right place.

We’ve got 14 epic biceps exercises for you to try, all of which will pack plenty of mass onto your arms and get you the gains you’ve been gunning for.

The golden rules for building muscle mass

To get the most out of your bicep workouts (or any workout), there are a few key principles you need to follow…

• Form is everything: Proper form is crucial to target the biceps effectively and prevent injury. Maintain a controlled movement throughout each biceps exercise, and avoid using momentum to lift weights. Quality over quantity!
• Progressive overload: To stimulate muscle growth and maximise your gains, you need to increase the stress placed on your biceps over time, well, progressively. You can do this by gradually increasing the weight, reps, or sets of your exercises. You could also experiment with rep timings by slowing down the movements or pausing and squeezing at the top of the reps. Pushing your limits and challenging your biceps muscles is how you get them to grow and adapt, so don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and embrace the burn!
• Variety is the spice of lifts: The biceps are a relatively small muscle group, so it's important to vary your exercises to prevent plateaus, keep your workouts exciting, and ensure well-rounded development.

There are also a few don’ts to bear in mind…

• Don’t use too much weight: It's tempting to load up the bars with heavy weights, but improper form and momentum won’t lead to gains. Use a lighter weight that allows you to maintain proper technique throughout each exercise.
• Don’t neglect the full range of motion: Don't cut corners on your reps. Always go through the complete range of motion to allow your bicep muscles to stretch and contract fully, and to maximise muscle activation and growth.
• Don’t overtrain: While it's important to challenge your biceps, overtraining can lead to injury and hinder your progress. Give your muscles adequate rest and plenty of recovery time between sessions.

Get ready to take your arm game to a whole new level.

Dumbbell exercises for building bigger biceps

There’s a lot you can do to build muscle with just a pair of dumbbells.

Try throwing a few of these bicep burners into your weekly arm routines to test your arms in different ways and ensure you’re hitting every part of your biceps.

Standing dumbbell curl

The classic dumbbell curl. Just grab your dumbbells and lift weights.

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward. Keep your back straight and core engaged.
• Let your arms hang naturally at your sides with your elbows close to your upper body.
• Keep your upper arms still and exhale as you curl the weights up towards your shoulders.
• Inhale as you slowly lower the weights back to the starting position.

Incline dumbbell curl

Take a load off your tired legs by sitting down. But keep your dumbbells handy—you’ll still need them.

• Set an adjustable bench to a 45-degree incline.
• Sit on the bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward.
• Let your arms hang naturally and fully extend your elbows.
• Keep your upper arms stable against the bench and exhale as you curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders.
• Inhale as you lower back to the starting position.

Spider curl (a.k.a. the decline dumbbell curl)

Stay on that incline bench, but flip yourself over to put your biceps through a full range of motion and complete isolation. A quick FYI—there’s no extra support from your core or your back on this one.

• Set an adjustable bench to a 45-degree incline.
• Lie with your chest pressed down on the bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
• Let your arms hang naturally and fully extend your elbows.
• Keep your upper arms still and exhale as you curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders.
• Inhale as you lower back to the starting position.

Hammer curl

Similar to a standard dumbbell curl, but your palms will be side on, facing towards each other, not facing outwards.

Along with the long head of the biceps muscle, hammer curls also work your triceps and brachialis muscle, leading to bigger, thicker arms.

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your back straight and core engaged.
• Let your arms hang naturally at your sides with your elbows close to your body and your palms facing your body (in a neutral grip).
• Exhale as you bend your elbows, bringing the dumbbells up towards your shoulders while maintaining a neutral grip.
• Inhale as you lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Zottman curl

A what-man curl? This one doesn’t get talked about enough, in our opinion, especially considering it hits your entire biceps.

Essentially, the first half of the lift is a standard dumbbell curl, but you rotate the weights at the top, lowering down like a reverse curl.

• Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing up (supinated grip).
• Exhale as you curl the dumbbells up toward your shoulders, keeping your palms facing up.
• At the top of the movement, rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing down (pronated grip).
• Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position with your palms facing down.
• Rotate your wrists back to the starting position with palms facing up, ready for your next rep.

Concentration curl

Concentration curls are a really good way to isolate your biceps and make sure you’re not using momentum from elsewhere or swinging the weights wildly. They’re much more controlled and pretty challenging.

• Sit on a bench with your feet firmly planted on the ground, holding a dumbbell in your right hand.
• Position your elbow on the inside of your thigh, with the dumbbell hanging down towards the ground.
• Keep your back straight and your other arm resting on your other thigh for support.
• Exhale as you curl the dumbbell up towards your shoulder, keeping your elbow stationary against your thigh.
• Pause briefly at the top of the movement and squeeze your bicep.
• Inhale as you lower the dumbbell back to the starting position in a slow and controlled manner.
• Repeat for the desired number of reps before switching to your other arm.

Twisting dumbbell curl

A mixture of a regular dumbbell curl and a hammer curl, that also brings your forearms into play.

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body like you would for a hammer curl (neutral grip).
• Keeping your upper arm still, exhale as you curl the dumbbell in your right hand up towards your shoulder.
• As you lift, rotate your wrist so that your palm is facing towards your chest (supinated grip).
• Inhale as you slowly lower the dumbbell back to the starting position, rotating your wrist back to the neutral grip.
• Repeat with the other arm, then keep alternating between the two.

Barbell exercises for building bigger biceps

Time to ditch the dumbbells and pick up a barbell instead.

While you can bust out a lot of these biceps exercises with dumbbells, it’s always good to switch things up with a barbell for certain lifts. 

You could also use an EZ bar for any of these if you prefer.

Standing barbell curl

Another classic, just like standing dumbbell curls, but using a barbell will ensure you’re working both arms evenly.

You can also vary the width of your grip to hit different parts of your arm muscles.

• Stand with feet hip-width apart, grasping a barbell with both hands using a shoulder-width underhand grip (palms facing up).
• Keep your elbows close to your sides and your upper arms still throughout the exercise.
• Exhale as you curl the barbell towards your shoulders, contracting your biceps. Keep your wrists straight and maintain control throughout the movement.
• Pause briefly at the top of the curl and squeeze your biceps.
• Inhale as you slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.

Reverse curls

Not one that we see performed in the gym very often, but it’s a great lift for strengthening your forearms and increasing muscle mass around your biceps.

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and grasp a barbell with an overhand grip (palms facing down), hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Keep your elbows close to your sides and your upper arms still throughout the exercise.
• Exhale as you curl the barbell upwards towards your shoulders, keeping your wrists straight.
• Focus on using your forearms and brachialis muscles to lift the barbell.
• Pause briefly at the top of the curl and squeeze your forearms.
• Inhale as you slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.

Barbell preacher curl

Like spider curls and concentration curls, preacher curls are another great way to really isolate your biceps and cut out any unwanted swinging or momentum.

• Sit on a preacher bench and adjust the seat and arm pad to align with your arms.
• Grasp a barbell with an underhand grip (palms facing up) and rest your upper arms on the angled pad, allowing your arms to fully extend.
• Exhale as you curl the barbell towards your shoulders, maintaining contact between your arms and the pad.
• Keep your elbows stable, and avoid using momentum to lift the barbell.
• Pause briefly at the top of the curl and squeeze your biceps.
• Inhale as you slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.

21s

If you’ve ever done 21s before, then you already know these are a killer!

A great way to round out an arm day workout is with a 21s finisher. You perform seven reps of three separate movements in one set (hence the name 21s): Bottom-half bicep curls, top-half bicep curls, and full curls.

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and grasp a barbell with an underhand grip (palms facing up), widening your stance slightly as you do it.
• Perform seven reps by lifting the barbell only halfway up from the starting position to a 90-degree angle at the elbow.
• Then complete the next seven reps, this time starting from the halfway point up to the top part of a regular barbell curl, bringing the barbell all the way up to your shoulders.
• Finally, for the last seven reps, start from the bottom position and perform a full range of motion curl, lifting the barbell from the starting position up to your shoulders.

Other exercises for building bigger biceps

Here are a few bonus resistance-training and body weight exercises to get those biceps bulging with other types of gym equipment.

Chin-ups

All you need for this is your body weight and a pull-up bar, or something sturdy that will safely hold your weight as you perform your sets of chin-ups.

• Begin by hanging from a pull-up bar with your palms facing towards you (a supinated grip).
• Keep your arms shoulder-width apart and engage your core.
• Exhale as you pull your body up towards the bar, focusing on using your biceps and back muscles rather than momentum to lift yourself.
• Keep your elbows close to your sides and avoid swinging your body.
• Pause briefly at the top of the movement with your chin above the bar.
• Inhale as you slowly lower your body back down to the starting position, maintaining control throughout.

Cable rope hammer curl

A solid alternative to the dumbbell hammer curl. Using the rope attachment on the cable machine allows for greater range of movement and time under tension, leading to massive biceps gains.

• Attach a rope attachment to a low pulley cable machine.
• Stand facing the machine with your feet shoulder-width apart and grasp the ends of the rope with a neutral grip (palms facing each other).
• Keep your elbows close to your sides and engage your core for stability.
• Exhale as you curl the rope towards your shoulders, focusing on using your biceps and brachialis muscles.
• Keep your wrists straight throughout the movement.
• Pause briefly at the top of the curl and squeeze your biceps.
• Inhale as you slowly lower the rope back down to the starting position.

Band bicep curl

If you’re ever without weights but still want to give your biceps a workout, you can always grab a resistance band and go to town.

A particularly useful way to get a pump going if you’re traveling.

• Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart in the middle of a resistance band.
• Grab the handles or ends of the band with an underhand grip (palms facing up).
• Keep your elbows close to your sides, engage your core, and maintain an upright posture.
• Exhale as you curl your hands towards your shoulders, focusing on contracting your biceps.
• Keep your wrists straight throughout the movement and pause briefly at the top of the curl and squeeze your biceps.
• Inhale as you slowly lower your hands back down to the starting position.

What else can you do to make massive biceps gains?

Having huge bulging biceps is great (obviously), but it’s just one of multiple muscle groups. 

So, make sure you hit your chest, back, triceps, shoulders, and legs each week too, along with regular aerobic exercise. You don’t want any muscle imbalances or weaker body parts that hold you back.

It’s also crucial that you’re fueling your gains properly. The core of your muscle-building diet should focus around…

• Protein: Aim for around one gram of protein intake per pound of body weight daily to promote muscle growth and aid muscle recovery.
• Carbohydrates: Eat plenty of complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, to provide enough energy for your bicep workouts.
• Healthy fats: Don't shy away from healthy fats, as they play a crucial role in hormone production and your overall health. We’re talking about things like avocados, nuts, and olive oil—not unhealthy fried, processed, or junk foods.
• Supplementation: Supplements like creatine and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) can support muscle growth and recovery. But if you really want to take your gains up to the next level, you need to find a supplement stack that suits your specific workout goals.

Finally, remember to track your workouts and your measurements.

Record the exercises, sets, reps, and weights you use for each weight-training workout. This allows you to track your progress over time and identify areas where you can push yourself further.

Likewise, take regular measurements of your biceps to monitor their growth. The visual feedback will be highly motivating and help you stay on track.

If things aren’t going your way, don’t be afraid to adjust your fitness routine.

If you find that you're no longer making progress and have hit a plateau, it may be time to switch up your exercises or increase the intensity of your workouts. Be open to trying other bicep curl variations and lifting techniques to keep challenging your biceps.

Building muscle mass and gaining impressive biceps takes time, dedication, and consistency. You just need to stay motivated and embrace the burn.

Now get yourself to the gym and use the exercises above to blast your arms into Beast Mode and get those gains.