Hey everybody, I thought I would start a Monday off with an exercise. Many of you have heard of this exercise and probably have taken full advantage of performing it; the bicep curl. This exercise is a beginners workout and can be done using different types of equipment, using various weights. The more popular is using dumbbells, but this does not mean it is limited to dumbbells, I recommend using other forms of equipment. I will talk about other ways to get your bicep curls done and give you a hand in explaining various ways to perform a bicep curl depending on the nature of the workout. If you are someone who does this exercise, please feel free to share what you do and if you want, I don’t mind hearing how much you bicep curl in weights.
Standard bicep curl (dumbbell curl)
- Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand at arms length. Keep your elbows close to your torso, and rotate the palms of your hands until they are facing forward (starting position)
- While keeping the upper arms stationary, exhale and curl the weights while contracting your biceps. Continue to raise the weights until your biceps are fully contracted, and dumbbells are at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a brief pause as you squeeze your biceps.
- Inhale and slowly begin to lower the dumbbells back to the starting position
- repeat for as many repetitions that are recommended
Concentration curls (dumbbell curls)
- Sit down on a flat bench with one dumbbell in front of you between your legs, knees bent and feet on the floor
- Use your right arm to pick the dumbbell up, place the back of your right upper arm on the top of your inner right thigh, rotate the palm of your hand until it is facing forward away from your thigh. Your arm should be extended and the dumbbell should be off of the floor (starting position)
- While holding the upper arm stationary, curl the weights forward while contracting the biceps as you breathe out, only the forearms should move. Continue this movement until the biceps are fully contracted and dumbbells are at shoulder level.
- Slowly begin to bring the dumbbells back to starting position as you breathe in. Avoid swinging motions.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
The Scott Reverse Curls (barbell)
- Stand with your torso upright, while holding a barbell at shoulder width, elbows close to the torso. The palms of your hands should be facing down (starting position)
- While holding the upper arms stationary, curl the weights while contracting the biceps as your breathe out. Only the forearms should move. Continue this movement until the biceps are fully contracted and the bar is at shoulder level, Hold the contracted position for a second as you squeeze the muscle.
- Slowly start to bring the bar back down to the starting position as you breathe in.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Dumbbell hammer curls (dumbbells)
- Stand with your torso upright with a dumbbell in each hand being held at arms length, once again elbows should be close to the torso.
- The palms of your hands should be facing your torso (starting position)
- While holding your upper arm stationary, exhale and curl the weight forward while contracting your biceps. Continue to raise the weight until your biceps are fully contracted, and dumbbell is at shoulder level. Only move your forearms and keep the elbow straight.
- Inhale and slowly begin to lower the dumbberells back down to starting position.
- Repeat for the recommended repetitions
Zottman curl (dumbbell)
- Stand with your torso upright, dumbbell in each hand being held at arms length. Elbows should be close to the torso.
- Palms of the hands are facing each other (starting position)
- Hold the upper arm stationary, curl the weights while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. Only the forearms should be moving, your wrist should rotate so that you have your palms up. Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted, and dumbbells are at shoulder level.
- Hold the contracted positions for a second as you squeeze your biceps
- During the contracted position, rotate your wrist until the palms are facing down. Grip with the thumb at a higher position than the pinky.
- Slowly begin to bring the dumbbells back down in the pronated grip.
- As the dumbbells reach close your thighs, start rotating the wrist so that you go back to neutral palms (starting position)
- Repeat for the recommended repetitions
Those were just a few exercises using a dumbbell and one using a barbell. Other bicep curl exercises that use something different would be:
- Reverse plate curl
- Start by standing straight with a weighted plate held with both hands and arms fully extended, Use a pronated grip (palms facing down), make sure fingers grab the rough side of the plate while the thumb grabs the smooth side.
- Feet should be shoulder width apart and weight plate should be near the groin area (starting position)
- slowly lift the plate up, while keeping the elbows in and upper arms stationary until your biceps and forearms touch while exhaling. At this point the weight plate should be evenly aligned with your torso.
- Feel the contraction and slowly begin to lower the weight plate back down to the starting position while inhaling.
- Repeat for the recommended repetitions.
- Kettlebell bicep curl- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qzmhai8Y0s
Also, you can do alternating bicep curls, which has the same stance as the standard dumbbell curl but switching arms. There are many variations of the bicep curl and the use of equipment also ranges. I have used cables at the gym to do a bicep curl, it works the same way as a standard one but using a cable in place of something else. I think having variety in your exercises can be rewarding when working out and can be helpful when you get bored of having to do the same routine, it doesn’t mean you cannot choose to stick with what you know, but I always push for change in exercise equipment and movement when necessary so that you have a wide scope of things. If you have any questions about these exercises or any exercise, feel free to contact me.
Your fitness blogger,
Shay-lon xoxox
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