When a great bodybuilder flexes his arm muscles, the first thing we usually notice is the biceps. It’s sort of a symbol on how hard the person has worked with. Also, it’s quite attractive to the eye to see a biceps that are big enough to stand out against other parts of your arms. This is why bicep workouts are very popular especially to beginners. This article will help you in knowing the best bicep workouts with dumbbells.
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Importance of Biceps to bodybuilding
#1 Better Back Exercises
Having developed and built up biceps allows you to maximize workout routines for your Back. Back muscle builders such as rope climbing, bar pull-ups, deadlifts, among many other become easier and you achieve the proper form of these workouts by using your biceps to their fullest strength. But it doesn’t stop with your back because most of the back exercises are compound exercises, which target multiple parts of the body, so if you think about it, biceps can help in building your whole body in the process.
#2 Direct Bicep workout
In developing your biceps, especially in form, you need to do direct bicep workout routines. These muscles can never develop by using compound exercises (usually involving back or chest exercises) only as they do not necessarily increase your bicep strength. You might feel that there is some impact to your bicep but it doesn’t that it maximizes the development process. You need to do curls, pull, and all the little things to make sure your biceps become stronger and have solid muscle foundation. Remember the basics of dumbbell workouts for you to maximize the gains of bicep concentration routines.
#3 Limits injuries
Common workout injuries, especially in the arms part of bodybuilders, happen most of the time. It’s mostly caused by the strained muscles which have not been built fully and the arm strength is not enough for a specific workout. This is where biceps come into play. By having solid strength in your biceps, lifting dead weight becomes easier and you don’t have to break your form (which causes injuries) to just achieve one rep. Shoulder workout also rely on biceps since you will be carrying the weight between your arms and shoulders. I cannot stress enough how important biceps are to your workout.
Direct-Bicep Workout Advantage
1. No weak Links
When doing a direct-arm workout either for bicep or tricep, don’t think you are wasting your time on just one part of your body. You are actually eliminating a weak link in your routine which compound workouts do not cover entirely. Remember the basics in working out. Always make sure that every part of your body is impacted in what you do. Do not settle to skip on one part and try to concentrate on each part for each time you go to the gym.
2. Improved Arm Strength
Directly working on your biceps gives you two important things. You will notice that your arms will start to increase in size. You feel that your arm form changes in the process. But more importantly, you also increase your arm strength. I cannot emphasize enough how important arm strength is in any workout as most workout routines involve your arms and how long you can resist the weight you are carrying or pulling. You will be able to handle heavier weights in the process. Improving arm strength can also allow you to explore other options with your workout routine and thereby develop your body in the quickest yet effective way possible.
3. It’s a basic-foundation of any workout
Most people would think that by doing bench press/other compound workouts, they can easily build strong biceps in the process. Yes, there could be some muscle usage there but it doesn’t help your arm muscles grow, it just uses them. This is where direct bicep-workout comes in. What your arms would usually need is isolation workouts so you can better develop these muscles.
4. Focus on form, not on weight
It’s always a beginner’s mistake to think that you develop more muscles when you lift heavier weights. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. What you need is the right form in any workout. This is especially true with Direct-Bicep workouts with dumbbells. You don’t need to lift heavy weights to achieve the perfect isolation workout. You only need to get the right form on your curl and eventually you gain strength and form in the process. You also avoid injuries by doing this in your isolation workouts where most muscle tears occur.
List Bicep Workouts With Dumbbells
To help you further in working your biceps workout with dumbbells, I have here some exercise routines you can try out and see for yourself on how each one helps you in developing your biceps.
#1 Alternated Biceps Curl
- One of the basic bicep workouts with dumbbells.
- Stand with your body upright, make sure that you are not bending any joints. Hold dumbbells in both hands and make sure your elbow is close to your torso.
- Make an upward curl with one hand and do not let the dumbbell touch your bicep. The ideal ang is to lift the dumbbell in a 45-60 degree angle.
- Remember that only your forearms will make any movements with this exercise.
- When you reach the peak of the dumbbell curl, slowly return the dumbbell to the original position and do the process with the other forearm.
#2 Hammer Curls
- Stand upright and hold one dumbbell in each hand. The Dumbbell handle and your palm shouldface your body. This is the sideward position of when you do the normal bicep curl.
- You will be raising both dumbbells in the exercise. Raise them both as you make a curl and itwould look like you are lifting two hammers.
- Most of the strain in your muscles will be felt in your forearms to your elbows so make sure youraise it just enough and don’t force if you still can’t achieve the perfect form yet.
- Return the dumbbells slowly to the original position. Don’t rush into doing the following repsand make sure your muscles are ready before you make the curl.
#3 Incline Biceps Curl
- Sit on an inclined bench and hold one dumbbell on each hand. The handle of the dumbbell and your palms should be facing your body.
- Raise both Dumbbells in this exercise until they reach your shoulder level. Make sure to do it at a normal pace and do not rush so the muscles in your arms are impacted completely.
- Also, remember to not use your body’s momentum when raising the dumbbells. Your torso should not move to help in the curls so the only your forearms are doing the work and are worked out completely.
- Slowly return the dumbbells to the original position. Repeat until you reach the desired reps.
#4 Concentration bench bicep curl
- Go to the bench where there is and inclined board in front of you. Stand/sit behind it (depends on the type of bench you have at your gym if it has seating).
- With a dumbbell in one hand, place that side on the upper part of the bench seating. This is where you rest your back when doing other seated incline exercises.
- Starting position is when you place your forearm with dumbbell curled already within the height of your shoulder level. Slowly lower the dumbbell until you make a 45-degree angle with your uncurling motion. Only your forearms should move and no momentum coming from the legs or torso.
- Make sure that only the lower forearm is moving and your elbow is steadily in place. This will help in concentrating the impact to other parts of your biceps.
#5 Lying Supine Bicep Curls
- Get a flat bench and lie down on it with your body facing the ceiling.
- Hold one dumbbell with each hand and hang your forearms facing the floor. The dumbbells should just below your shoulders and making a straight line.
- From this position make alternative curls as if you are doing the standing bicep curls. The strength and effort should only come from your forearm. No jerking of your upper body.
- Don’t rush when alternating with the two dumbbells. Make sure that the other hand has returned to the original position before lifting the other dumbbell.
- This will help increases bicep curl strength
Conclusion
You now have an idea on why bicep workout is important. Remember that your arm strength is very important in building your body as it allows you to develop your chest and back parts as well. So make sure to add size and strength by doing concentration workout days for your biceps. If you are starting up and want to go with big gains on your concentration, you can try using creatine supplements.I hope this article has helped you in formulating a bicep concentrated workout routine and will benefit your body in the long run. If you have any comments/suggestions, feel free to comment below and I will try my best to answer each one.Thanks for reading my article!
References
Hi there,
I’m Gregory Brown, chief editor at ConstructMuscles.com
I spend half of my time in this blog while the other half on being physical fitness trainer. Believing in the great benefits of bodybuilding and fitness to the body, I’ve been motivated to become a fitness enthusiast. It also was what gave me the self-confidence and assurance within myself both physically and psychologically.
