Biceps exercises with dumbbells

To train our muscles and get the desired results, we certainly need a lot of determination, but also a lot of exercise.

Training is, in the lives of athletes, a constant and is part of a routine from which there is no escape. The secret lies in the will of these people to achieve their goals, but a wide range of exercises to choose from, so you never get bored, is a good help.

As with practically all the trainable muscles of our body, the biceps also boast a variety of exercises that we can draw on to combat boredom and make our efforts effective.

First of all, you should know that there are so many exercise modalities and very often the difference is based more on the level of preparation of the athlete than anything else. In fact, the first difference to make is that between exercises with weights and without; But in this article, we’re only going to talk about those with dumbbells.

Training your biceps with dumbbell exercises

It is common to consider the biceps the most loved muscle by bodybuilders, or at least by all gym enthusiasts, which is why it is very common for it to be trained. It is also to be considered that it is the largest muscle in the front of our arms, but also one of the most important as it is the main flexor muscle.

But, despite the fact that they are highly regarded and well-cared for muscles, having a bulky biceps muscle requires years and years of training and the right exercises to do.

A good biceps workout with dumbbells: what mistakes to avoid

Usually, when it comes to workouts done at home, or even in the gym without someone expert to guide us, we have to take into account the mistakes that are easy to run into. It is important to know them so that you can preserve and improve.

The first piece of advice you need to give in order not to make mistakes is to do the exercises slowly, controlling the movement and above all with the right breathing, so as to obtain the desired effects.

A second tip to avoid falling into error is certainly to never exaggerate with sets and repetitions, so as not to risk obtaining the opposite effect, which is precisely that of reducing the muscle mass of the biceps. In the same way, you should not even think about training the same muscle too many times a week and therefore it is right to make it recover.

As we said at the beginning of the article, it is right to change exercises often, even if they are always aimed at the muscle: this is not only to combat boredom but to continuously stimulate the muscle which, otherwise, would get used to movements very easily, losing the stimulus.

How to do biceps exercises with weights ? Here are some tips

Having the awareness during workouts, in particular, how to do them and which ones to choose, in a conscious way, can help to develop desired muscle masses even in a short time. A help is certainly to do them in series, with adequate repetitions and recovery times.

In addition, a tip that can help you achieve your goal is not to train your biceps at the beginning of your workout, as the first muscle, but it is preferable that you train towards the end.

One last piece of advice that can be addressed to an athlete who wants to put their efforts and work to good use is certainly not to underestimate nutrition and sleep, and not to leave them to chance: the right diet must help to compensate for what you consume and the right hours of sleep so as not to be stressed and to achieve optimal results more easily.

Examples of weighted biceps exercises: the dumbbell curl

This movement is one of the most well-known exercises when it comes to biceps curl with dumbbells. It is certainly the simplest one, the base from which to start, but it is also one of the most effective in training the forearm flexors. You should also know that, with some differences based on posture, all curls are great for activating and isolating the biceps brachii.

The athlete, with his arms perpendicular to the ground and in an upright position, grips the dumbbells with a neutral grip, i.e. with the palms facing inwards.

In the first phase, called concentric, the elbow will be flexed until the maximum degree of shortening of the biceps brachii is reached. During this movement, it is important to keep the elbow attached to the trunk so as not to bring it forward.

In the next, eccentric phase, the previous movement is performed in the opposite direction, bringing the extension of the humerus. The biceps must oppose the force of gravity, therefore, it will slow down the movement and maintain tension.

How to use dumbbells to work on your biceps: hammer alternating dumbbells

This is also certainly one of the easiest exercises to encounter in gyms, in particular, it is a small variation of the previous one. It takes place standing up and for this all you need are two dumbbells of the weight chosen by the athlete.

The starting position is upright, with the knees slightly bent; The first thing to do is to grip the dumbbells in a neutral way, with a hammer-defined grip.

The exercise is performed starting from the flexion of the elbows, alternately, without ever changing the position of the rest of the body that must be maintained throughout the execution.

The movement ends when the maximum level of elbow flexion is reached.

As in all biceps curls, the exercise can be divided into the concentric and eccentric phase: also in this case, an exhalation is required in the first phase and an inhalation in the second to have the entire functioning of the body under control.

Varied biceps workout thanks to dumbbells

In addition to the two workouts previously described, you can find many variations of biceps exercises.

In some cases, you simply need to replace the dumbbells with a barbell; Other times, additional equipment, such as an incline bench press or preacher, may be needed.

Regardless of the type of exercise you choose to do, it is important to vary often and fully know the exercise before starting to do it, without underestimating its execution even if it may seem similar to others already done.