Bodybuilding Tips and Tricks

Drag curls are one of my favorite bicep exercises but one that I see very few people at the gym performing. These were popularized by trainer, Vince Gironda (aka The Iron Guru) and are great for blasting your outer biceps and building huge guns. Start out by holding a barbell much as you would for standard standing barbell curls. Next, pull your elbows straight back behind your body. This should result in your arms being bent at roughly a 90 degree angle and the barbell being around the level of your belly button. Now, slowly curl the bar upwards to lower pec level, hold for a sec and squeeze your biceps, then return to the starting position. Repeat for reps. The barbell should be lightly touching (or nearly so) your abdomen during the exercise, hence where the name comes from (you’re “dragging” the bar up your torso). The range of motion is much smaller than normal barbell curls as you are only really moving the weight from your belly button to the bottom of your pecs, but the strain in your biceps and the results these produce are extra large. I like to perform these at the end of my bicep workout and go for high reps (15-25) for the ultimate final burn in my bi’s.

I like to perform these near the end of my biceps routine. They hit the biceps from a different angle than other exercises and will really help bulk up your forearms.

Performance: Stand upright with your back and head straight, knees slightly bent. Grasp a barbell with an overhand grip about a shoulder width apart. Slowly raise the weight with your elbows tight into your body, feeling the contraction in your biceps and forearms. Once the weight has reached the top, slowly lower it with control back to the starting position. These can also be performed using an E-Z curl bar if your wrists bother you.

Muscle Emphasis: brachioradialis, brachialis, biceps brachii

If you’re new to cables, you might want to check out my Using Cables In Your Workout entry. One of my favorite cable exercises, cable curls are a great way to isolate and incinerate the biceps muscle. These can be done one arm at a time (as described here) or ith both arms together using a rope or cambered bar attachment. I perform one-arm cable curls near or at the end of my bicep workouts, sometimes using 21’s and sometimes doing them in straight sets. Either way the key here is to focusing on isolating the bicep (an objective cables are well-suited for) and really squeezing the hell out of it at the peak of the contraction. Also work on not letting your hand return completely to the starting position so you can make full use of the continuous tension provided by the cable apparatus. If you’re looking to etch some cuts in your bi’s, try cable curls on for size.

Performance: Stand facing a cable stack and grasp a D-handle attached to a low pulley in one hand. Turn your wrist outward (so it’s facing the weight stack) and stand slightly to the side so your working arm is in line with the stack, not your body. Concentrating on contracting your biceps, slowly curl the handle upwards. Hold the contraction at the top of the rep to get a nice squeeze happening. You also might want to twist your wrist slightly into your body (pinky of your hand moves toward your body) to put even more of a squeeze on the bicep at the top. Slowly lower the handle in a controlled motion to slightly higher than the start position (this will keep the tension on your biceps throughout the set). Repeat for reps. Some people like to bend their knees and lean into the weight stack for more balance and stability; I prefer to stand up straight. Try both out and see what you think.

Muscle Emphasis: biceps, secondary stress on brachialis and forearm flexors

Hammer (the name comes from the grip you use when performing them) curls are a great way to strengthen your wrists and build up your forearms, in addition to targeting the brachialis part of your bicep, so they’re a great addition to any biceps routine. If you’d like to strengthen your wrists and forearms, but don’t have the time or the inclination to set aside time specifically for wrist/forearm training, hammer curls are a good exercise to drop into your biceps routine. You can perform hammer curls seated or standing, one arm at a time, alternating, or both arms together. Another variation are To-The-Front Hammer Curls in which you curl the weight across the front of your body as opposed to the normal upwards arc of a typical curl.

Performance: Stand (or sit) with your back erect, holding two dumbbells in a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Keeping your elbow and upper arm stationary, slowly curl one (or both) of the dumbbells towards your shoulder without turning your wrists. Pause and squeeze at the top of the rep, then slowly lower to the starting position and repeat. To perform To-The-Front Hammer Curls, assume the same start position,then curl one of the dumbbells (you’ll have to do this version one arm at a time for obvious reasons) in front of your chest without twisting or bending your wrists. As you reach the top of the rep, lean slightly into the dumbbell to ensure that your arm and the weight clear your body. Squeeze the muscle hard, then lower the weight slowly and repeat with the other arm.

Muscle Emphasis: brachialis, forearm flexors

Concentration curls are *the* exercise for adding peaks to your biceps. I recommend putting them at the end of your workout to put that final pump into your guns. There are a couple of variations to concentration curls; you can do them either seated or standing. You can also use a cable stack with a D-handle and pulley as opposed to a dumbbell. I prefer the standing version (described fully below) because 1) I saw Arnold doing them in Pumping Iron and 2) I really feel the burn in my bi’s when I do concentration curls this way. I also prefer *not* to twist my wrist from a neutral to supinated grip, but you should experiment with both ways to see what you like best.

Performance:

Standing Version: Grasp a dumbbell in one hand and place the other on either a dumbbell rack, high bench, or your own thigh for support. Bend over and brace your torso at roughly a 45 degree angle to the floor. Hang your weighted arm straight down to the floor. The key here is to keep your elbow and upper arm immobile during this exercise so that all of the work is being done by your bicep muscle. Keeping that in mind, slowly curl the dumbbell upward, squeeze your bicep tightly at the top, and then return the weight to a position slightly higher than the starting position to keep your biceps under continuous pressure. Repeat for reps.

Seated Version: Grab a dumbbell, sit at the end of a workout bench with legs slightly spread, and place your elbow against your inner thigh. Let your arm hang straight down. Slowly curl the weight upward as you exhale, squeeze your bicep hard at the top of the rep and then lower the weight in a slow controlled movement to a little short of the strarting position (this will help to keep your biceps under constant tension). You can use a palms up grip throughout or turn your wrist from a neutral to a palms up grip as you complete each rep.

(As mentioned, low cables may also be utilized to perform concentration curls).

Muscle Emphasis: entire bicep, especially the center peak

Incline dumbbell curls are similar to seated dumbbell curls only this time, you will be using a incline bench to perform the exercise. This causes a nice “stretch” of the biceps at the bottom of each repetition and leads to a stronger contraction in the lifting part of each rep. Try putting the bench at various angles (30, 45, and 60 degrees, etc.) to hit your biceps from multiple angles and really fry them. You can change the angle of the bench from set to set or from workout to workout to keep things fresh. Add incline dumbbell curls to your routine for more complete bicep development.

Performance: Set an incline bench to your angle of choice. Lie back on the bench while grasping a dumbbell in each hand using a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Let your arms hang straight down from your shoulders. Keep your elbow and upper arm still, slowly curl the weight upward, turning your hand as you lift so your palm faces your shoulder by the end of the rep. This helps to hit the bicep from multiple angles throughout the course of each rep. Pause and squeeze the bicep at the top of the motion, then slowly lower the weight to the starting position. You should feel a nice stretch in your biceps at the bottom of the rep. Repeat with your other hand if performing alternating curls; you can also perform this same movement with both arms at the same time.

Muscle Emphasis: primary emphasis on the bicep, secondary stress on the brachialis and forearm flexors

Seated dumbbell curls are identical to standing dumbbell curls except you are seated while performing them. The seated position allows you to further isolate the biceps muscles and helps remove the tendency to use your back to lift the weight up. To make things harder and put even more focus on your biceps, keep your legs/knees close together while performing the exercise. Then, if you try to incorporate your back to help your biceps, you’ll have the tendency to tip over. I like to do these in alternating fashion (one rep/one arm back and forth), but you can also perform seated dumbbell curls using both arms at the same time or even unilaterally (finish all of your reps for one arm and then move on to the other one to finish your set).

Performance: Sit at the end of a flat or upright bench with your arms fully extended and a dumbbell in each hand (neutral grip). Slowly curl one (or both) of the weights upward toward your shoulder, supinating your wrist as you do so (your palm should be facing your shoulder at the top of each rep). After you fully contract the biceps, squeeze at the top, then slowly return the weight to the starting position, keeping tension on the biceps throughout. Focus on keeping your elbows and upper arms stationary throughout the exercise which will eliminate any unwanted help from other muscle groups (shoulders, etc.).

Muscle Emphasis: primary emphasis on the bicep, secondary stress on the brachialis and forearm flexors

Dumbbell movements allow you to more effectively isolate the muscle being worked. Conversely, most dumbbell movements also require the incorporation of various stabilizer muscles which typically makes exercises with dumbbells more difficult to perform. Standing dumbbell curls are a particular favorite of mine because not only do they allow you to really focus on the bicep of each arm and squeeze it to death, twisting the wrist through the movement also allows you to go from a neutral grip (palm facing your hip/thigh, bottom of the rep) to a supinated grip (palm facing front of your body, top of the rep). This fuller range of motion more effectively stresses every fiber of the bicep muscle.

Performance: Stand erect while holding two dumbbells at your side, palms facing inward. Keeping your wrists aligned with your forearms and your upper arm stationary, curl one (or both) weights toward your shoulder. Pause and squeeze your bicep at the top, then slowly return to the starting position, and repeat for reps.

Muscle Emphasis: primary emphasis on the bicep, secondary stress on the brachialis and forearm flexors

The squat of bicep exercises, the standing barbell curl is a great mass-builder and is a great choice for the foundation of your biceps routine. Try to lift heavy on this one, but never so heavy that you are unable to keep proper form or lose focus on the exercise’s movement or the muscles being worked. You can also perform standing barbell curls with an E-Z curl bar (cambered bar) if you already have or want to prevent wrist injuries. The nature of the bar reduces supination (twisting) of the wrists which slightly reduces the amount of stress on the biceps, but it’s worth it to prevent injury.

Performance: With your knees slightly bent and your feet about hip-width apart, take hold of a barbell (or E-Z curl bar) with a shoulder-width, underhand grip (if using the E-Z curl bar, be sure your grasp the bar so your wrists are turned inward). Let the bar hang to your thighs. Keeping your abs tight and your elbows fixed in position, slowly curl the bar in an arc toward your shoulders as you exhale. At the top of the movement, pause and squeeze your biceps, then slowly lower the bar back down. Don’t let the bar touch your thighs at the bottom of the movement in order to keep continuous tension on your biceps throughout the exercise.

Muscle Emphasis: strong emphasis on the biceps muscle, secondary stress on the forearm flexors