Best and Worst Exercises To Build Bigger Biceps
Summary
TLDRIn this fitness-focused video, Coach Craig shares his top three bicep exercises for achieving massive arms: the standing cheating bicep curl, the dumbbell curl with a pronated to supinated twist, and a variation of the first two. He advises against exercises like hammer curls and chin-ups, emphasizing their limited effectiveness for bicep growth. Craig's straightforward approach and humorous delivery aim to simplify bicep training, encouraging viewers to focus on the most effective exercises for optimal results.
Takeaways
- πͺ The standing cheating bicep curl is considered the most important bicep exercise for building big arms.
- ποΈββοΈ Cheating a little on the bicep curl allows for heavier weights and more progressive overload, but avoid leaning back past vertical.
- π A normal grip width (shoulder-width) is recommended for the barbell curl to maximize bicep contraction.
- π The second best exercise is the dumbbell curl with a pronated to supinated twist, which engages the bicep's long and short heads.
- π§ββοΈ Seated or incline dumbbell curls are alternatives to standing curls, catering to those with back issues or personal preferences.
- π« The third exercise in the list is not explicitly mentioned, but the focus is on isolating bicep exercises rather than compound movements.
- π The hammer grip curl is considered the third worst bicep exercise due to its limited bicep activation and greater forearm involvement.
- π ββοΈ Reverse grip curls are even less effective for bicep growth compared to traditional curls, offering less peak activation.
- π ββοΈ Chin-ups, pull-ups, and rows are deemed the worst exercises for bicep growth as they primarily target the back, not the biceps.
- β° It's suggested to perform back exercises before bicep-specific exercises to maximize the effectiveness of both muscle groups.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video script?
-The main focus of the video script is to provide advice on the best and worst exercises for building big biceps, emphasizing the importance of certain exercises and explaining why others are less effective.
What is the opinion of the speaker regarding the importance of cheating in bicep exercises?
-The speaker believes that a little bit of 'cheating', or using momentum, can be beneficial for bicep exercises, especially for those who have been training for a while, as it allows for heavier weights and more progressive overload.
What does the speaker suggest as the number one bicep exercise?
-The speaker suggests the standing cheating bicep curl as the number one bicep exercise, emphasizing the importance of not going past vertical and using a normal grip width.
Why does the speaker recommend starting with a pronated grip during dumbbell curls?
-The speaker recommends starting with a pronated grip during dumbbell curls because it allows for a greater contraction of the bicep as you curl and supinate, hitting both the long and short head of the bicep.
What is the significance of the 'curls for girls' comment made by the speaker?
-The 'curls for girls' comment is a humorous way the speaker uses to emphasize the importance of focusing on bicep-specific exercises rather than compound movements like chin-ups, which are better for back training.
What is the speaker's stance on the effectiveness of chin-ups and pull-ups for bicep growth?
-The speaker considers chin-ups and pull-ups to be less effective for bicep growth compared to isolation exercises like curls, and suggests that these should be done to target the back rather than the biceps.
What does the speaker suggest as the worst bicep exercise according to the script?
-The speaker suggests that chin-ups, pull-ups, and rows are the worst exercises for specifically targeting bicep growth, as they are more effective for back training.
What advice does the speaker give regarding the number of exercises and sets for bicep training?
-The speaker advises focusing on a few key exercises and going hard on them rather than doing many exercises with fewer sets, emphasizing that quality and intensity are more important than variety.
Why does the speaker consider hammer grip curls less effective for bicep growth?
-The speaker considers hammer grip curls less effective for bicep growth because they involve more forearm work and less bicep contraction compared to other curl variations.
What is the speaker's recommendation on the order of exercises during a workout focused on the back and biceps?
-The speaker recommends performing back exercises first while the biceps are fresh to maximize back potential, and then moving on to bicep-specific exercises after.
Outlines
πͺ The Art of Building Bigger Biceps
This paragraph introduces the video's focus on bicep exercises, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right exercises to maximize bicep growth. Coach Craig shares his opinion on the three most effective bicep exercises and warns against the three least effective ones. He clarifies that his advice is based on his 34 years of training experience and not on formal kinesiology. The paragraph sets the stage for a practical guide to bicep training, promising viewers a clear understanding of what exercises to include and avoid for optimal results.
ποΈββοΈ Top Bicep Exercises and Techniques
The speaker discusses the first of the three crucial bicep exercises: the standing cheating bicep curl. He explains that 'cheating' refers to using a slight swing of the body to lift heavier weights, which can lead to greater muscle growth. The paragraph details the proper form for this exercise, including avoiding leaning back past vertical and using a normal grip width. Coach Craig also introduces the second exercise, the dumbbell curl with a pronated-to-supinated twist, which targets the entire bicep muscle. He suggests variations such as standing, seated, or incline positions and emphasizes the importance of training intensity over exercise quantity.
π« Debunking Myths: The Worst Bicep Exercises
In this paragraph, the focus shifts to the exercises that are less effective for bicep growth. The speaker ranks hammer grip curls as the third least effective due to their higher forearm involvement. He then identifies reverse grip curls as the second worst, as they do not engage the biceps as effectively as a supinated grip. The paragraph culminates with the speaker's opinion that chin-ups, pull-ups, and rows are the worst exercises for bicep-specific training, as they primarily target the back muscles. He advises prioritizing isolation exercises for biceps after compound back exercises to ensure maximum bicep development.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Biceps
π‘Cheating Curls
π‘Progressive Overload
π‘Pronated and Supinated Grip
π‘Preacher Curls
π‘Isolation Exercises
π‘Compound Movements
π‘Hammer Grip Curls
π‘Reverse Curls
π‘Pull Day
Highlights
Three main bicep exercises for building big arms.
Standing cheating bicep curl as the most important exercise.
Importance of not going past vertical when cheating.
Normal shoulder-width grip recommended for bicep contraction.
Dumbbell curl from pronated to supinated position explained.
Benefits of twisting motion in dumbbell curls for bicep contraction.
Variations of curl exercises including standing, seated, and incline.
Preacher curls as an honorable mention for bicep training.
Cable curls with forward lean for additional bicep contraction.
Advice on not overcomplicating bicep training with too many exercises.
Recommendation for a maximum of two hard sets per exercise.
Hammer grip curls as the third worst exercise for bicep growth.
Reverse grip curls as the second worst exercise for bicep development.
Chin-ups and rows as the worst exercises for bicep isolation.
Suggestion to prioritize back exercises before bicep work on pull days.
Encouragement to subscribe and engage with the content.
Transcripts
and this is gonna create some
controversy because some of your
favorite guys they're gonna tell you the
opposite of this one and I don't care
cuz this is just my opinion
what I think if you disagree you
disagree coach Craig and today we are
going to learn how to get some big
biceps
everyone wants huge arms and who doesn't
want to show off the guns okay so what
I'm saying is there are three main or
most important biceps exercises that you
should be doing to get the most jacked
arms you can okay I'm gonna also explain
the three worst or the most stupid or
the ones you shouldn't do to get your
arms to grow so you'll walk out of this
video and know what to train and what
not to train to get the best arms that
you could possibly have okay before we
get into that not a doctor not a
dietician an actual kinesiologist that
actually knows about this stuff okay so
listen to me I've been training for 34
years I know what I'm doing okay I'm
gonna make it real simple so you all
will understand not gonna talk over your
head and not gonna try to confuse you
with any of the BS we're gonna get right
into it the number one yes most
important bicep exercise you should be
doing to get the big arms that you want
here it is the standing cheating bicep
curl now I don't mean you cheat right
away but I mean you need to cheat a
little bit okay so I'm gonna explain
what I mean so barbell curl it doesn't
matter if it's a barbell or an EZ bar
you know the bendy ones it really
doesn't matter your hands can be anyway
don't try to confuse it you just stand
up and you curl the frickin weight okay
it's that simple
so why cheating well when you cheat you
allow yourself to lift a little bit
heavier okay if you go super super
strict
you're gonna fatigue before you can
really go to failure or really
push your arms to the point that they
get that progressive overload at the end
at first sure you just go strict and
it's fine if you're a beginner don't
need a cheat but if you're watching this
and you've been training a few years you
want your arms to grow train harder
train harder than last time
cheat a little bit not saying lean back
past vertical okay so let me just demo
okay so you start strict bicep curl okay
say you get to eight reps and you can't
do it anymore okay a little bit of a
swing a little bit of a swing no big
deal do not bend backwards it is not a
limbo contest okay you're not trying to
limbo so do not go past the vertical so
standing straight so okay lean get a
little bit of power and curl to the top
that's what I'm talking about
that is the number one exercise okay you
do that everything else is gravy
everything else is bonus okay now one
thing to remember is you don't want to
use a super close grip on this it will
in fact decrease the amount of bicep
contraction that you're getting the
studies will show this okay less
activation of the bicep don't need to
know that just grab a normal freaking
grip you go a little bit wider for
variation but to me I don't like wider
it feels like you have less range of
motion so just grab it normal shoulder
width grab that bar and curl it when you
get tired eight nine ten reps do a
couple more by cheating okay
this is one time when cheating is good
don't cheat on your girlfriend cheat on
the curls curls for girls don't cheat on
your girls see what I did there number
two are you ready for this
it is a dumbbell curl but it is a
certain way you have to start from a
pronated to a supinated position when
you curl the weight easy-to-remember
pronate is when your hand is down
supinate is when you can hold a cup of
soup there's a cup boom my coffee I can
hold it if my hands like that I can't
hold it I can
Abbot supinate you hold a cup of soup
okay so this number to exercise you
start with the weight on the side if
you're at home you curl your frickin
syrup okay so you start in your pronated
position and as you curl up you twist up
okay so you see that motion it twists so
my baby finger becomes higher than my
thumb at the top and now see what
happens
okay you and you twist over the bicep
automatically contracts so as you do
that you're going to get more
contraction of the bicep okay remember
the bicep is technically two muscles
it's like a bicycle it's got two wheels
a tricycle a tricep is three okay short
and long head okay so you want to work
the entire bicep so if you start with
the curls then switch to the dumbbells
where you supinate you hit that entire
bicep action to flex and contract okay
and that's what you want the long and
short head you want the peak and you can
see if you flexing you twist in the
bicep actually moves okay so you're
asking well should you be standing
seated it doesn't matter do it the way
you like standing boom at the same time
sure same time slow-mo
look at that slow-mo one arm at a time
whew see it's not that cuff oh but I
don't like standing I have a sore back
all right
seated I can still do it oh but what
about I like to do it at an incline yeah
so freaking lay back and do the same
thing watch this look well I can do it
there's so many ways to do it
okay don't over complicate this that is
number two number three remember you
only need three anything else really you
don't need it
sure you might get a bit more gains one
percent
or if you do seven different exercises
most of you just need to train harder
that's 90 percent of the work done right
there you can pick one exercise and go
harder and get better than doing the
five or six the best way with the RP and
seeks to do seven and to hold it for
next time into six days a week and the
g-load afterward three and upwards and
to do yeah whatever science science
science do all that stuff pick the best
exercises and go freaking hard on them
that's all you need to do how many sets
five to ten twice a week max and if you
go crazy hard five is plenty so number
three the answer is whichever are the
ones I just showed that you didn't do
yet okay you did barbell now you can do
it with the EZ bar you did dumbbells
standing up now you do it sitting down
see how simple this is
you're very it a little bit all bored I
don't want to do it standing this time
oh my back sorry see sit yourself down
and do the curls that way it's really
that simple
now just for kicks I give you an
honorable mention that was almost made
the list okay I have a sore shoulder I
can't do half of these things preacher
curls like this in the front I'm gonna
give you more of a contraction at the
top if you want to add those in and
another one would be if you're leaning
forward with a cable cable leaning
forward and you're pulling in this way
okay that will give you more contraction
right at the bottom so if you're like
mr. Olympia guy and you're like no I
want more no I've already done those
streets no you just have your two extras
see you now got five exercises now
remember you can only do a max of two
hard sets on each of these five because
that's ten so if you add more exercises
you need to do less sets of each so
remember just because you're doing more
variety doesn't make it better because
if you add more variety you have to do
less
the really good stuff standing barbell
curls is awesome you do five sets of
that hard you're gonna get good arms now
if you said no but this coach said I
should do five different exercises well
if you only do one set of each you just
went from doing five sets of biceps with
the barbell curl which is awesome to one
you just did less of the good stuff
geez does that make sense it's like food
you can only eat so much calories well
if you're eating a lot of vegetables in
your coaches no you should switch over
to junk food to bulk and you eat less
veggies in order to eat more junk well
then you just decrease your nutrition
does it make sense hopefully it makes
sense the three worst and this you need
to know because you don't know which of
the ones should you avoid or not do as
much of okay which will offer you the
less games you know the ones that are
gonna give you the most gains now you
know what's the worst okay
I'm gonna do them in reverse order so
the third worst exercise for building
Jack biceps hammer grip curls hammer
like you're banging nails gate hammer
see your hands like this you're curling
this way okay you see that it is a lot
more forearm involvement okay less bicep
you're not you're not twisting you see
that little motion your biceps in this
position as opposed to twisting and
doing the curl that way you can see the
difference
I've unless peak right here okay that is
the third worst exercise to do can you
still do it yes
does it suck no if you love it still do
it at the end do your sets all good the
best ones and throw in that at the end
it's not like you can't do it okay you
can do it you can even grab dumbbells
and do your cardio with a bicep you're
seeing gram of Josephine walking around
the hill with a 1 pound dumbbell pumping
away it's still gonna benefit you're
still good it's just not ideal okay so
do what you need to do if you like it
keep doing it but just know there's
better next second worst thing you could
do yes this is the worst now it's even
worse one worse loop the reverse curl so
I used to do these was and as a kid I
was like why am I even doing this I hate
it sure it's working your form if you
want to work your forms more that's
great but it's not doing nearly as much
for your biceps as if you curled the
right way I'll call the right way with
the supinated grip okay
cup of soup curls if you put your hand
this way and you curl it's a reverse
grip not as good and here's the worst
and this is gonna create some
controversy because some of your
favorite guys they're gonna tell you the
opposite of this one and I don't care
cuz this is just my opinion what I think
if you disagree you disagree okay the
worst bicep exercise you could ever do
this is and I grouped them into one chin
ups pull ups and any kind of bicep or
like rows pull-ups chin-ups and rows you
know pull up chin up
it still works your bicep for sure row
seated rows it's still you're still
pulling in you're still working the
bicep yes but not ideal those exercises
are for guess what do you know it's for
your back try to minimize bicep
involvement maximize back involvement
lats for example when you do those
exercises don't try to do chin-ups and
rows to get bigger biceps
try to do those exercises to get a
bigger back then use your more isolation
stuff for the biceps specifically after
so can you do chin-ups to build bigger
arms yes of course you can it's just not
ideal
I would suggest strongly that you do the
curls for the girls not the chins for
the win the chin for the win is for your
back okay
can you do both together yes a lot of
people do back and biceps together it's
a pull day but you want to start with
your back first when your arms are fresh
because you don't want your biceps to be
a weak link in the moment in the
movement and you want to be able to
perform your back to its maximum
potential okay after you're done your
back then you can go on to the bicep
specific exercises like the barbell
curls dumbbell Carol's and so on okay so
you can do your chins and your pull-ups
and your rows but do them before you
focus on your biceps don't just use
those to do your biceps okay hopefully
that makes sense
subscribe click bell buttons freakin
press every single thing on the screen
hopefully you get a swoosh hopefully you
get a swish one of the two it's the
lottery you might not get I don't know I
don't do this stuff I also did a video
it was the top three chest training
exercises in worst three be sure to
watch that if you learn about your
biceps you certainly want to build a big
chest as well okay so watch those Greg
do CENTCOM for coaching Greg just said
IFBB Pro follow me on Instagram we can
chat over there and watch one of these
two videos are so important you can't
miss them or they're stupid and you
can't miss them because they're so
stupid either way you've got to watch it
and until next time I'm out
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