Concentration curl

The concentration curl is especially good for targeting your biceps and excluding all other muscles.
Be careful if you’ve had elbow injuries or are prone to lower back discomfort.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, and sit on the edge of a bench or a chair with your feet a few inches wider than your hips. Lean forward from your hips, and place your right elbow against the inside of your right thigh, just behind your knee. The weight should hang down near the inside of your ankle. Place your left palm on top of your left thigh. See photo A.

The exercise
Bend your arm and curl the dumbbell almost up to your shoulder (see photo B), and then straighten your arm to lower the weight back down.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO bend forward from your hips instead of rounding your lower back to lean forward.
• DON’T lean away from your arm as you lift the weight up to help get better leverage. (Hey, that’s cheating!)

Other options

• Slant biceps curl: Sit on a bench with the back inclined a few inches. Lean back and curl the weight up. You can do this one hand at a time or with both hands together and with a twist as you curl upward or without a twist.
• Standing concentration curl: Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Stand alongside a flat bench, lean over, and place your other hand on top of bench. Let the arm holding the weight hang straight down to the floor. Bend your elbow so the weight moves up and in toward your armpit, and then slowly lower it back down.

Dumbbell reverse biceps curl

The dumbbell reverse biceps curl focuses on your biceps. Use caution if you have lower back or elbow problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip, and stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Let your arms hang down at your sides with your palms facing toward the back. See photo A. Pull your abdominals in, stand tall, and keep your knees relaxed.
The exercise
Curl your right arm close to your shoulder so your arm faces out away from your shoulder at the top of the movement. Slowly lower the dumbbell back down, and then repeat with your left arm. Continue alternating until you’ve completed the set. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your knees relaxed and your posture tall. This prevents you from swinging your body forward and back to help move the weight.
  
• DON’T swing your elbows out wide as you bend your arm to raise the weight. Keep your elbows close to your body without supporting them on the sides of your stomach for leverage.
• DON’T just let the weight fall back to the starting position. Lower it slowly and with control.

Other options

• Hammer curl: Instead of beginning with palms facing back, start with palms facing in and keep your palms facing in throughout the motion. Imagine that you’re pounding nails into a board with two large hammers. This version of the exercise puts more emphasis on your forearm muscles, as well as some of the muscles that reside underneath the biceps.
  
• Zottman curl (harder): Instead of beginning with palms facing back, begin with palms facing front with an underhand grip. As you curl your arm upward, rotate your palm in toward your body and bring it up and across to the opposite shoulder. This version of the dumbbell curl is slightly harder than the basic version.
• Seated biceps curl: If you find yourself cheating too much even with light weights, try sitting on a bench or a chair.

Barbell biceps curl

The barbell biceps curl targets your biceps.
Be especially careful if you have elbow problems. Whenever you add weight and bend a joint, it increases the stress to that joint. Therefore, if you have a weakened joint, you need to exercise extreme care not to overdo it and cause an injury. If you have lower back problems, you may want to choose a seated biceps exercise instead.

Getting set
Hold a barbell with an underhand grip and your hands about shoulder-width apart. Stand with your feet as wide as your hips, and let your arms hang down so the bar is in front of your thighs (see photo A of Figure 14-2). Stand up tall with your abdominals pulled in and knees relaxed.

The exercise
Bend your arms to curl the bar almost up to your shoulders , and then slowly lower the bar almost to the starting position.
Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your knees relaxed. This protects your lower back.
• DON’T rock back and forth or lean way back to lift the weight. If you need to do that, you should be arrested for using too much weight.
  
• DON’T just straighten your arms and let the bar drop down to your thighs like a sack of rocks. Instead, lower the bar slowly to get the most muscle power from the exercise and to protect your elbows. And don’t lower the bar all the way back down because you lose tension on the muscle.

Other options

• Reverse-grip biceps curl (harder): Do the basic version of the barbell biceps curl holding the bar with an overhand grip. You feel this exercise more in your wrists. (Hint: Use a lighter weight for this version.)
• Cable biceps curl: Place the cable on the setting closest to the floor and attach a short or long straight bar. Hold the bar with an underhand grip and stand about a foot away from the cable tower. Curl the weight up and down exactly as in the basic version of the barbell biceps curl.
• Double biceps curl: Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing up, elbows resting lightly against your sides, and arms hanging down. Curl the dumbbells up and down together as if they were a barbell.