But does it matter what pop in of curls you do?

And are there non-curl ways to get some guns?

Lets break it all down.

Technically this is thebiceps brachii, meaning the two-headed muscle of the arm.

(We also have abiceps femoris, which is one of the hamstring muscles.

Femoris refers to the thigh; brachii refers to the arm.)

The bicep is considered a two-headed muscle because it starts as two separate attachment points on the shoulder.

Thats right, both parts of the muscle start on your shoulder blade.

The two parts converge somewhere along your arm.

Bicep-focused exercises dontonlywork the biceps, by the way.

We also have a muscle called thebrachialisthat lies underneath the bicep and also helps to bend the elbow.

Its actually our biggest elbow flexor.

The best bicep exercises to get started: curls

Curls are classic for a reason.

Thats it, thats a curl.

But of course theres more than one curl in the world.

Dumbbell curls: Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing forward.

Bend your elbows to curl the dumbbells up toward you.

it’s possible for you to do one arm at a time, or both at once.

But a supinated or hammer curl will be the most common.

Barbell curls:Hold a barbell in both hands, and curl it upward.

If you cant make that work, this is what EZ-curl bars are for.

Theyre the ones with the wiggly handles.

Cable curls:Use a cable machine, with the pulley set low, near the floor.

Theres often an EZ-bar attachment as well; thats another good pick.

If this appeals to you, Id recommend Bayesian curls.

This is a jot down of cable curl that stretches the bicep muscle at the shoulder.

Now, is this going to matter very much in the long run?

Eh, maybe, maybe not.

But it looks cool and gives you a new option besides the same old dumbbell and barbell curls.

But theyre also involved in compound pulling movements.

If I had to choose one compound for biceps, it would be chinups.

Your grip should be shoulder-width or a bit narrower.

And if chinups are easy, add weight to them with a dip belt!

For bonus points, hold each rep for a few seconds at the top.