Bicep Workout: 3 Routines, Best Exercises, Sets and Reps

The best bicep exercises

Your biceps bend your elbow and rotate your forearm so your palm faces up. That is why almost every bicep exercise is a curl, and what changes from one to another is your arm position and your grip. With your arm behind your body, your biceps work in a more stretched position. With your arm braced in front, it is harder to cheat. With your palms facing each other, part of the work moves to the brachialis and the forearm.

Barbell curl. The barbell curl lets you use the most weight, so it is useful for tracking your progress. If it bothers your wrists, use the EZ bar curl.
Incline curl. In the incline dumbbell curl, seated on an incline bench, your arm stays behind your body. You will move less weight than standing.
Preacher curl. The machine preacher curl and the preacher curl brace your arm, so your torso cannot help. They fit well after the heavy exercises.
Hammer curl. The hammer curl has your palms facing each other and adds work for the brachialis and the forearm.
Cable curl. The cable bicep curl keeps tension through the whole range, and the Bayesian cable curl does it with your arm behind your body.

To pick others, see the full list of bicep exercises, each with a photo and step-by-step instructions. Rows and pulldowns also use your biceps as a secondary muscle, especially with your palms facing you, as in the chin-up.

Bicep workout at the gym

Start with the curl you most want to improve, because the one done first gains the most strength (Nunes et al., 2021). Then change your arm position and finish with the neutral grip. On the lighter curls, 90 seconds of rest is enough: resting more than 60 seconds has a small benefit, and beyond 90 it barely changes (Singer et al., 2024).

Full bicep workout: 4 exercises and 12 sets. Each card shows sets × reps and rest.

That is 12 direct sets, a lot to do after a day of rows and pulldowns. If you are coming from training back, stick with the first two exercises, which add up to 6 sets. If you train biceps twice a week, do the first two on one day and the other two on the other.

Dumbbell bicep workout

A pair of dumbbells and an adjustable bench are enough for almost every variation. Each arm carries its own weight, so the stronger one cannot make up for the other. On the incline curl, start with less weight than you use standing, because your arm starts more stretched.

The jump from one dumbbell to the next is big for a small muscle. When you cannot go up yet, add reps or lower more slowly before changing the weight.

Bicep workout at home, with a resistance band

At home, bicep training depends on the band, because without something to pull there is almost no way to load the muscle. This session uses the loop band bicep curl as its base and adds two band pulls that also use your biceps. Muscle grows similarly with light or heavy loads when the sets are hard (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), so the ranges are high here and each set should end close to failure.

Bicep workout at home: 3 exercises and 10 sets. Each card shows sets × reps and rest.

Of those 10 sets, only the 4 curl sets are direct. The other 6 work your biceps as a secondary muscle, and they train your back too. If you are just starting, the curl and one pull are enough. If you have a bar, the chin-up gives you more load than the band.

How many bicep sets to do per week

To build muscle, what matters most is how many hard sets each muscle gets per week (Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger, 2017). The ACSM links the greatest hypertrophy to 10 or more sets per muscle per week (Currier et al., 2026). For biceps there is one more finding: no differences were seen between 12 to 20 weekly sets and more than 20 (Baz-Valle et al., 2022). Piling on curls does not seem to add much. When you are starting out, fewer sets also build muscle (Currier et al., 2023).

Direct bicep sets per week by level
Level	Sets per week	Sessions	How to split them
Beginner	Fewer than 10	1 or 2	1 or 2 exercises per session
Intermediate	10 to 16	2	5 to 8 sets per session
Advanced	Up to 20	2 or 3	A third session if you get to the others tired

The table counts curls only. Rows and pulldowns also work your biceps, so if you already do a lot of back you can stay at the low end of the range and go up if your biceps stop improving.

With the same volume, training a muscle once or twice a week gives similar hypertrophy (Schoenfeld, Grgic and Krieger, 2019). One study in trained men did see more elbow flexor thickness when each muscle was trained 3 times a week with full body sessions than with one muscle group per day, with no differences in strength (Schoenfeld et al., 2015). In practice, pick what fits your week: spreading biceps over two or three days, as in a full body routine, makes each session shorter.

Common bicep training mistakes

Swinging your body. If you need a push from your hips or back to lift the bar, the weight is too heavy. Lower the load until your torso stays still.
Letting your elbows drift forward. If your elbows move forward on the way up, your shoulders take over part of the work. On standing curls, keep them close to your body.
Only going halfway down. Short reps make it easy to load more, but then you cannot compare one session with another. Lower until your arm is almost straight on every rep.
Going to failure on every set. Reaching failure does not build more muscle than stopping close to it (Refalo et al., 2023). The ACSM suggests ending with 2 or 3 reps in reserve (Currier et al., 2026). On a curl, the last reps to failure also tend to turn into swinging.
Changing curls every week. Varying the angle with a plan may help different parts of the muscle grow, but rotating too much or at random can hurt (Kassiano et al., 2022). Keep the same curls until you stop improving.

How to progress on your bicep workout

Log every set. Weight and reps for each curl. Without that number you do not know what to beat next session.
Add reps first. When you reach the top of the range on every set, raise the weight by the smallest step you can. In trained people, adding weight and adding reps both worked over 8 weeks (Plotkin et al., 2022).
Use small jumps. On a curl, a big jump in weight can cost you several reps. Look for small plates or a cable stack with short steps.
Keep your form. If going up means swinging your body or cutting the range short, it is not time yet.
Check the big picture. If you stall for several sessions in a row, look at sleep and food before adding sets.

The full rule is in the progressive overload guide, the ranges are in sets and reps, and you can estimate your barbell curl max with the 1RM calculator.

Questions

How many bicep exercises should I do per session?

2 to 4 is enough. With 2 exercises and 3 sets each you already get 6 sets, a good starting point if you also train back that day.

What is the best bicep exercise?

There is no single one. The barbell curl allows the most weight, the incline dumbbell curl works your biceps in a more stretched position and the hammer curl adds the brachialis and the forearm. Combining two or three covers the main work.

Do rows and pull-ups already work your biceps?

Yes, as a secondary muscle, especially with your palms facing you. If you want your biceps to grow, add direct curls and follow the sets table.

Can you train biceps without weights?

Yes, with a resistance band or a bar. The loop band bicep curl and the chin-up work if each set ends close to failure. Without a band or a bar there is almost no way to load them.

Should I train biceps with back?

It is a common pairing, because pulling already uses your biceps. There is a ready-made session in the back and bicep workout. If you prefer a day just for arms, see the arm workout.

Sources

This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from a health professional.

Bicep workout: the best exercises, sets and reps

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