How to pump up biceps at home for a man

The biceps is one of the most popular muscles on the male body. After all, this is what athletes demonstrate first. Since ancient times, it has been an indicator of strength, and now it is an indicator of progress. The biceps are almost always in sight. This is why a huge number of athletes want to pump up their biceps.

Biceps Features

Anatomically, the biceps consists of two heads, which are attached to the coracoid process and to the elbow joint. Its function is to help your arm bend and your forearm to rotate freely from your hand. In life, this muscle does a huge amount of work. Lifting any object is carried out under the guidance of the biceps. And in some situations it is also pumped up: lifting something heavy, bringing bags, moving a sofa. Therefore, according to the standard, hands cannot be completely incapacitated unless you have hidden them all your life. This situation also explains why one hand is always larger than the other. Right-handed people often complain that their left biceps are not at all equal to their right ones. This is all from vital activity.

Top 9 biceps exercises at home

In this article, we will discuss the exercises that are most suitable for developing biceps fitness at home with dumbbells and a horizontal bar.

1. Standing Dumbbell Raise

1. Stand up straight, pick up objects of the same weight.
2. Bend your elbow, lifting the weight to your shoulders.
3. Hold the dumbbells in a horizontal position with your fingers facing you.

Keep your back straight to avoid damaging your spine. Use only your biceps for the lift. If you sway, your back muscles will come into play and the effectiveness of the exercise will decrease. The biceps should contract and extend completely.

Read more about dumbbell curls →

2. Hammer lift

1. Stand straight, hold dumbbells with the same weight in both hands.
2. Hold them vertically, fingers facing each other.
3. Bend your elbows until the contraction is complete at the top.

Don’t use other types of muscles that are activated by swinging your body. You should lift the weight exactly with the biceps only, and not with a wave, in which case you can quickly pump it up at home.

Read more about the hammer exercise →

3. Lifting dumbbells with emphasis on the bench

1. Place your hand on the conditional simulator so that it is fixed under your armpit, elbow down.
2. Bend your arm at the elbow, without lowering your arm all the way down or raising it all the way up.

Any vertical object at an angle that you can find at home will be suitable as a simulator for pumping up your biceps. The hand should not hang, but should not lie on the machine. The advantage of this exercise is that it will work exclusively the biceps without activating the core. Full extension and contraction are unnecessary movements that simply load the joints and exhaust the arms, but do not contribute to the quality development of the biceps. Because do not do it at full amplitude.

Read about how to do exercises on the Scott bench here →

4. Seated dumbbell raise

1. Sit on a chair with your back turned (to make it easier to keep your back straight).
2. Take the same weight in your hands.
3. Work at full range.

Almost the same as the standing exercise, but the set is progressive. Sitting puts more stress on the biceps, as the whole body works less. Sit up straight and don’t sway to the sides.

5. Concentrated dumbbell raises

1. Sit on any height with your legs apart.
2. Bend over and place your elbow on the inside of your leg near your knee.
3. Lean on and begin to contract the biceps muscles, not to their full amplitude.

An excellent exercise that minimizes back and torso work. Thanks to this, the biceps develops faster and better.

Read more about the concentrated biceps curl →

6. Reverse grip pull-ups

1. Grasp the bar with an underhand grip, fingers facing you.
2. Hands should be shoulder-width apart.
3. Pull yourself up to your chin, but don’t go all the way down.

You don’t have to do it at full amplitude, since the lifting is done with the help of your back. To specifically pump up your biceps, this is not necessary. This is the best exercise on the horizontal bar and one of the most effective exercises for pumping up the biceps.

7. Narrow pull-ups with reverse grip

1. Grasp the horizontal bar with a reverse grip, with your fingers facing you.
2. Hands should touch each other.
3. Pull-ups are done until the muscles contract completely, but without falling to the lowest point.

A narrow grip will also help develop your biceps, but will additionally strengthen your shoulders and shoulder blades. The exercises are alternating, so as not to load the same area, but just as effective for pumping the biceps muscle.

8. Standard pull-ups with elbows forward

1. Grab the bar with an overhand grip, with your fingers facing away from you.
2. Hands should be shoulder-width apart and elbows facing forward.
3. Pull up to full range.

If you push your elbows out to the sides, the entire load will go to your back and the biceps will do much less work. With the right technique, you can also pump up your forearm and triceps, in addition to your biceps.

Read more about bicep pull-ups →

9. Pull at the doorway

1. Stand next to the doorway.
2. Grasp the doorway with one hand and place your feet next to it.
3. Shift your center of gravity to the side so that you can avoid falling only because of the support of your hand.
4. Pull yourself up to the wall with one hand.

You must pull yourself with your hand, not your feet. Keep your balance with your hands too. In this case, the biceps contracts and develops. Repeat the same on the other hand.

How to properly pump up your biceps at home: training program

Don’t strain the muscle too much. Perform biceps training maximum 3 times a week. This article specifically presents concentrated exercises and those that serve as transitions. All types of dumbbell lifts must be performed from 8 to 12 timeshorizontal bars – from 7 to 10 pull-ups. Do two approaches, with a four to five minute rest between each set. Look at the scales for yourself.

1. If you are lifting heavy weights, then do about 5 repetitions;
2. if you take a small one, then do about 15.

In the first case you develop muscle mass and explosive strength, which will allow you to subsequently lift larger weights. Second case will strengthen and pump your arm and develop overall biceps endurance.

The break between repetitions should be from one and a half minutes to two. The chronology is as follows:

• Lifting dumbbells while standing;
• lifting dumbbells with emphasis on a bench;
• “hammer”;
• lifting dumbbells while sitting;
• concentrated lifts;
• close grip pull-ups;
• standard pull-ups;
• reverse grip pull-ups.

In fact, you can perform them in any convenient order, but it is this structure that will help balance the load on the biceps so as not to clog ahead of time and achieve results.

Conclusion

This was a list of some of the most effective biceps exercises. The set is not easy to perform, so you shouldn’t try it without at least basic training. Otherwise, you will damage muscle fibers without a positive result. You can build up your biceps quickly, but it won’t be easy.

However, do not forget that the hands consist of many other important fibers. Therefore, you cannot focus on just one biceps. For correct flexion processes, a developed triceps is required, at a minimum. Well, plus, an unbalanced appearance is also not attractive. By following this program, you can pump up your biceps at home, and even in a short period of time.

And also read how to pump triceps at home →