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Stop Doing Dumbbell Bicep Curls Like This!

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

Dumbbell bicep curls are one of the most popular biceps exercises performed in the gym or at home. The problem is, it is also one of those arm exercises that is most commonly performed wrong. In this video, I-m going to show you the best way to do the standing dumbbell curl for bigger biceps and some other added benefits you may not have been aware of. First we need to start by looking at what is not optimal about the standing alternating dumbbell curl. When you alternate your arms during the reps you have a period where one of the arms is resting. This is taking the tension off of the biceps for the 2-3 seconds that it takes to perform the rep on the other arm. If you are training for metabolic hypertrophy, this brief period of rest is enough to sap all of the benefits of that form of training and is therefore something you want to avoid. The next thing is that by alternating your arms during the movement you are sacrificing a great deal of core involvement that you could be getting by not doing this. Think about it. When you curl the weight up, the momentum of the load wants to tilt you backwards and make you lean back with the weight. The only thing that helps you to prevent this is the stabilization and contraction of your abs and core to not let that happen. If the load that you are lifting is in just one hand, you will only be having to control half of the weight. In this example I am curling 30 pound dumbbells. My core will only have to contract hard enough to control the thirty pounds. If on the other hand I lift the two dumbbells at the same time, then I will have to work that much harder in order to control the 60 combined pounds that are in my hands. Finally, there are often times many muscle imbalances that are developed by performing your dumbbell bicep curls in alternating fashion. If you are training for strength but one side is weaker than the other you might see that your arm struggles more to get to the top. At the same time, you might find that you simply cannot move the weight at the same speed that you can on your stronger, more powerful arm. Both of these are problems but not easily seen when you are doing them one arm at a time. If on the other hand you switched to the simultaneous standing dumbbell curl you would notice right away when the imbalance exists. Simply watching as one dumbbell was curled faster and more unevenly than your weaker side would give you instant feedback that you needed to correct the strength imbalance. Forcing the dumbbells to move together is a great way to overcome whatever disparity exists and even out the development of your biceps. The same goes for the tension problem. By forcing the dumbbells to move together, there is constant tension on both biceps throughout the entire exercise. This makes for a move more capable of creating hypertrophy and for getting those biceps of yours bigger. Finally, the core becomes instantly more active and responsible for holding you steady when you switch to the double arm movement. Now you can do one other alternative and that is to alternate the direction of the arms during the movement but to make sure you are doing them at the same time yet again. Here you get the same benefits of the tension and imbalance correction but you sacrifice a bit still on the demand of the abs since only one dumbbell is moving up at a time. In fact, you might cancel out the demand a bit because the other is counterbalancing and moving in the opposite direction. Either way, the standing dumbbell curl is best done when not alternating the arms while performing it. Now don-t get me wrong, even performed this way you are going to get better results than a much more non athletic bicep exercise like the concentration curl which has you sitting down for the entire movement. If you want to look like an athlete you need to train like one, and that means training on your feet at every opportunity. You can get our entire workout program that will help you to build not just big biceps but your entire body at and getting the ATHLEAN-X Training System
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

Joshua
Kinda new/dumb when it comes to working out and don't have anyone to ask about progress figured this might be a good spot. when I started 1 year ago I was small at 5ft6in I only weighed 105lbs with 10in arms and only lifting a 30lb kettlebell (limited on weights as I live in the middle of nowhere) then got accepted into special warfare for the USAF and started lifting/running my ass off I now weight between 168lbs -175lbs with 15 1/2in arms and a 41in chest and can now lift a barbell weighing the same as my starting body weight 105lbs with one arm over my head and use a 70lb kettlebell as well as 2x35lb dumbbells that I normally do sets of 30-40 reps with and 20-25 reps for the heavier weights it's not uncommon for me to do 10-15 sets back to back for a total of 300-600reps a session. In terms of gains, rep count and overall progress are these a decent increase in numbers or should/could they be higher? I don't know anyone who works out and the few that did (years ago) say they've never done shit even close to what I'm doing, don't know if they're just trolling me or they're being serious because they're twice my. well were twice my size I'm catching up though -
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Chandra
I dont know if you faced this issue early on during your weight training. My non-dominant left hand gives up before my dominant right hand. Is there strategies to offset this that you can think of. Do we let the right hand work extra repetitions since it can withstand more? I am worried about having one side develop more than the other and lead to uneven/unbalanced development. So I just stop the right when left gives up. Let me know if I doing this the wrong way. I am sure a lot of folk have this issue in the beginning that might benefit from your recommendations.
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Benjamin
Hey Jeff (or anyone else who could possibly answer my question,
I recently watched your video on the perfect bicep workout, and in it you talked about how the bicep head that faces outward during a curl is the one which will be primarily worked.
During this video, it became obvious that the solution presented will only be applicable to short head bicep curls, or curls in which the heads are engaged equally. What would be a method to ensure that the long heads could be worked equally?
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tycov74
So why is there 1k dislikes with this information? I understand the logic. There-s a equal balance across the length of the workout. People in their -stuck on uneducated ways- or -old ways- of doing things! Maybe if people would try the things that can make a HUGE difference in getting better or stronger, just maybe they can learn a bit more and progress forward! That-s LIFE IN GENERAL! Be willing to accept change and move forward people!
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Raz
When I left the army and started working out at home, I naturally just tried this one day (dumbbell 40's were all I had at the time) and I found it FAR better than the conventional way. Been doing it ever since with better results than I was getting before. You may have to lower your weight a bit (I had no other weight options so I lowered reps) but it is well worth it.
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Gerardo
Im 52 yrs old i haven't worked out for over 4yrs, i sell fire wood i do get some physical work but i am a diabetic, but i don't take meds, but i do eat small meals and i used to weigh 185 when diagnosed, now im at 153, i used to have 16- arms now im less than 13- i want to get back, my question how should i start?
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Matthew
Presses on video: please don't say I'm doing it incorrectly. I don't know how I can make it any harder for myself. Oh thank God I do them at the same time anyway. The way Jeff wants me to. Phew!
I like making it harder for myself anyway. Fewer, quality reps. Less time working out. More gains! Win, win!
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Dominick
Whenever I try to lift the dumbbell idk it seems like my whole body flexes and I don-t feel my bicep flexing like it should does that mean I gotta lower the weight? It just feels like my whole body is attempting to lift it and it-s not just focusing on my bicep
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Nick
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3: 16-17
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Ryan
Ran into a guy doing this and his weak arm was still only doing 3/4th reps because he was so focused on trying to pump out reps told me he got it from this video. These videos create a lot of people spazzing out in the gym creating bigger imbalances lol
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