Building strong biceps doesn’t have to exclusively involve curling a set of dumbbells until you’re utterly exhausted. You can build upper body strength using just your bodyweight from the comfort of your own home with just three biceps exercises.
Part of progressive overload—the principle that illustrates how to increase muscle strength, size, and endurance with more than just heavier weights—includes changing the speed at which you move. Slowing down the eccentric phase of an exercise (when your muscle fibers stretch and lengthen during a movement) has been shown to lead to gains in overall strength because muscle fibers tear more during the eccentric phase of an exercise than the concentric (shortening) phase. It also makes any movement significantly more challenging. If you focus on this part of an exercise, you’ll feel the results of your efforts when delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) kicks in within 12 to 24 hours post-workout.
Adding a pause, otherwise known as an isometric hold, at the end range of an exercise (say, the top of a biceps curl), will increase the difficulty level of the move. Doing this has been shown to increase muscle mass and improve the muscle’s ability to produce against resistance.
Bodyweight biceps moves can be great for when you’re traveling without access to a gym, are looking to familiarize yourself with proper form before adding weight, or want to add a brutal finisher after a lifting session at the gym to really push your muscles to their limit before letting them build and repair during recovery.
3 Bodyweight Biceps Moves
Try doing four sets of 8 to 12 reps with around 30 to 60 seconds of rest between sets. You can make any of these more challenging by changing the tempo, adding a pause during the exercise, or shortening your rest periods between sets.
1. Inchworm
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hinge at your hips, allowing your knees to bend slightly, and reach down to place the palms of your hands on the floor. (Depending on your flexibility, you may have to bend your knees a bit more until your hands touch the floor.)
- Keep your core engaged and squeeze your glutes as you walk your hands forward until your body is in a plank position.
- Hold the plank for a few seconds.
- Begin to walk your feet towards your hands.
- When you reach your starting position, stand up. That’s one rep.
2. Isometric Towel Curl
- Lay out a towel on the floor.
- Stand on the short edge of a bath towel. Reach down and grab the opposite short edge, holding it in your hands. Your arms should be down by your sides, and the towel should be slack and without tension.
- Hold the top end with both hands in an underhand grip. Keep your elbows close to your sides.
- Pull up on the towel until both of your arms form 90-degree angles; the towel should now feel taut.
- Squeeze your biceps as if you’re holding in the midpoint of a dumbbell curl.
- Try to hold this position at this angle for at least 20 seconds, working up to 60 or more.
FYI: You can also do this as a single-arm movement with one end of the towel under one foot and the opposite end in the hand on the same side (so, left foot and left hand, for example).
3. Pseudo Planche Push-ups
- Begin in a plank position with your hands under your shoulders. Instead of keeping your wrists straight with your fingers out in front of you, externally rotate your wrists so that your hands and fingers point out to the sides, ideally at 90 degrees (if you can manage doing so without pain).
- Keep your body in a straight line with a neutral pelvis and your core and glutes engaged. Do not allow your hips to drop.
- Press your hands hard into the floor.
- Shift your bodyweight forward, coming up higher on your toes, so your shoulders are in front of your hands instead of directly over your wrists.
- Lower your body towards the floor, keeping your elbows close to your body and your head and neck in a neutral position. To increase the intensity, you can slow the pace at which you lower yourself toward the floor, keeping tension on your biceps for a longer period.
- Before your chest touches the ground, press your palms into the floor and push back up to your starting position. That’s one rep.
To make this move more challenging: hold your lowered position for a few seconds before pushing back up to your plank.
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