10 Best Dumbbell Bicep Exercises for Bigger Arms

Discover the top bicep exercises using dumbbells you can do at home (many without a bench) to quickly build arm muscle and strength.

Just because you’re using dumbbells doesn’t mean you can’t get a killer bicep workout. You can build strong, sculpted biceps anywhere with the right exercises and form.

If you’re struggling to build strong biceps, you might be using the wrong exercises. It’s frustrating working out hard but without any results in your biceps to show for it.

In my 20 years as a personal trainer, I’ve found these dumbbell exercises are best for targeting your biceps. Below, I’ll show you step-by-step how to do them correctly, with tips to quickly maximize your results.

How to Exercise Your Biceps With Dumbbells

Your biceps brachii is one muscle made up of two parts (heads). The short head is on the inside of your biceps, and the long head is on the outside.

The short head is bigger in volume, so if you want bigger biceps then focus on training it more. Biceps exercises that target the short head are Spider Curls, Concentration Curls, and Preacher Curls.

But the long head of the biceps gives you the “peak” when flexed, so you don’t want to neglect it either. Incline Dumbbell Curls are best for targeting the long head. You can target it even more with the long head variation below.

And then there’s the brachialis muscle. This muscle runs under your biceps and alongside your mid-outer upper arm. Training and growing your brachialis pushes your biceps outward, making them look bigger. Hammer Curls and Zottman Curls are great dumbbell exercises that target the brachialis.

Pros vs Cons of Dumbbell Bicep Exercises

Now let’s get into the pros and cons of working out your biceps with dumbbells instead of a barbell…

Pros

Greater Range of Motion – One big advantage of dumbbell bicep exercises over barbells is their greater range of motion. Dumbbells give you a more natural and fuller range of motion throughout the exercise.

You can also twist your wrists during the exercise to maximize muscle activation. One main job of your biceps is to rotate your wrist, so dumbbells help you get better results. Dumbbells allow you to move in a more natural full range of motion.

Easier on the Joints – Dumbbells give you a more natural flow when doing bicep exercises. This places less stress on your wrists and elbows. Barbell curls keep your hands in a fixed position that would aggravate your joints.

More Versatility – You can do a far wider range of exercises using dumbbells than you can a barbell. With a barbell, you’re pretty much limited to just a standard biceps curl. But as you can see with the biceps exercises below, your range is virtually unlimited.

Correct Muscle Imbalances – Each bicep does equal work because your arms move independently when using dumbbells. This prevents your stronger arm from taking over, which can cause uneven muscle growth.

Cons

Limited Weight – Using dumbbells to train your biceps can limit the amount of weight you can handle. Generally, most can lift more weight using barbells or exercise machines. This could potentially limit your overall strength gains in your biceps.

Harder to Control – Bicep exercises can get harder to control as you lift heavier dumbbells. This makes it easier to start swinging with your body to compensate and use momentum. This can limit your progressive overload.

3 Must-Have Factors for Dumbbell Bicep Exercises

High bicep activation means your muscles work harder during the exercise. The harder it works, the more strength and growth you can get from it. This all just means the exercise works your bicep muscle well. This gives it a better chance to grow by adding more weight and challenge.¹

High activation often leads to high mechanical tension.  The more your biceps work during exercise, the more tension you put on the muscle. This helps your biceps grow stronger.  High mechanical tension is the force placed on your muscle fibers as they stretch and contract under load.²

High tension on your biceps is one of the key factors for building muscle and strength. More tension means more stimulus, and this means more gains for your biceps.³

A bicep exercise that gives a deep stretch at one end and a strong squeeze at the other builds the most tension from the full movement. This stretch and tension boost bicep growth by sending strong signals for your muscles to grow. Then, when you combine that with a strong peak contraction, you’ll hit both ends of the growth spectrum.

All three of these factors are a must-have when picking the best bicep exercises with dumbbells. They’ll maximize your results in the fastest time possible.

Getting the Most Out of These Bicep Exercises

The worst thing you can do for your biceps is use a weight so heavy that you lose form and start swinging. Once you start swinging the weight, you’ll take most of the tension off the bicep muscle. You’ll start recruiting other muscles and momentum to compensate.

It’s best to use a lighter weight as long as you’re able to keep proper form. Choose a weight that feels hard by the last 1–3 reps, but still lets you keep good form for the whole set.

The load is also key to making biceps gains. Lifting more weight makes your biceps work harder to move and control it, which builds more strength. This puts more tension on your bicep muscles, helping you get better results.

High reps can also build muscle if your biceps stay under high tension during the whole set. If you only have access to light dumbbells, then focus on slowing down the tempo. Do the exercise until you’re 1–2 reps away from failure. This adds more tension to your muscles by the end of the set.

A slower tempo, especially when lowering the weight, is best because it puts more stress on your biceps and forces them to grow. This, in return, signals better recovery and growth as your body repairs the damage to the bicep muscle.⁴

Use a full range of motion to put the most tension on your biceps to get better results.⁵ So make sure you go all the way down to get a deep stretch as long as it feels ok on your joints. Then, all the way up, squeeze your bicep muscle at the top to maximize the contraction.

Dumbbell Bicep Curls

Dumbbell bicep curls work both heads of your biceps. But since your arms stay at your sides, they focus more on the inner short head. Be sure to focus on keeping your wrist straight and not swinging the weight. The stricter your form, the more gains you’ll get.

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides while standing tall, your chest up, your shoulders back, and your elbows glued to your sides.
2. Start with your palms facing the inside of your body. As you curl up, turn your palms so they face up at the top of the movement. Keep your elbow at your side. Don’t let it move forward—your shoulder will try to help, but that takes work away from your biceps.
3. When the dumbbell reaches the top, pause and squeeze your biceps hard to maximize muscle contraction. Keep focusing on keeping your elbows back and not letting them drift forward.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbell back into the starting position for 2-3 seconds. This is the eccentric phase, which is key for building muscle.

You can also do dumbbell bicep curls while seated. This helps you keep strict form and reduce momentum. It’s also easier to lift heavier weights in a seated position without using momentum than when standing.

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

Dumbbell Hammer Curls primarily target your brachialis muscle, which lies underneath your biceps muscle.  The neutral grip during Hammer Curls puts your brachialis in a strong position to work harder. This exercise will also target some of the outer long head of the biceps.

1. Hold the dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing your body. Keep your elbows close to your sides and your core tight. Stand tall with your feet about hip-width apart.
2. Keep your wrists straight—don’t twist or bend them. Curl the dumbbells up toward your shoulders. Make sure your elbows don’t move forward, or your shoulders will take over the movement.
3. When the dumbbell reaches the top, pause for a moment and squeeze your biceps to get the most out of the contraction.  Keep focusing on not allowing your elbows to come forward.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position in a controlled manner. Taking 2-3 seconds to lower helps build size and strength in your biceps by maximizing the eccentric phase.

Incline Dumbbell Curls

Incline dumbbell curls mainly target the outer long head of your biceps. Your arms stay behind your body, which adds more stretch and tension to the long head. This boosts activation and helps build the bicep peak when flexed.

1. Set up an incline bench at about 45-degree angle. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie back on the bench. Keep your feet flat, shoulders pulled back, and chest slightly arched. Let your arms hang straight down below the bench.
2. Start with your palms facing toward your body to maximize the stretch at the bottom.  Then begin curling the weights up in a controlled, smooth fashion.  Keep your elbows stationary while keeping your shoulders back and your chest arched.
3. Fully twist your wrist so your palms are facing up to maximize supination and biceps activation. Squeeze your biceps at the top to maximize the contraction.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells in a controlled descent for about 2-3 seconds.  Make sure your arms are fully extended at the bottom with your palms facing in for a deep stretch.
5. Be sure to limit momentum by avoiding swinging or lifting your shoulders. This will increase the isolation of the bicep muscle and the exercise’s effectiveness.

Incline Dumbbell Curls (Long Head)

This is a variation of the traditional Incline Dumbbell Curl exercise. It puts extra emphasis on the outer long head of your biceps muscle to maximize the development of the peak. This variation also helps to lock your shoulders into place so they don’t come into play during the exercise. This helps focus the emphasis on the long head of the biceps muscle.

1. Set up a bench at about a 45-degree angle. Hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand. Lay back on the bench. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and arch out your chest. 
2. Move your arms out to the side so they’re perpendicular to the bench with your palms facing up.
3. Slightly cock your wrist back and lower the dumbbells until they stop slightly short of your elbows locking out. 
4. Curl the dumbbells back up, and at the top, slightly twist your wrist inward to maximize the contraction on the long head of the biceps muscle.

Zottman Curls

The Zottman curl is great for balanced arm development for both your bicep size and forearm strength. This exercise targets both heads of your biceps on the upward part of the curl but then shifts focus to your brachialis and brachioradialis on the downward lowering phase. This is due to your palms being pronated (facing down).  This helps to hit your forearms and your deep elbow flexors.  

1. Get in the starting position by standing with your feet hip width apart and hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing forward in a supinated grip.  Keep your elbows locked close to your torso throughout the movement. 
2. Curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders like a regular biceps curl and squeeze your biceps muscle at the top to maximize the contractions.
3. Pause and rotate your wrists at the top of the curl so your palms are now facing downward.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position under full control while keeping your palms facing down.  Go slower on the way down to emphasize the eccentric load on your brachialis and forearm.
5. Reset at the bottom. Once your arms are fully extended by rotating your wrist back so your palms are facing up before starting the next repetition.

Spider Curls

I like to turn my wrists slightly inward when doing Spider Curls to target more of the outer long head to develop the peak. You can also do them with palms facing upward to target your short head more for a fuller bicep. But it’s good to change it up and vary the angles to keep progressing with your results.

1. Lie down, chest down, on an incline bench set at about 45-degree angle.  Let your arms hang straight down while holding the dumbbells in each hand with your palms facing slightly inward in a neutral-ish grip.
2. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and arch out your chest. Curl the dumbbells upward towards each other, with the bottom of the dumbbells nearly touching each other.
3. Keep your elbows locked in position throughout the movement. When the dumbbells reach the top, pause and squeeze your biceps muscle to maximize the contraction.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back down into the starting position. Be careful not to swing your elbows at the bottom to avoid using momentum.

Rotation & Stop Curls

This variation of dumbbell bicep curls places extra emphasis on the long head. It also activates your biceps at a different level and angle than regular bicep curls. It’s a great bicep curl exercise to mix things up. Usually, you keep your elbows at your sides. But for this variation, you slightly raise them to work your biceps from a different angle and get a stronger contraction.

1. Start standing with your feet hip-width apart and hold your dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing your body.
2. Curl the dumbbells up by rotating your wrists, but stop about halfway up and briefly pause. Squeeze your biceps muscle to maximize the contraction, and keep your elbows locked at your sides.
3. After a pause, continue curling the dumbbells up towards your body.  But this time, you can also lift your elbows up and move your head towards the dumbbells to maximize the contraction. 
4. Pause again at the top and squeeze your bicep muscles, then slowly lower them back down in reverse to the starting position.

Elbow Out Curls

This dumbbell curling exercise targets your brachialis and the short head of your biceps muscle. 

1. Stand with your feet hip width apart and hold a pair of dumbbells in front of your body with your palms facing the front of your thighs.
2. Keep your shoulder blades squeezed together and your traps down as you raise your elbows out to the sides.
3. Curl the dumbbells up toward each other. Keep your elbows still and your palms facing your body the whole time.
4. Pause and squeeze your bicep muscles at the top to emphasize the muscle contraction.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position before repeating.

Concentration Curls

Dumbbell concentration curls will primarily target the inner short head of your biceps. With your arm braced against your inner thigh, the movement stays controlled, and it’s hard to use momentum. This isolates the short head of the biceps, helping build thickness and fullness in your arms.

1. Sit on the edge of a bench with your legs spread. Lean forward slightly and keep your torso stable. Put the back of your working upper arm against the part of the same side inner thigh.
2. Grab a dumbbell and curl it upward with your palm also facing up in a supinated grip. Make sure the back of your upper arm stays against your thigh to minimize any momentum.
3. Pause at the top and slightly turn your pinky side inward towards your body to really maximize the contraction in your biceps.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbell back down into the starting position in a controlled descent. Stop slightly short of your elbow fully locking out at the bottom. This is to prevent the load from shifting to your joints, and you maintain tension on your biceps muscle.

One-Arm Preacher Curl

One-arm dumbbell preacher curls mainly target the short head of your biceps. Resting your upper arm on the pad in front of your body shifts the focus to that area and helps isolate it. This exercise also works the brachialis muscle under your biceps, since its job is elbow flexion.

1. Set up an incline bench at about a 45-degree angle and stand or kneel sideways in front of the bench. Hold a dumbbell in one hand and place the back of the working upper arm on top of the edge of the incline part of the bench.
2. Slowly lower the dumbbell down towards the bench with your palms facing upward. Resist the weight all the way down. Stop short of the elbow fully locking out at the bottom.
3. Curl the dumbbell back up towards the starting position and keep your upper arm against the pad at all times. 
4. Pause briefly at the top and squeeze your bicep muscle to maximize the contraction. 

Be sure you’re consuming enough protein for the muscle gains. Protein is needed to repair and recover muscle fibers after weight lifting. This gives you better results with stronger muscles, a leaner body with less fat.

If you have trouble getting enough protein try using a low-carb protein powder like this one I recommend: