Big biceps show the world that you’ve put in some serious time at the gym. After all, they’re the first muscles you show your friends when they ask if you’ve been working out, and they’re even the emoji we all use to represent pure strength 💪 Who among us hasn’t rolled up our shirt sleeve and flexed?

But biceps aren’t there just for show. As the main muscles that flex your elbows, your biceps help you do everything from lifting a protein shake to your lips to picking up your kid. They serve a real function in your daily life.

On the surface, building better biceps seems pretty simple—you complete curl after curl until your biceps grow over time. However, there are many other workouts you can do at our Thornton gym to build your biceps. In this blog, we’ll review some exercises that focus on developing your biceps so that you can put on the gun show you’ve always dreamed of.

Dive Bomber Pushups

Pushups are a fundamental bodyweight exercise for building biceps, but some pushup variations get the job done better than others. Dive bomber pushups are a good example of this. Here’s how you do them:

1. Get on all fours on the floor with your feet hip-width apart and your hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Push your hips up as high as possible so that your body resembles an inverted V.
3. Your arms and legs should be straight, and your back should be flat. Stay up on your toes. This is your starting position.
4. Lower your hips and keep your legs straight, but bend your arms and push forward so that your chest almost grazes the floor, as if your upper body is a dive bomber.
5. Curve your back and keep your face looking forward as you raise up and straighten your arms. Hold for a count.
6. Then, reverse direction, pushing your hips up so that your body is back in the inverted V position.
7. Repeat for the desired number of reps. 10 reps is a good start.

Farmer’s Carry in the Racked Position

A traditional farmer’s carry is an effective exercise that challenges your endurance as you increase the distance you can carry dumbbells or kettlebells across the gym. By carrying the weights in a racked position (putting the heads of the dumbbells at shoulder level), you can better isolate your biceps. Try to keep your elbows up and in line with your shoulders; don’t let them extend outward. Maintain this position as you walk across the gym floor for at least 30 seconds.

Inverted Bar Rows at the Gym

To perform a barbell inverted row, stand in front of a bar that’s at about hip width, such as a squat rack at the gym. Grab the bar so that your hands are a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Walk yourself underneath the bar and then pull your body up so that it’s in a straight line from your head to your feet. As you’re hanging in that position, bend your elbows to pull your body up to the bar, trying to get your chest as close to touching the bar as you can. Pause at the top for a second, and then return to your starting position. Repeat for 10 reps.

Dynamic Pushups

There are many variations of dynamic pushups, but the basic principle is that during the pushup movement, you slowly lower yourself to the ground, and then explode back up as hard as you can. The upward movement should take a second or less. One dynamic pushup variation is to clap your hands on the upward movement. Another variation is to place couple of weighted plates that are 2-4 inches high right outside your hands and, as you push yourself up, launch yourself off the ground and catch yourself with your hands on the weighted plates. Repeat for at least 10 reps.

Pullups and Chinups

Chinups and pullups are terrific exercises for building the biceps, shoulders, and chest. Both exercises involve gripping a bar that’s above your head and lifting your bodyweight off the ground until your chin is above the bar. Then, you lower yourself down to a hanging position. The main difference between chinups and pullups is how you grip the bar. With chinups — which work your biceps and chest better — you grip the bar with your palms facing away from your body. With pullups — which target your back and shoulder muscles — you grip the bar with your palms facing toward your body. Do 10 reps of each.

TRX Suspension Trainer Standing Curls at AFAC Gym

The TRX suspension trainer equipment we have at AFAC gym provides many ways for you to build your biceps. One effective TRX exercise for this is biceps curls. To perform standing biceps curls, do the following:

1. Stand up facing the TRX suspension trainer.
2. Grasp the handles with your palms facing upward. Once you have a good grip on the handles, take a couple steps forward and slowly lean back until your arms are straight.
3. Keeping your body in a rigid alignment, flex your arms, bend at the elbows, and pull yourself upward.
4. Contract and squeeze your biceps for a second once you’ve reached full flexion.
5. Lower yourself back to the original position and repeat for 10 reps.
6. To decrease resistance on this exercise, take a half-step backward.
7. To increase resistance on your biceps, move your elbows away from your sides and extend them outward to shoulder height.

TRX Suspension Trainer Pushups at AFAC Gym

Another biceps-building exercise you can do at AFAC gym is TRX suspension trainer pushups. Like all TRX exercises, you can increase or decrease the resistance by changing your position.

1. First, grab the handles with your palms facing away from you and walk forward so that the trainer’s straps are suspended and anchored behind your body.
2. Extend and straighten your arms in front of your body. If you’re fairly upright, the straps should be barely touching the tops of your arms so that they can move freely.
3. From that position, you will do a pushup move, pivoting off your toes and lowering your body to the height of the handles and then pressing back up. Repeat for 10 reps.
4. To make the move more challenging, walk back so that your body is a little more horizontal.
5. You can keep walking back so that the straps are directly underneath the attachment point, making your move look more like a traditional pushup except that you’re gripping the TRX handles instead of placing your palms on the ground. This will make the move even more challenging.

Four-in-One Biceps Curls

These curls will target your biceps from all angles. Start with a light weight on a barbell and do the following:

1. First, curl the barbell 8 times to shoulder level.
2. Next, curl the barbell halfway, pausing for a second right above your navel for 8 reps.
3. Then, curl the barbell to just below your pecs and pause for a second for 8 reps.
4. Finally, curl the barbell for 8 more full reps to shoulder level.

Planks

Planks are a straightforward bodyweight exercise with serious benefits for your biceps and core. To perform planks, lie in a prone position (facing the floor) and suspend your body off the ground with your elbows under your shoulders, bent at 90 degrees. You will be holding your lower body up by your toes. Keep your entire body in a straight line from your head to your toes, as if you’re a plank. Hold the plank position for as long as you can maintain proper form. Many people start with about 60 seconds and then build over time to 4-5 minutes.

Hit Your Biceps Hard at AFAC Gym

To be sure, training the biceps is more than just an exercise for vanity’s sake, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with spending a full workout session focusing on gains for your guns. And, AFAC gym has a wide assortment of strength training equipment to build biceps you’ll be proud to show off. Our personal trainers will be happy to work with you to design a program that helps you achieve your fitness goals.

To learn more about how you can boost your biceps at Adventure Fitness Athletic Club, the best gym in Thornton, Colorado, please visit our gym or give our staff a call. You can also contact our gym owner, Susan, at 720-849-0245 or susan@adventurefitness.club for assistance.

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