The 10 Best Dumbbell Bicep Exercises You Can Do At Home

The Best Home Dumbbell Bicep Exercises 

Working your biceps out won’t just benefit your aesthetics. Biceps are an integral part of elbow flexion, which means they work every time you bend your elbows. Building bigger biceps can directly translate into lifting heavier loads. But enough talking, here are the ten best dumbbell bicep exercises you can do at home.

Standing Dumbbell Curl

We start this list off with the classic: the standing dumbbell curl. This is the fundamental exercise people most easily associate when thinking biceps. 

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip, meaning palms are facing up.
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. Slowly curl the dumbbells up, squeezing at the top.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Standing Hammer Curl

The hammer curl is a variation of the bicep curl that works slightly different muscles in the upper arm.

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip, meaning palms are facing each other.
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. Slowly curl the dumbbells up, squeezing at the top.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Reverse Dumbbell Curl

Reverse curls are another variation fantastic for increasing grip strength and developing the brachialis. 

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip, meaning palms are facing the ground.
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. Slowly curl the dumbbells up, squeezing at the top.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Zottman Curl

Like the Arnold Press, the Zottman curl is named after a famous weightlifter from the 19th century in George Zottman. 

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip.
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. Slowly curl the dumbbells up, squeezing at the top like you would with a conventional dumbbell curl. 
5. Once at the top, rotate your hands to shift to an overhand grip with palms facing away. 
6. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position with the underhand grip.

Concentration Curl

Concentration curls are one of the most effective bicep isolation exercises, as it takes away a lot of the momentum we tend to use to make lifting easier.

1. Grab a bench or seat that’s set at a height where your knees can be at a 90-degree angle, with your feet flat on the ground.
2. Pick up a dumbbell with one hand and lean the back of your upper arm against the inner thigh of the same side. 
3. Your arm should be fully extended as you hold the weight off the ground.
4. Slowly curl the weight up, moving only your forearm. At the top of the curl, squeeze your bicep before lowering the weight slowly.
5. Repeat on the other side.

Incline Dumbbell Curl

This next exercise may require the use of an adjustable bench, but you can get creative with what you have at home.

1. Grab a bench and adjust its incline to a 45 or 60-degree angle. 
2. Sit comfortably on the bench with your back fully pressed against the backrest. 
3. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip and arms fully extended. 
4. Curl the weights up, keeping your upper arms tight to really isolate those biceps.
5. Slowly lower the biceps back down to the starting position.

Dumbbell Drag Curl

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip.
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. Slowly curl the dumbbells up, making sure they’re in contact with your sides at all times, as you pull your elbows back.
5. Squeeze your biceps at the top position.
6. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position, still keeping the dumbbells as close to your sides as possible.

Dumbbell Crossbody Hammer Curl

The dumbbell crossbody hammer curl is yet another variation of the curl with more emphasis on the forearm. 

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip. 
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. One side at a time, you curl the dumbbell up and across to the opposite shoulder, keeping your palms facing inward. 
5. Squeeze your biceps at the top position before returning to the starting position.
6. Repeat on the opposite side.

Dumbbell Strict Curl

As with the concentration curl, the dumbbell strict curl ensures you use little to no momentum in lifting the weights.

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip.
2. Lean on a wall with your back and butt fully pressed against it. 
3. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
4. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
5. One side at a time, curl the dumbbells as high as you can.
6. Squeeze your biceps at the top position before returning to the starting position.
7. Repeat on the opposite side.

Dumbbell Alternating Cheat Curl

Last but certainly not least is the dumbbell alternating cheat curl. While most of the exercises aim to minimize momentum, cheat curls actually need momentum to lift heavier weights. The science behind this lies in the eccentric contraction your biceps experience on the way down.

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip.
2. Stand tall with your chest up and out and feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
3. Start with arms fully extended at your sides, keeping your elbows as close to your trunk as possible. 
4. One side at a time, curl the dumbbells as high as you can, using a slight swing to get the weights up.
5. Squeeze your biceps at the top position before returning to the starting position as slow as possible, maximizing the eccentric contraction.
6. Repeat on the opposite side.