No More Boring Bicep Curls — These 6 Compound Exercises Build Bigger Arms in Half the Time

There are 206 muscles in the human body, ranging from the tiny stapedius located in your middle ear to the gluteus maximus – your butt – which is the largest.

However, if you ask most people to name a muscle, they will probably say the biceps.

The biceps are located on the front of your upper arm. They are responsible for flexing your elbow, supinating your forearm, and flexing your shoulder. Their correct name is biceps brachii, meaning two-headed arm muscle, referring to their anatomical structure and location (1).

Despite only making up about 1-2% of your total muscle mass, most exercisers devote a lot of time, and even entire workouts, to developing their biceps. Invariably, this means doing curls – lots of curls!

As a personal trainer with over 30 years of professional experience, I have nothing against biceps curls or doing dedicated arm workouts. However, I also acknowledge that biceps training can be time-consuming, and some people find all those curls boring.

In this article, I share my top six compound exercises that also work your biceps. Building your workouts around these exercises will help you sculpt the arms of your dreams without spending lots of time or energy on curls.

1. Chin-Ups

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, forearms, core.

Chin-ups are one of the best back-builders around. However, they’re also great for your biceps. The arm action resembles biceps curls but instead of lifting a weight with your arms, you are the weight!

The supinated or palms-up grip ensures your biceps are in the best possible position to generate maximal force, which is why most people find chin-ups a little easier than pull-ups. It also makes them superior to overhand and neutral grip pull-ups for building bigger biceps (2).

Steps:

1. Hang from an overhead bar with a supinated or underhand grip. Your hands should be roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend your legs so your feet are clear of the floor, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your core.
3. Without swinging or kicking, bend your arms and pull your upper chest to the bar. Drive your elbows down and back to fully engage your lats.
4. Descend slowly until your arms are straight, and repeat. Continue to within 1-3 reps of failure.

Tips:

• Pause for 2-3 seconds at the top of each rep to increase muscle engagement and the difficulty of this exercise.
• Strap on a weighted vest for a more challenging workout.
• Use a resistance band for assistance if you are unable to do bodyweight chin-ups:

Related: Pull-Ups Vs. Chin-Ups – Which One is Right for You?

2. Supinated (Reverse) Grip Lat Pulldowns

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, forearms, core.

While I’m a massive fan of chin-ups, I also understand that they’re beyond the abilities of some exercisers. Beginners, women, and overweight people often find chin-ups incredibly difficult, if not impossible.

The good news is that you can achieve a similar back and biceps-building effect with lat pulldowns. However, the selectorized weight stack means you can adjust the demands of your workout to match your fitness and strength.

Steps:

1. Attach a straight bar to the lat pulldown machine and select an appropriate weight.
2. Hold the bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip.
3. Sit down on the machine with your legs under the thigh pads.
4. Lean back slightly, retract your shoulders, and brace your core.
5. Leading with your elbows, bend your arms and pull the bar down to your upper chest.
6. Smoothly extend your arms and repeat.

Tips:

• Try a narrower grip to target the outer head of your biceps or a wider grip to target the inner head.
• Use gym chalk and/or lifting straps for a more secure grip.
• Do not jerk your body backward to get the bar moving. This increases your risk of injury and also takes work away from the target muscles. Use less weight if you cannot lift it smoothly.

3. Reverse-Grip Bent-Over Row

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, forearms, glutes, hamstrings, erector spinae, core.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of compound back exercise – vertical pulls (pulldowns, pull-ups) and horizontal pulls (rows). Where vertical pulls are useful for developing back width, rows build thickness. Using a reverse or underhand grip during rows means you can also target your biceps.

Steps:

1. Hold a barbell with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Bend your knees slightly, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your core.
2. Hinging from your hips, lean forward until your upper body is roughly parallel to the floor. Let your arms hang straight down.
3. Bend your elbows and pull the bar up and into your abdomen. Keep your upper arms close to your sides.
4. Extend your arms and repeat.

Tips:

• Do not round your lower back, as doing so can lead to severe back pain and injuries.
• Keep your chin tucked in and your neck extended. Avoid looking at yourself in the mirror in front of you, as doing so puts unnecessary strain on your cervical spine.
• Raise your torso to a 30-degree angle to take stress off your lower back. This variation is called a Yates row:

4. Supinated Grip Inverted Row

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, forearms, core.

A lot of fitness articles assume that the reader has access to a fully-equipped gym. However, more exercisers are quitting the gym and working out at home instead. As such, they may not have access to such a wide range of equipment. This needn’t affect your workouts, as there are several great compound exercises for the biceps you can do at home.

Steps:

1. Sit below a waist-high bar, such as a barbell in a squat rack.
2. Hold the bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Lean back and straighten your arms.
3. Lift your hips off the floor so your body is straight.
4. Bend your arms and pull your chest up and into the bar. Drive your elbows back to maximize back and biceps engagement.
5. Extend your arms and repeat.

Tips:

• Raise the height of the bar to shift more of your weight toward your feet and make this exercise easier.
• Put your feet on a chair or bench to make inverted rows more challenging.
• You can also do this exercise using gymnastic rings or a suspension trainer, e.g., a TRX:

5. Eccentric Isometric Front Curled Good Morning

Target muscles: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, erector spinae, core, biceps, forearms.

Most of the compound exercises that work your biceps are back builders. However, this one is a little different as it’s primarily a posterior chain exercise. The posterior chain is another name for the muscles on the rear of your body, especially those of the legs, hips, and lower back. As such, this exercise will fit nicely into your next lower-body workout.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand using a supinated or palms-up grip. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees.
3. Hinging from the hips, lean forward until your upper body is roughly parallel to the floor. Keep the angle of your elbows constant; do not lower the weights!
4. Stand back up, reset your core, and repeat.

Tips:

• You can also do this exercise with a barbell or using a cable machine.
• Take care not to round your lower back, as doing so could cause injuries.
• Keep your chin tucked in and your neck extended. Avoid looking at yourself in the mirror in front of you, as doing so puts unnecessary strain on your cervical spine.

6. Towel Grip Gun Walk

Target muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, deltoids, core, biceps, forearms.

You probably won’t see many people doing the towel grip gun walk at your gym. After all, this is a pretty unusual exercise! But don’t let that put you off, as it’s a great way to finish any workout while pumping up your biceps. All you need for this one is a towel and something heavy to hang from it, such as a weight plate, kettlebell, dumbbell, or water jug.

Steps:

1. Thread your towel through your weight and then hold one end in each hand.
2. Stand up straight, brace your core, and pull your shoulders back and down.
3. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and keep them at this angle for the duration of your set.
4. Go for a walk around your training area, making sure you keep your elbows flexed.
5. Continue for the prescribed distance or time or until you are unable to keep your arms bent.

Tips:

• Grip the towel as tightly as possible to stop it from slipping through your hands.
• Keep your core braced and your torso upright throughout.
• You can also do this exercise without the towel. This decreases forearm engagement but may allow you to work your biceps a little harder. Just use a pair of dumbbells or a weight plate:

No-Curl Workout for Bigger Biceps

While any of these exercises can help you build bigger biceps, you’ll get better results if you incorporate them into a more structured workout. Write your own training plan or follow the one I’ve created for you below.

But, before you begin, make sure you warm up thoroughly to maximize exercise performance and minimize your risk of injury. Start with 5-10 minutes of easy cardio followed by a few dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your shoulders, back, and elbows.

Related: How to Warm Up for Strength Training

*AMRAP = As Many Reps as Possible – just rep out in good form to failure.

**ALAP = As Long as Possible – continue until you cannot maintain good form.

Conclusion

Most people spend way too much time training their biceps. After all, the biceps only make up about 1-2% of your muscle mass, so they probably don’t deserve multiple exercises or a dedicated workout.

The good news is that you don’t need to isolate your biceps to make them grow. In fact, you can sculpt strong, muscular arms by training your biceps indirectly with compound exercises like chin-ups and gun walks.

Still not convinced you can build great-looking arms without curls? Just check out the biceps of the average Olympic gymnast – they’re massive despite never doing any type of curl. That’s the muscle-building power of pull-ups, chin-ups, and rows.

So, when time, energy, or training enthusiasm is short, focus on your main muscle groups and train them with compound exercises. That way your arms will get a great workout without having to train them separately.

Next: Compound vs. Isolation Exercises — The Ultimate Verdict

References:

1. Tiwana MS, Charlick M, Varacallo M. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Biceps Muscle. 2024 Jan 30. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan–. PMID: 30137823.
2. Youdas JW, Amundson CL, Cicero KS, Hahn JJ, Harezlak DT, Hollman JH. Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullup™ rotational exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Dec;24(12):3404-14. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181f1598c. PMID: 21068680.

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