You can do this biceps curl exercise with either a straight barbell or an easy-curl bar. I prefer the straight barbell. It can also be done seated, but I prefer doing this exercise standing.
This is a great exercise that works out the biceps hard giving you both muscle bulk and amazing bicep definition. I like this exercise because it incorporates your entire body into the exercise because you need your core and leg muscles for balance, stability and support. Otherwise, you would end up swaying back and forth a lot thus not really working the bicep muscles effectively. In fact, this is sort of a full body strength training exercise with the main emphasis on the bicep muscle.
I took this selfie exercise video to show you how to do this exercise.
A few things to watch for as you do this exercise:
- Keep your elbows at your sides as you do this exercise.
- Avoid violently swaying back and forth as you raise and lower the barbell. There will always be a very tiny bit of natural movement which is unavoidable. Too much swaying may result in injury and lack of focus of the exercise on the bicep muscles. Use your core and legs to stabilize and support yourself.
- Breathe out as you curl and breathe in as you lower the bar,
- I like to do the first set with a lighter weight to warm up the bicep muscles. After this I will do 4-6 sets of 8-12 reps depending on the weight and how I feel that day.
- You can vary wideness of grip to work your biceps from different angles.
View full text description of barbell biceps curl exercise.
