Hi, I'd like to build up my biceps. Can you suggest some exercises to do that, and describe how they're performed?
Hi, I'd like to build up my biceps. Can you suggest some exercises to do that, and describe how they're performed?
user
Sure!  This could be a long explanation, so please let me know if you need some help following along.  One of the best exercises to build the biceps, if your goal is to build muscle and increase strength, is the dumbbell bicep curl.  To do a bicep curl, you’ll hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing inwards, and then lift the dumbbells, which will stretch your biceps muscle, up to your chest level, before slowly lowering back down.  When you lower the dumbbells down, they should end up positioned a little bit higher than when you raised them up.  You can add weight to the dumbbells by attaching plates, and the plates can then be used to increase your arm’s strength.  If you prefer a machine, you can use a hydraulic curl machine.  These are typically shaped like an upside-down letter L and you’ll do the same motion as with dumbbells, except that the weight is attached to the machine.  Some people find this exercise very painful when they start out, but it can be very helpful to exercise around your pain tolerance.  If you want to build up your biceps even more, you can try pulldowns, which involve grabbing a bar with weights on either end of the bar and pulling downwards, then extending your arms above your head, but this requires a lot of strength and can take years to develop, so it’s best to practice with weights in the range you’re comfortable with.
assistant
Okay, when I'm lifting the dumbbells, do I keep my palms facing inwards? Also, why will they end up higher when I lower them down than when I raised them up? I'd think they would be in the same position.
user
That's a good question!  Let me explain it from a different perspective.  The biceps are made up of two muscles: the brachialis and the biceps, and the biceps have two heads: the long head and the short head.  So to do a bicep curl, we’re raising the dumbbells, which stretches out the long head of the biceps, and then we’re lowering the dumbbells, which pulls the long head inwards and outwards.  There’s more to this explanation, but I wanted to give you a simplified answer to your question first.
assistant
All right. Any other exercises you could recommend other than biceps curls?
user