Incline Dumbbell Bicep Curls

I love incline dumbbell bicep curls.
They really give the biceps a full range of motion and a great stretch at the bottom of the rep.

Check out the video, then the instructions follow…

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Download this video to your computer

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(1) Getting Into Position

Keep your feet flat on the floor
Take a firm, commanding grip of the dumbbells
Hold the dumbbells at your side, with your palms facing outward – away from your body
Your backrest should be in an incline position – about 60 degrees up from the flat position is good.

(2) Concentric Part of the Repetition

Take a deep breath in
On exhaling, curl the dumbbels up
Fully contract the biceps but do not raise the dumbbells past the point where tension leaves the biceps
It should take 1-2 seconds to get to the top of the movement

(3) Eccentric Part of the Repetition

Start to lower the weight with a slow, smooth motion.
It should take 2 seconds to lower the weight back to the starting position
Lower the weight right down so that your arms are fully extended and your biceps get a good stretch
Now Repeat step 2

You should hit failure somewhere between the 8th and 12th rep. If you can do more than 12 reps, make a note to increase the weight on this set for your next bicep workout.

Stay Motivated!

Mark McManus

{ 4 comments }

1 Alex May 21, 2008 at 1:15 am: Question about reaching failure. Should you reach failure at the end of each set, or at the end of the last set?
2 Mark McManus May 21, 2008 at 4:39 am: Each set Alex,
Mark
3 Mark M June 6, 2009 at 6:07 am: Hi Mark (nice name),
Should I be ‘squeezing/flexing’ my biceps while contracting, or is that irrelevant?

Also, is it beneficial to squeeze/flex my abdominal muscle simultaneously (to strengthen my core while)?
4 Mark McManus June 7, 2009 at 5:37 pm: Hi Mark,
No that’s not necessary. The point is that at the top of the rep, you’ll be at the ‘Peak Contraction Point’ – there’s therefore nothing that ‘squeezing’ would do besides fatiguing the muscle prematurely, which is bad news as far as trying to attain the MAXIMUM overload possible is concerned.
Cheers,
Mark.