Standing barbell curls
1. Grab an EZ bar and stand fully upright with your feet firmly on the ground.
2. Slowly curl the weight up while keeping your arms close to your body with your shoulders back and your lower back straight.
3. Lower the bar in a controlled way until your arms are almost fully extended.
Keep your back straight and your head level while also keeping a constant tension on your biceps. Form is very important here. You must learn to avoid momentum and only use your biceps to move the weight.
Muscles Targeted: This exercise uses the biceps as the primary mover and the front shoulders and forearms as secondary muscle groups.
2. Slowly curl the weight up while keeping your arms close to your body with your shoulders back and your lower back straight.
3. Lower the bar in a controlled way until your arms are almost fully extended.
Keep your back straight and your head level while also keeping a constant tension on your biceps. Form is very important here. You must learn to avoid momentum and only use your biceps to move the weight.
Muscles Targeted: This exercise uses the biceps as the primary mover and the front shoulders and forearms as secondary muscle groups.
Alternating Hammer curls (seated)
1. Grab a pair of dumbbells and sit down on a bench. Place your feet firmly on the ground and press your back against the padding of the bench.
2. With palms facing your body, slowly curl one dumbbell up towards your shoulder.
3. Lower the weight on one side and slowly curl the other dumbbell up.
Muscles Targeted: The primary muscle is biceps and the secondary movers are the forearms and front shoulders.
Preacher curls with EZ bar
1. Grasp an EZ bar and sit down on a preacher bench, placing the back of your arms on the pad.
2. Curl your arms up towards your chin.
3. Lower your arms back down in a controlled fashion.
Variation: You can also do this exercise with a very close grip. This will build a nice bicep peak.
Muscles Targeted: The preacher bench helps to take the shoulders out of the equation and really isolate the biceps.
Concentration curls
1. Sit on a flat bench and place your feet firmly on the ground.
2. Rest one elbow on the inside of your thigh.
3. Concentrate on fully squeezing your biceps while slowly curling the weight upward.
4. Lower the dumbbell back to the starting position. Do the desired number of reps.
5. Repeat movement with the other arm.
Muscles Targeted: Concentration curls are an isolation exercise for the biceps.
Standing cable press downs
1. Attach an angled bar, straight lat bar or rope to an overhead pulley.
2. Grasp the bar/rope, stand in an upright position with your feet firmly on the ground and slightly bend your knees.
3. With both hands on the bar/rope, press downwards until the arms are almost straight. Keep your shoulders back, your elbows close to your body and your lower back straight while doing so.
Muscles Targeted: The standing cable press down is an isolation exercise that direcly targets the triceps.
Lying tricep extensions (aka skull crusher)
1. Grasp an EZ bar and lie down on a flat bench. Press your back firmly against the bench.
2. Push the bar up, so it is directly over your head.
3. Keeping your upper arms straight, bend your elbows and slowly lower the bar to your forehead.
4. Using only your triceps, push the weight back up to the starting position. Keep your elbows close together throughout the movement.
Position of the feet: When you are a beginner, you can put your feet up. This way it´s a lot easier to keep your back “glued” to the bench. In addition, you´ll learn to balance the weight properly. Once you have built a strong core and you start using heavier weight, you may want to put your feet on the ground for stability reasons.
Muscles Targeted: The lying triceps is a compound movement that uses the triceps as the primary muscle group. Secondary muscle groups include the front deltoids (shoulders), and chest.
Seated dumbbell extensions (French press)
1. Grasp a single, heavy dumbbell and sit down on a bench.
2. Using both hands, hold the dumbbell behind your head with your elbows facing forward.
3. Press the weight up while keeping your upper arms vertical and close to your head.
4. Lower the weight back down behind your head.
Muscles Targeted: The seated dumbbell extension works the triceps and front deltoids (shoulders).
One arm dumbbell extensions (seated)
1. Pick up one dumbbell and sit down on a bench.
2. Raise the dumbbell over your head and then slowly lower the weight behind your head by bending at the elbow.
3. While keeping your elbow in a fixed position, slowly raise the weight up.
4. Lower the weight back to starting position. Do the desired number of reps.
5. Repeat with the other arm.
Muscles Targeted: The one arm dumbbell extension targets the triceps.
2. Raise the dumbbell over your head and then slowly lower the weight behind your head by bending at the elbow.
3. While keeping your elbow in a fixed position, slowly raise the weight up.
4. Lower the weight back to starting position. Do the desired number of reps.
5. Repeat with the other arm.
Muscles Targeted: The one arm dumbbell extension targets the triceps.
