So, what’s the best bodyweight exercise for your biceps? That’s a good question. The biceps are difficult to work without equipment and just bodyweight alone. Bodyweight pushing type exercises are more suited to this type of thing. With bodyweight exercises, it’s easy as pie to hit your quads, shoulders, triceps, and chest with things like push-ups, squats, and dips. It’s not as easy to use just your bodyweight for pulling type exercises, but it can be done. Read on and get your biceps bulging using just your bodyweight.
About the bicep
The biceps muscle ( musculus biceps brachii ) is located on the front of the upper arm. The biceps are the opposing muscle of the triceps, located on the back of the upper arm. Your bicep is responsible for pulling your hand toward your shoulder. It’s also responsible for the supination of the forearm.
The truth about bodyweight exercise for biceps
There isn’t a huge number of bodyweight exercise options for biceps. It’s especially difficult to target biceps without a bar. If you have access to an overhead bar, you have realistic options for bodyweight bicep exercise. I say realistic for a reason, which I’ll attempt to explain (rant about) now.
I’ve read numerous articles on this subject. I’ve been shocked and dismayed in equal amounts. Many articles list different types of push-up modifications as great options. They’re called push-ups for a reason – you push yourself up, no pulling going on at any point. Sure, there will be some activation in your bicep as you stabilize on the way down. But nowhere near enough to promote growth or anything like it. On top of that, your triceps are going to give out long before your biceps.
What about the reverse hand push-up? For sure these will engage your biceps more than any other push-up variation, but have you ever tried to do one? They’re hard, to put it mildly. For the average person looking for a bodyweight alternative to weighted bicep curls, I believe them to be frankly an unrealistic suggestion. No disrespect intended to anyone that enjoys doing them.
Other unrealistic options include pulling on your legs, pulling on stationary objects, pulling against a pushing hand, and so on. In theory, these will work your bicep if done right. In practice they are just incredibly annoying to do, look ridiculous, and impossible to coordinate an equal effort between arms. Again, this sort of isometric muscle work does have its place, and it’s not my intention to disrespect anyone who enjoys doing them. However, suggesting them as a bodyweight exercise for biceps is kind of pushing it in my opinion.
Importance of diet and muscle growth
If you want your biceps to grow you need to feed them with the right fuel. Working them out is only part of the equation. To make muscle grow after working it out it needs protein to repair, and rest to recover.
Ensure a good balance of all these things, and your muscles will grow as a result of working them out. Any kind of healthy balanced diet with sufficient protein included will do the trick.
Bodyweight exercise for biceps: Common mistakes
Two common mistakes when doing a bodyweight exercise for biceps are the following –
- Using the momentum gained from swinging
This is something we’re probably all guilty of at some point. It applies particularly to those bicep exercises where you hang completely from a bar. Always maintain good form when doing any of these exercises. Limit yourself from swinging around. Swinging momentum will help you up, but it won’t help your biceps.
- Pushing too hard
Now your limit. If your body is contorting in all sorts of directions to get that last rep, you probably should have stopped 2 reps ago! Doing these bicep exercises will poor form will gain you nothing in terms of your biceps. However, it will substantially increase your chance of gaining an injury in some other area of your body.
Chin-ups: To hang or not to hang?
When doing chin-ups I generally do a full-on bodyweight hang at the end of each rep. For me, a chin-up is when you go the full way down, and the full way up. Many will advise against doing this, and to stop just short of a full-on hang. The reasoning is to keep constant tension in the working muscles.
I have never experienced any rest effect by going full hang at the end of each rep. I would even argue it to the contrary due to the fact it burns my grip out quicker than when I don’t go full hang. Not going to that full hang will perhaps target the biceps a bit more. You’ll get more bicep contractions for each pull, which I suppose is what we’re trying to target here.
Many will argue for and against this. My preference is towards the full range of movement for a more complete compound exercise. Just go with your personal preference on this, whatever feels best.
List of bodyweight exercise for biceps
#1 Chin-ups
This I would say is possibly the best bodyweight exercise for biceps. You’ll find it difficult to find an exercise that gets more of your bodyweight onto your biceps. A great compound exercise that works the back, biceps, and forearms. It also provides a great stretch in your back, and arms when doing a full hang at the bottom of the exercise. A stretch that’s hard to accomplish any other way.
How to do a chin-up correctly.
- Find a secure level bar situated a foot or two above your head.
- Position yourself directly underneath.
- Reach up and grab the bar, palms facing toward you.
- Hands no more than shoulder-width apart.
- Hang full bodyweight on the hands.
- Begin by pulling yourself upwards.
- Avoid any swinging motion and keep the body rigid.
- Stop once chin clears the bar.
- Slowly lower back down to start position.
- You have now completed 1 rep.
*Note – It’s very important to eliminate any momentum gained by swinging the body. Keep yourself nice and rigid when moving up. Also, you may cross the legs, or not, when doing this exercise.
#2 Towel grip chin-ups
This is a variation on the standard chin-up. By adding in a good strong towel, you’ll have another great bodyweight exercise for biceps. As with the standard version, this also gives a great stretch in the back, and arms when hanging at the bottom of the exercise.
How to do a towel grip chin up correctly.
- Find a secure level bar situated a foot or two above your head.
- Position yourself directly underneath.
- Throw your towel over the bar, and grab an end in each hand.
- Hang full bodyweight on the hands.
- Begin by pulling yourself upwards.
- Avoid any swinging motion and keep the body rigid.
- Stop once chin gets above hands.
- Slowly lower back down to start position.
- You have now completed 1 rep.
*Note – It’s very important to eliminate any momentum gained by swinging the body. Keep yourself nice and rigid when moving up. Also, you may cross the legs, or not, when doing this exercise.
The hands move much closer together here than in the standard version chin up. It will work your bicep in a slightly different way because of this. It’s always good to keep your muscles guessing when working them. It stimulates growth more than doing the same moves week in week out. It also mixes things up a bit and stops your chin-up workout from getting repetitive.
Towel grip exercises also work your forearms and grip strength very hard. If you need to improve in those areas then this is a great exercise to do every now and then.
#3 Suspension trainer bicep curl
You obviously need a suspension trainer for this one. A very effective bodyweight exercise for the biceps as it really works them, and targets them quite well. In addition, your core gets a workout while you hold the correct form.
How to do suspension trainer bicep curls.
- Grab the suspension trainer handles with palms facing up.
- Keep the hand’s shoulder-width apart.
- With arms extended, lean your body back to around 45 degrees.
- Your body should be in a straight line through ankles, knees, hips to shoulders.
- Pull your body forward by imagining pulling the handles back toward you.
- Keep the upper arms pretty much stationary.
- Use your biceps to curl your upper arms toward your head.
- Stop once both hands are alongside your head.
- Slowly lower yourself back to the start position.
- You have now completed 1 rep.
*Note – Remember to keep your body straight, and rigid throughout the movement. Avoid letting the upper arms move down towards your sides. Doing so will engage the lats, and your biceps will end up doing less work.
The weight you are going to be pulling in this bicep exercise will be less than with chin-ups. However, the weight will be more focused on your biceps, when done with the correct form. You can also adjust the resistance on this by changing the angle of lean. Go more upright to lessen the resistance. A more aggressive angle toward the floor will increase resistance.
#4 Inverted row
The inverted row is pretty much a modified pull-up where your body is more or less horizontal. You’ll need a low bar for this one. You can do them with an underhand or overhand grip. Using the underhand grip will put more emphasis on the biceps, which is exactly what we’re looking for. Either way, it’s a good bodyweight exercise for targeting biceps.
How to do an inverted row correctly.
- Lay yourself face up under a low bar.
- Bar height should be about 6 inches or so past your reach.
- Position your upper chest directly underneath the bar.
- Grab the bar with both hands, shoulder-width apart.
- Palms may face towards, or away from you.
- Execute, and maintain a straight body line through ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders.
- Begin by pulling your chest towards the bar.
- Stop once chest hits bar, or just before.
- Lower slowly back to start position.
- You have now completed 1 rep.
*Notes – Keep the body in a nice straight line throughout the movement. Performing with palms facing toward will put more emphasis on the biceps.
If you struggle to do more than a few pull ups, or chin-ups then the inverted row is great. You can progressively build your pulling strength by being able to do decent numbers of inverted rows. This is possible due to less bodyweight to lift. You can even adjust your position under the bar to make this bodyweight exercise harder, or easier. This exercise is also a great compliment to push-up exercises. Inverted row movement closely mimics push-up movement. Because of this, it’s great for balancing the strength gained from push-ups.
#5 Towel grip inverted row
So, this is just your normal inverted row where you grip a towel instead of the bar. This changes the position of your grip, moves the hands closer together. By doing so you’re going to work the biceps differently, which is good.
How to do towel inverted row correctly.
- Lay yourself face up under a low bar.
- Bar height should be about 12 inches or so past your reach.
- Throw a towel around the middle of the bar.
- Position your upper chest directly underneath the bar.
- Grab the towel with both hands.
- Execute, and maintain a straight body line through ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders.
- Begin by pulling your chest towards your hands.
- Stop once the chest reaches your hands, or just before.
- Lower slowly back to start position.
- You have now completed 1 rep.
*Notes – Keep the body in a nice straight line throughout the movement. Keep a strong hold of the towel. This exercise will really test your grip strength.
As stated earlier, towel grip exercises work your forearms and grip strength extremely hard. If you need to improve in those areas then this bodyweight exercise for your biceps will work wonders.
Example bicep bodyweight workout
Below is an example hard pyramid circuit style session. Use any of the above listed bodyweight bicep exercises. Circuit 2 should be more or less your max reps, and circuit 3 should feel close to all out. Rest as long as needed between circuits, but keep rest between exercises as short as possible for maximum effect.
If you have a bar this is also a great bodyweight bicep workout to do at home. If you don’t have a bar I would thoroughly recommend getting one.
Circuit 1 (65 – 75% of max reps)
- Inverted row (underhand grip)
- Towel grip inverted row
- Chin-ups
- Towel grip chin-ups
Circuit 2 (85 – 100% of max reps)
- Inverted row (overhand grip)
- Towel grip inverted row
- Chin-ups
- Towel grip chin-ups
Circuit 3 (max effort)
- Inverted row (underhand grip)
- Towel grip inverted row
- Chin-ups
- Towel grip chin-ups
Conclusion
So, undoubtedly the options for working your biceps with just bodyweight are limited. A pull-up bar is going to be your best friend where your back and biceps are concerned. Chin-ups are undoubtedly, as far as I’m concerned, THE best bodyweight exercise for biceps.
It’s important that any exercise is enjoyable enough to not mind doing them on a consistent basis. Consistency is key when it comes to any sort of training plan. The exercises I’ve listed in this guide can, with a little work, be done by the majority of people. I do acknowledge that chin-ups aren’t the easiest. If you’re struggling with them you can build your strength up with modified pull ups. Check out this guide for more on that.
I haven’t included any resistance band exercises in this guide. The simple reason being that resistance band exercises aren’t bodyweight exercises, their resistance exercises, as the name suggests. I’ve begun to notice a trend of late where resistance band exercises are lumped in with bodyweight exercises. Good options though would be resistance band upright rows, or resistance band bicep curls.
Don’t forget to stretch your biceps after blasting them. Check out our bicep stretches guide for everything you’ll need to know on that subject.
As always, feel free to leave a comment if you have any thoughts, advice, questions, or opinions related to this article.
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Disclaimer
Always consult your GP before undertaking any form of weight loss, fitness, or exercise.
