Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

We have a saying in the fitness industry: If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got. While this might sound like some kind of crazy tongue-twister, it actually explains why so many bodybuilders and exercisers are stuck in a training rut.

Your body is a master of adaptation. When you do a new exercise or workout, it responds by getting stronger and building new muscle tissue. But, once the initial shock wears off and your body gets used to your new training regimen, your progress slows down and may eventually grind to a halt.

A lot of lifters stick with the same workout long past its “best by” date and are using programs that, while once productive, no longer trigger increases in strength or muscle mass.

The best way to avoid training plateaus and ruts is to change your workouts every 6-8 weeks or anytime you notice that your progress has stalled.

That doesn’t mean changing your workouts every week. Jumping from plan to plan can be as detrimental to your progress as never changing your workout. Instead, you need to give a new training plan time to work.

But, as another saying goes, there is no point flogging a dead horse, and if your current program has stopped working, it’s time for a change!

In this article, we’re going to share gym and home supersets biceps workouts designed to reignite biceps growth. So, if your arms have stopped growing, give these workouts a try.

Bodybuilders use training systems to increase the intensity of their workouts and bust through training ruts. Examples include:

Supersets involve doing two exercises back-to-back. For example, you could do a set of push-ups immediately followed by a set of pull-ups.

Supersets can make your workouts shorter, as cut the amount of time you spend resting in half. They’re also great for raising the intensity of your workouts and forcing your muscles to work harder than usual. For this reason, supersets are an excellent way to bust out of a training rut.

There are several different types of supersets, all of which can be very beneficial.

You can read more about supersets in our in-depth guide.

Doing back-to-back biceps exercises will increase time under tension, trigger a skin-splitting pump, and challenge your muscles in an entirely new way to produce new muscle growth.

However, to be effective, during supersets, you MUST move quickly from one exercise to the next. Rests are not permitted between paired superset exercises. You should only rest after you’ve completed the second exercise of each superset.

In workout plans, paired exercises are usually designed as a) and b), e.g., 1a and 1b, to show that those exercises are to be done as a superset.

While you don’t need a degree in anatomy to build stronger, more muscular biceps, knowing a little more about how this crucial muscle works will help explain why some exercises are better than others for sculpting impressive guns.

The full name of the biceps is biceps brachii, meaning two-headed arm muscle. This refers to how the biceps are made up of two distinct parts, which anatomists call heads.

The biceps have two origins, which means they have two uppermost attachment sites. The short head originates on the scapula or shoulder blade, while the long head originates just above the shoulder joint. These two attachments merge to form a single muscle belly, which inserts onto the radius, which is the larger of your two forearm bones.

The biceps are a biarticular muscle which means it crosses two joints – the shoulder and the elbow. Because of this, it affects both of these joints, although its effect on the shoulder is relatively weak. 

The biceps have three functions:

All this means that if you want to build the best arms possible, you need to use a variety of exercises and hit your arms from several different angles, ensuring you involve all three of these functions in your workouts.

Supersets are one of the best ways to achieve this goal.

This workout is designed to be done in a well-equipped gym. Do it once or twice a week as part of a split routine. But, before you even think about laying your hands on any weights, make sure you prepare your muscles and joints by warming up.

Do 5-10 minutes of light cardio followed by some dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your upper body and lower back.

Ready? Then let’s get to work and build those biceps!

All exercises designated as a) and b) are to be performed as a superset. So, do a set of exercise 1a and then, without resting, immediately do a set of exercise 1b. Rest for the prescribed time and then repeat the pairing for the specified number of supersets. Do all paired exercises in this way.

When it comes to getting the most from any exercise, you need to perform it correctly. Good exercise form keeps the tension on the target muscles, minimizes momentum, and takes unwanted stress away from your joints.  

So, given a choice, always train using good form – your muscles and joints will thank you!

Strict barbell curls are a very pure biceps exercise that stops you from using your legs or back to lift the weight. This is the curling variation that’s used in strict curl competitions. Don’t worry – your next exercise uses looser form so you can push your biceps to their very limit.

After doing strict curls, your biceps should be feeling pretty tired, but they still have more to give. From strict curls, immediately transition into cheat curls to push your biceps even harder and further into failure. Use the same bar – there is no need to adjust the weight.

Your next biceps pairing is all about working the angles. Spider curls put your shoulders and upper arms in a flexed position, while incline curls put them in an extended position. You can use the same bench and dumbbells for both of these biceps-building exercises.

This exercise puts your biceps in a stretched position, hitting them from a unique angle. If you have very tight, short biceps, you may need to move your bench into a slightly more upright position. However, if possible, leave the backrest where it is to avoid wasting time between exercises.

Your next biceps pairing places an additional load on your brachialis and brachioradialis muscles, which are located below and underneath your main biceps. Developing these muscles will add a lot to your arm and forearm size and shape. You need a barbell and dumbbells for this superset.

Hammer dumbbell curls are so-called because, when you do them, you’ll look a little like you are hammering in a nail. This exercise works your biceps and forearms equally. Done immediately after reverse curls, you should experience a deep burn and powerful pump in your upper and lower arms.

No, you haven’t inadvertently clicked on a back-training article! The underhand chin-up is an excellent lat AND biceps exercise. For this arm builder, you’ll be doing something called a mechanical drop set to make sure you push your biceps to their absolute limit. The good news is that you’ll only be doing one set.

The great thing about cable curls is that you can change the weight quickly for drop sets. Your biceps should be close to exhaustion, so don’t worry if you can’t use anything like your normal training weights for this exercise.

No gym? No problem! You can still build impressive biceps at home with minimal training equipment. However, for this workout, we’re assuming that you have access to some adjustable dumbbells, resistance bands, and somewhere to do pull-ups.

As always, make sure you warm up before starting this or any other intense workout.

All exercises designated as a) and b) are to be performed as a superset. So, do a set of exercise 1a and then, without resting, immediately do a set of exercise 1b. Rest for the prescribed time and then repeat the pairing for the specified number of supersets. Do all paired exercises in this way.

Get more from your home biceps superset workout by doing all the exercises with the best possible technique!

Chin-ups might not look much like biceps curls, but the arm action is actually very similar. With biceps curls, you curl a weight up to your shoulders. With chin-ups, you are the weight, and you curl yourself up to the bar. Because of this, chin-ups are a bonafide biceps-building hero!

Hammer curls put your biceps in a powerful position, making them the ideal exercise for doing straight after chin-ups. Keep your dumbbells next to your pull-up bar for the fastest possible transition between exercises.

Resistance bands are perfect for home use. As well as being excellent for building muscle, resistance band exercises are also very joint-friendly. You can use a resistance band to simulate most freeweight and resistance machine exercises, making them a worthy addition to any home gym. Plus, they’re light, portable, and cheap, so they’re ideal for hotel room workouts if you are a frequent traveler.

Alternating dumbbell curls are a classic biceps exercise. As well as involving plenty of elbow flexion, you’ll also be supinating or rotating your forearms, which is another function of the biceps muscle.

Using an alternating arm action provides a brief rest between reps, so you should be able to use more weight than when you curl both arms simultaneously.

Concentration curls are a very strict biceps exercise. They’ve also been revealed as one the best moves for activating the maximal amount of biceps muscle fibers. This is your final exercise, but as you’ll be working one arm at a time, this superset actually involves alternating between arms.

Whether you train in a gym or work out at home, you can use supersets to build bigger biceps. With more metabolic stress, more time under tension, and a better pump, supersets are the ideal training system for effective, time-efficient workouts.

But, remember that your biceps are only one of the muscles in your arms, and your triceps are just as important. In fact, the triceps typically make up about two-thirds of your upper arm mass, so they deserve at least as much attention as your biceps.

So, train your biceps AND triceps hard and often, and you’ll soon have arms you can be proud of!

Patrick Dale is an ex-British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications tutor and assessor. In addition, Patrick is a freelance writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

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