Dumbbell Bicep Curl

How to Perform the Dumbbell Bicep Curl

Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging at your sides with palms facing forward (supinated grip).
Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders pulled back.
Brace your core and pin your elbows to your sides — they should not move during the exercise.
Curl both dumbbells upward simultaneously by contracting your biceps, keeping your wrists straight throughout.
Continue curling until the dumbbells reach shoulder height and your biceps are fully contracted.
Squeeze at the top for a one-second pause, then lower the dumbbells under control back to the starting position.
Fully extend your arms at the bottom before beginning the next rep.

Alternating arms and losing tension

Curl both arms simultaneously or maintain tension in the resting arm when alternating by keeping a slight bend.

Swinging the dumbbells with momentum

Use a strict, controlled tempo. Stand against a wall if needed to prevent body sway.

Rotating wrists excessively at the top

Keep wrists in a neutral-to-supinated position. Over-rotating adds stress to the wrist joint without extra bicep benefit.

Rushing through the eccentric phase

Lower the dumbbells for 2-3 seconds to maximise time under tension and muscle fibre recruitment.

✓Trains each arm independently to correct strength and size imbalances
✓Allows a natural range of motion that is easier on the wrists and elbows
✓Versatile exercise that can be performed seated, standing, or on an incline bench
✓Builds bicep peak and overall arm thickness

●Try the alternating variation to focus on one arm at a time for a stronger mind-muscle connection.
●Supinate (rotate palms upward) as you curl to engage the bicep short head more fully.
●Keep your shoulders down and back — shrugging the weight up reduces bicep activation.

Strength

4-5 sets of 5-8 reps

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 10-15 reps

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps

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