Muscles Targeted: The standing dumbbell curls exercise targets the biceps muscles along with the forearms. This is another key exercise to add to your biceps workout if your goal is to gain overall muscle mass in your arms. Make sure you start with a light weight in order to properly perform the exercise technique and since you will be lifting both dumbbells up at the same time, its important that you take a shoulder width stance with your knees slightly bent to give yourself a solid foundation. The tendency will be to lean over a little as you curl the weight up since you will lifting both dumbbells up in front of you at the same time, so be aware of this before you begin the movement.
Exercise Advice: Grab two dumbbells and position yourself with a shoulder width stance and let the dumbbells hang down to your sides. There are two slight variations to this exercises when it comes to how your hands are positioned during your range of motion. The variation in the video shows the hands with the palms facing out throughout the entire movement. The other variation is to have your palms face in to your sides while they hang at your sides and while slowly curling up the dumbbells, start to supinate or curl your wrists up at about the halfway point in the movement. At the top of the exercise, you should feel all the tension on the biceps. Slowly lower the dumbbells down to the starting position and repeat. Make sure to keep your elbows close to your sides throughout the exercise so you can really focus 100% of the tension on your biceps.
Things To Avoid: During the exercise, avoid any swinging of the dumbbells or jerky movements. Try to move the weight in a slow and controlled fashion. Avoid having your elbows come away from your sides by tucking your elbows into your sides and keeping them close all the way through the exercise. This focuses all of the tension on the biceps and avoids using your shoulder muscles to overcompensate to move the weight up. At the top of the exercise, try to avoid relaxing your biceps and resting the dumbbells under your chin. You want to have peak tension on your biceps at the top to get the most out of this exercise.
Reps and Sets: Focus on doing 8-12 reps per set for a general guideline for building up your biceps. If you’re goal is overall mass, you can use a lower rep range of 6-8 with heavier weight but make sure your technique is slow and controlled. It’s useless to use a heavy weight and cheat on the movement by swinging with your back and using your shoulders to help get the weight up. Use strict form throughout the entire range of motion and watch your arms grow!
Other Exercises To Use: You can combine a few other exercises with the Standing Dumbbell Curls to create a solid overall bicep workout. Try adding the Seated Dumbbell Hammer Alternating Curls and the Incline Bench Dumbbell Curls.
