A nice combo: the bicep workout

I do bicep curls to help me add stability to my bench press. They work the wrists, the forearms, and the biceps which all work together to stabilize the bar throughout the entire range of motion in the bench press.

 I alternate standing bicep barbell curls on one workout day with seated dumbbell bicep curls  on another workout day to avoid repetitive movement injury. When you have your hands wrapped around a bar in a fixed position, it places a great amount of stress on the wrists and forearms and shoulders. The seated bicep dumbbell curl reduces that because the hands have the mobility to move around.

The form for the standing bicep barbell curl is first load a barbell with weights. I prefer to have the barbell at a waist high position either sitting on safety crossbars of a squat rack or power rack. It reduces the amount of work to complete the lift but if you have to lift the barbell off the ground then it's no big deal. Although you will have to put your lower back in a deadlift position to protect your lower spine
when lifting the bar off the ground. Also the floor you lift on has to be rigid and level otherwise put two forty five lb plates on the ground and step on those to give yourself a stable base to lift from.

Now take in a breath of air through the nose to fill the chest cavity to lock your spine in a straight up and down position.  Grab the bar underhanded with both hands in a slightly wider than shoulder width position. Now while keeping your elbows close to your sides, curl the bar to your chin by bending at the elbows.  It's an absolute must you hold your breath throughout the entire range of motion in the lift. This will lock your spine and reduce the chance of back injury. It will also stabilize your body to give you a nice powerful lift.

Now let the bar down on the rack or floor. If you want to do reps, you'll have to keep that breath of air in you or let the bar down and reset your breath and lock your spine again before attempting to lift again.

Form for the seated dumbbell curl is completely different. First off sit on a bench and place two dumbbells on the outsides of  both your feet. Take in a breath of air through the mouth and put a severe arch in the lower back and lift the dumbbells off the ground.

Now take in a breath of air through the nose to fill the chest and lock your spine in a straight up and down position.  Curl the dumbbell with one hand bending at the elbow while keeping the other dumbbell in your other hand stationary by your side. This will give stability to your lift.

Notice how to clear the dumbbell past your bent knee you have to keep the dumbbell perpendicular to the floor. When you clear the knee, twist the dumbbell to a horizontal position parallel to the floor. This will tax the wrists and forearms and strengthen them. If you experience any soreness in the wrists, rub the point of pain on your knee to dissipate the pain.  Check out  why this works here.

Lower the dumbbell back to your side and curl the other dumbbell in your other hand. If you have to exhale between the alternating curls, keep in mind you'll have to reset  the air back in your chest and relock your spine in a straight up and down position.   Now lower the dumbbells back to the ground.

I try to do only single rep sets when I'm bicep curling because it yields the greatest adaptive strength gain response although if I feel like I can do a couple more reps I'll go ahead and bang them out to achieve soreness and fatigue in my biceps.