Concentration curls can be helpful to really isolate your bicep muscles but you may want alternatives. Discover a few exercises with similar effects.
In this bicep curl variation, you sit down and put your upper arm against your leg. By doing this, concentration curls will help you avoid moving your body to move the weight.
Additionally, the exercise will focus a bit more on the outer bicep muscle (long) head due to the different angles of your forearm in relation to your body. The inner bicep muscle head still gets a nice amount of attention too.
Whether you don’t enjoy concentration curls, you want to focus on other bicep muscle heads, or you want an alternative for any other reason, these concentration curl substitutes can offer you some or all of the same benefits.
Keep in mind that even if you don’t have a weight bench and/or dumbbells at home, you can likely do concentration curls at home with a sturdy chair and a set of resistance bands.
1. Close-grip bicep curls
The walkthrough of the first alternative uses a barbell but you can use other resistance options to do a similar movement too. Take the following steps to do a close-grip barbell bicep curl:
- Stand up straight with your arms hanging beside you. Hold a barbell with your hands closer to each other than shoulder width with a supinated grip which means with your hand palms facing forward in starting position.
- Slowly fold your arms at the elbows as far as you can. Keep your upper arms in the same position throughout the exercise.
- Lower the barbell back into starting position in a controlled motion.
By shifting the position of your hands you target the long head of the brachii bicep muscle, the outer of the two brachii muscle heads, more similar to concentration curls.
You can achieve a similar effect with equipment options like dumbbells by pointing your lower arms inward.
One downside of standing close-grip bicep curls is that you can still move your upper arms and the rest of your body to move the weights.
Even if you sit down, your upper arms are still not locked in place similar to concentration curls.
On the other hand, close-grip bicep curls allow you to work both of your arms at the same time. This can save you some time over concentration curls.
2. Incline curls
As the name implies, you need an incline bench at about a 45-degree angle and some form of resistance for the next concentration curl alternative.
Once you have these, take the following steps to do an incline curl:
- Lie on the incline bench on your back. Let your arms hang down with a dumbbell in each hand with your hand palms facing forward in starting position.
- Slowly fold your arms at the elbows as far as you can. Keep your upper arms in the same position throughout the exercise.
- Lower the dumbbells back into starting position in a controlled motion.
Another way to focus more on the long head (outer part) of the bicep brachii muscles similar to concentration curls is doing curls with your upper arms behind your upper back.
By lying on a weight bench you achieve a bigger range of motion under tension and it becomes easier to keep the rest of your body besides your forearms still.
In short, incline dumbbells curls are a great alternative to concentration curls. Something positive that stands out is that you can work out two arms at a time.
On the other hand, you do need a good incline weight bench for this. Your upper arms are also not completely locked in place which makes isolating your bicep muscles somewhat harder.
3. Drag curls
Drag curls only require some type of resistance but sitting on something like a weight bench can help you keep your body still. Take the following steps to do the exercise standing up:
- Stand up straight with your arms hanging beside you. Each hand holds a dumbbell with your hand palms facing forward in starting position.
- Slowly fold your arms at the elbows as far as you can. Throughout the movement, you move your elbows back. The dumbbells basically follow the same line as your body.
- Lower the dumbbells back into starting position in a controlled motion.
Drag curls are another concentration curl alternative that makes use of pointing your upper arms backward to make the curl focus slightly more on the long head (outer part) of the bicep brachii muscles.
One downside that does not make drag curls the perfect substitute for concentration curls is that your upper arms can still move around.
4. Behind the back cable curls
As the name implies, you preferably have a good cable machine for the next concentration curl alternative. You could also use resistance bands at home or in the gym.
Take the following steps to do behind the back cable curls:
- Set the cable machine low to the ground, attach a D-grip handle, and select your desired weight.
- Take the D-grip handle with one hand and take a step or two forward. Stand with your back toward the cable machine, with one leg forward and one leg back to brace yourself against the weight. Keep your arm with the grip in one line with the cable.
- Slowly fold your arm with the handle at the elbow as far as you can. Keep your upper arm in the same position throughout the exercise.
- Lower your hand with the weight back into the position of step two in a controlled motion.
- Repeat the same number of repetitions with your other arm.
Similar to the previous exercise, behind the back cable curls allow you to do bicep curls with your upper arms pointing back.
Due to the ability of the cable machine to add resistance at any angle, you go through a larger range of motion under tension which is generally helpful for muscle growth.
Behind the back cable curls also have some obvious downsides compared to concentration curls. The main ones are the equipment requirements and that you can use the rest of your body to move the weights.
5. Preacher curls
Besides some type of resistance, you will also need a bench specifically made for preacher curls or a regular incline bench for this next exercise. You basically want a slanted surface.
Take the following steps to do a preacher bicep curl with dumbbells:
- Take a seat behind the preacher bench with the back of your upper arm resting on the slanted surface. Each of your hands holds a dumbbell with your hand palms facing upward in starting position.
- Slowly fold your arms at the elbows as far as you can. Keep your upper arms in the same position throughout the exercise.
- Lower the dumbbells back into starting position in a controlled motion.
The first thing to note is that preacher curls focus slightly more on the inner (short) bicep brachii muscle head instead of the long head like concentration curls.
This is due to your upper arm position in relation to your upper body.
On the other hand, preacher curls could be a worthwhile alternative due to the bicep isolation you get from putting your upper arms on a sturdy surface.
One downside of this substitute is that do need a preacher bench to do the exercise.
If you really want at least somewhat more outer bicep muscle head engagement, you can point your upper arms more inward during the movement.
6. Wall curls
Besides some form of resistance, you need a sturdy wall for the next alternative to concentration curls. Once you have these, take the following steps to do a wall curl:
- Stand up straight with your back against a wall with your arms hanging beside you. Each hand holds a dumbbell with a supinated grip which means with your hand palms facing forward in starting position.
- Slowly fold your arms at the elbows as far as you can. Keep your upper arms in the same position throughout the exercise.
- Lower the dumbbells back into starting position in a controlled motion.
While there are differences, you could describe wall curls as a standing concentration curl in terms of using something to keep your upper arms in the same position.
That being said, due to the angle of your upper arms, you focus just a bit less on your outer bicep brachii muscles compared to concentration curls.
On the other hand, you can resolve this somewhat by pointing your forearms inward. Additionally, wall curls allow you to train both arms at the same time.
7. Crossbody curls
The next exercise can be done both standing and seated. Due to the angle of the movement something like dumbbells will work better than resistance bands. Take the following steps to do a crossbody curl:
- Stand up straight with your arms hanging beside you. Each hand holds a dumbbell with your hand palms facing forward in starting position.
- Slowly bring the dumbbell of one side to the shoulder of the opposite side as far as possible by folding your arms at the elbow. Keep your upper arm as much in the same position as possible but it will inevitably have to move to be able to do the movement.
- Lower the dumbbell back into starting position in a controlled motion.
- Repeat the same number of repetitions on the other side.
To work your bicep muscles the most, you preferably want to do a full set with one arm and then the other instead of alternating between arms.
Additionally, keep your hand palms pointing up if you want to focus on the biceps brachii muscles.
By changing the upward angle of the weight, crossbody curls work the outer (long) bicep brachii muscle head similar to concentration curls. One downside of this alternative is that your body still has a lot of room to move.
