Let’s be honest, everyone’s favourite part about upper body workouts is all about chasing that pump, particularly the biceps. Even though they're a smaller muscle than the triceps, blowing up this forward-facing muscle makes us feel good and look hella strong – it's an incomparable feeling. This three-move biceps workout from Jeff Cavaliere is an excellent finisher, or can be used as a standalone session on those days you simply want to fill out your tee sleeves a little more.
To help leave you with bulging biceps, this finisher uses a 'mechanical drop set'. You may have heard of traditional 'drop sets', where you perform the same exercises back to back while reducing the weight. A mechanical drop set, on the other hand, is where you drop down to a slightly easier version of the exercise you've just completed, whilst using the same load. This means you can still squeeze more out of your muscles whilst using heavier loads, meaning more gains. You're going to need to head on over to a rack of dumbbells for this particular finisher.
For this workout, Cavalerie suggests grabbing a pair of dumbbells that’s equivalent to your 10 rep max for an incline dumbbell curl and set yourself up on an adjustable weight bench. Here’s how Cavalerie’s mechanical drop set works: you’re going to perform all three exercises below for five reps each, lowering the dumbbells for three seconds and lifting up for one second. No rest in between. As soon as you finish that, drop to a lighter pair of dumbbells and repeat these exercises again. You want to aim for four to five rounds using a lighter pair of dumbbells each time. Ready for the pump? Here's your exercises:
- Incline dumbbell curl
- Dumbbell curl
- Preacher curl
Looking for more workouts to beef up the biceps? Give this five-move workout a go from Chris Hemsworth's trainer, Luke Zocchi, that'll only take you five minutes. If, however, you've been struggling to grow your guns for a while now and just aren't seeing results, the 5/20 method could be the answer to your bicep prayers.
-
Three exercises to 'life-proof' your shoulders, according to a mobility expertHealthy shoulders mean better movement, more strength and less injury
-
Build unshakeable core strength with a kettlebell and these three exercisesAdd this to the end of your workout to fire up your midsection muscles
-
Supercharge your aerobic engine with this three-move rower workoutImprove your cardiovascular fitness and burn through calories
-
Arnold Schwarzenegger's 30-minute dumbbell workout for full-body gainsIncrease your strength and muscle mass in the time it takes to make tea – what’s not to love?
-
Sculpt your arms and shoulders with this low-impact, strength-style Pilates workoutThese four simple dumbbell exercises will help leave your upper body toned and stronger
-
This two-move no-run cardio workout blasts through calories and builds strength all overNo need to run to get fit, this bodyweight workout ramps up the heart rate for a calorie burning boost
-
This no-plank, three-move bodyweight workout builds serious core strength and stabilityA fitness expert says these exercises build core strength like a gymnast – impressive!
-
One kettlebell, seven exercises and 30 minutes to build muscle all over and increase strengthA simple strength workout that gets the job done
