https://www.acefitness.org/acefit/expert-insight-article/47/4947/ace-study-reveals-best-biceps-exercises/To determine which exercise is the most beneficial for activating the biceps brachii, researchers compiled a list of the eight most commonly used exercises for targeting the biceps:
Cable curl
Barbell curl
Concentration curl
Chin-up
EZ Curl (with both wide and narrow grip)
Incline curl
Preacher curl
Next, the researchers recruited 16 healthy, female and male volunteers (eight men and eight women) between the ages of 18 and 24. All of the subjects had some form of weightlifting experience to ensure that during testing the exercises would be performed correctly.
Prior to the actual study, each subject attended one practice session in which researchers made sure that the subjects understood how to perform each of the exercises and were acquainted with the testing procedures. To establish a baseline of fitness, the subjects also completed a one-repetition maximum (1-RM) for each of the eight exercises.
On the first day of testing, researchers affixed electrodes on the biceps brachii (BB), anterior deltoid (AD) and the brachioradialis (BR) of each subject to measure total muscle activity via a wireless electromyography (EMG) machine. Next, subjects began by completing a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) for the biceps by performing an isometric one-arm cable curl. Following that, researchers randomly assigned four more biceps exercises for the subject to complete. For those lifts that did not use body weight, the subjects used 70 percent of their 1-RM as resistance. A rest period of two minutes was given between each exercise to ensure that subjects were not too tired to complete the required reps. On the second day of testing, subjects were hooked up to the EMG machine again, began with a MVC and then completed each of the four remaining biceps exercises.
THE RESULTS
Immediately following both testing sessions, researchers crunched the numbers. When compared to the other seven exercises, the concentration curl came out on top, eliciting significantly higher muscle activation of the biceps than any other exercise tested (Figure 1).
