If you want to build bigger biceps, you’ll definitely be doing the (barbell/dumbbell/cable) biceps curl. But what about variations on it, like the preacher and incline curls? What’s the difference between the two and do they really add anything to your biceps workout?

TRAININGVOLUME

For optimal muscle growth, do 10 to 20 sets per muscle group, depending on your training status. And do at least one or two variations per muscle group.

On the one hand, you train the biceps with isolating exercises, such as the biceps curl, on the other hand, they are also trained with compound exercises for the back, such as barbell rows and pull-ups. Perhaps you still have some training volume left, for one or more variations on the biceps curl. The best known are preacher curls and incline curls. Which are the best and to what extent do they differ from regular biceps curls?

RESEARCH

Let’s see what the science says about this. In a recent study, a group of 63 young, untrained women were given the opportunity to train their biceps: one arm with the preacher curl, the other arm with the incline curl.

The results? After eight weeks, incline curls resulted in significantly more growth in the upper biceps, while preacher curls resulted in significantly more growth in the lower elbow flexors.

Incline curls may increase upper biceps growth by stretching the biceps at the shoulder. However, note that two similar previous studies did not support that incline curls increase upper biceps growth more than preacher curls.

Preacher curls can help your lower elbow flexors grow more because they maximize tension at longer muscle lengths, even if your biceps are a little shorter at the shoulder. Several other studies have also shown that muscles grow more when they are trained at longer muscle lengths. Another advantage of preacher curls is that you can isolate your biceps almost completely, unlike barbell curls, where your core and glutes act as stabilizing muscles. Additionally, barbell curls allow you to cheat by creating momentum, which is much harder to do with preacher curls, although you do have to make sure you don’t lean forward or backward during the exercise.

In short, one exercise is not necessarily better than the other, they may both offer specific benefits and it may be worth including both exercises in your program.

OUR ADVICE

If you are still a relative beginner, you can do with about ten sets per muscle group per week. The regular biceps curl plus the back compounds (rows and pull-ups/pull-downs) will be enough.

As you progress, you will need more and more sets. Our advice is to increase your volume with one or two curl variations, so the preacher and/or incline curl. This is partly to fill in your extra volume, and partly to optimally train your biceps from all angles. Older research shows that the biceps are best trained by a variety of exercises, with different positions of the arms in relation to the torso.

But even if science is wrong about the differences between preacher and incline curl, and about the potential benefits of either exercise, they’re still worth doing, if only to increase the variety and thus your enjoyment of training.