Best Bicep Workout For Bigger Arms In 20 Minutes 

October 23, 2020

By Troy Adashun


Today we are diving into an epic bicep workout for fast growth and a skin splitting pump! Below you will find the full bicep workout with video breakdown of each bicep exercise and sets & reps given!

To ensure this bicep workout gives you the fastest muscle building results possible, we are going to be incorporating the Balloon Method, which maximizes the only 3 science backed ways your body can build muscle in a short workout.  

When you are training your biceps you need to focus on intensity and not necessarily marathon bicep workouts. While it's great to perform more total working sets and increase your bicep training volume, you don't need to get carried away with 1 hour bicep workouts!

In fact this Balloon Method bicep workout will only take you about 20 minutes to power through and contains a few of the best bicep exercises for activation.

It's important to remember that your biceps are a fairly small muscle group. Many guys prioritize them because of overall aesthetics. The biceps are always visible. It's impossible to have a great physique and look great in a t-shirt without a good set of biceps.

I haven't always had good biceps, but i've trained them hard for a few years straight with the Balloon Method and seen incredible gains and have gone from 15 inch arms to 18 inch arms!

For growing your biceps, I recommend you train them 2-3x per week with short and intense workouts like this one. Expect a skin splitting pump from this 11 set bicep workout.

Let’s begin the bicep workout, and make sure you watch each video demonstration carefully so you know exactly how to do each bicep exercise.

#1 ELEVATOR CHIN-UPS SUPERSET WITH DRAG CURLS

Sets

3

Reps

AMRAP x 10 Reps

Rest Time

75 seconds

#2 Bicep 24s
Sets 2
Reps 24
Rest Time 75 seconds

Bicep 24's are an outside the box exercise to do 4 different bicep moves in 1 single set! The awesome benefit to this exercise is that you work the brachialis muscle as well as the bicep peak and bicep short head.

Watch the video above carefully and I recommend you do 5 sets per week of this move with 60 second rest time between sets!

#3 DEAD HANG WAITERS CURLS

Sets

3

Reps

45 seconds TUT

Rest Time

60 seconds

#4 Cross Body Hammer Curl
Sets 2
Reps 6-10
Rest Time 90 seconds

The cross body hammer curl is made for maximum contraction; this is how you craft wider and bigger biceps. This easy to do and easy to improve exercise is perfect for arm day.  Let's get straight into the good stuff. 

Hammer Curls For Arms like Thor

Mechanics: Isolation

Force: Pull

Aim: 3 sets of 8 - 12 reps or more depending on your targets and goals

How to perform the cross body hammer curl

  1. 1
    Get a set of dumbbells ready. It is easier to work one arm at a time when you use two dumbbells.
  2. 2
    Stand straight, and engage your core; activate your torso for proper posture. Put a slight bend in your knees.
  3. 3
    Grip the dumbbells in a protonated grip with your palms facing inwards.
  4. 4
    Keep your elbows locked at your sides.
  5. 5
    Start with one arm at a time.
  6. 6
    Begin contracting your muscles to curl the dumbbell across your body towards the opposite shoulder. You should contract your arm as hard as possible.
  7. 7
    Squeeze at the top of the contraction. 
  8. 8
    Slowly release and lower your arm back to the starting position.
  9. 9
    Switch arms and perform a rep with the other arm. You can complete a set full set on one arm before moving on to the other arm, or you can work one arm at a time.
  10. 10
    Keep your reps to at least 8 per arm.

Tip: Don't bring your arm above your chest height. The peak of the curl should be at your lower chest height. 

Cross Body Hammer Curl

The Muscles Targeted

Troy taking a selfie showing his biceps and shoulders

If you have ever stopped to think about perfectly proportioned arms, this is the one exercise that is perfect for the biceps and the forearms. The main muscles targeted are the brachioradialis in the forearm alongside the long head of the biceps brachii. 

Compared to standard hammer curls, the cross-body hammer curl creates perfect peaks on the biceps. Combining standard and cross-body curls together in a workout is excellent for a full arm workout

The Benefits

Why would do you need to add the cross body hammer curl to your arm workout? Here are a few reasons why.

Troy Bicep
  • Strength - Stronger forearms and biceps are perhaps some of the best reasons to include curls in your routine.
  • Stability - Strong wrists are essential for a number of different exercises. Reduced risk of injury is one of the many advantages of wrist stability.
  • Bone density - Hammer curls are perfect for improving your bone density.
Troy doing a hammer curl at the gym
  • Muscle endurance - Increase strength in the arms and shoulders enhances overall muscle endurance. Any bat-based sports player can benefit from upper body strength, in particular the biceps.
  • Overall performance improvement - From snatches to pull-ups, you can expect an improvement in your overall performance.

Common Mistakes

These are a few common mistakes that everyone makes. If you can avoid these, you will be well on your way to perfecting your biceps.

Troy's hands on dumbbells on the rack
  • Too heavy, too soon - One of the most common mistakes when performing the cross-body hammer curl is using a weight that is too heavy. The aim is not to use your lower back and hips as a springboard to bounce your arms up. Go for a lighter weight, leave your ego behind, perfect your form first. Once you have the technique down, go for gold with a heavier weight. 
  • The wrong direction – While this might not be the end of the world, many people get this part wrong. You need to bring your curl right up towards your opposite shoulder. Picture a carpenter hammering a nail into a piece of wood. Your elbow should hinge in a fixed position. The forearms complete the "cross-body" movement. You will feel the bicep muscles contract and almost widen.
  • Swinging momentum - It might be called a hammer curl; however, it is not a swinging hammer curl. Your brachialis and biceps should be under tension. Swinging and using momentum to drive the dumbbell up places the tension on the anterior deltoids.
  • Little to no recovery - Post-workout aftercare is essential with any exercise. Your arms will feel the burn and get a good pump. They will need to rest for at least 24 hours before another arm session for the best muscle growth. 
  • Routine placement- You should try adding hammer curls towards the end of your arm workout or avoiding any other exercise that targets the biceps. 
Troy performing a cross body hammer curl with correct form
  • Flaring your elbows - Keep your elbows close to your body; they shouldn't be flaring. If you feel your arms flare like the chicken dance, stop, close your eyes, and realign your torso and arms. Once you can feel your body is in place, continue with your sets.
  • Releasing tension too soon - Your muscles should be under tension for the entire exercise; you should be contracting and engaging your muscles from start to finish. Don't make the mistake of just releasing tension too soon.

Variations of The Cross-body Hammer Curl

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

A Dash of Tradition

Adding a traditional hammer curl in between each cross-body hammer curl is a great addition that thoroughly targets the biceps. Add that little twist in for the best arm workout.

multiple dumbbells on rack at the gym

A Subtle Change

Changing your weights and rep patterns is another way you can tailor the benefits of this bicep blasting exercise. 

  • Use a lower weight with higher reps for the best pump and definition.
  • For muscle growth and strength, opt for heavier weights and fewer reps.
Before and After Shredding

Time to Shred

We are all either growing or shredding or somewhere in between. You can make small changes to get the best out of your curls for whichever phase you are in.

  • Reducing the amount of time between each set is crucial to shredding. 
  • Enough rest between sets, with a slower tempo, will help you get that glorious pump and throbbing sensation in your biceps.

Building Blocks of Biceps

With the building blocks for bigger and better biceps, your curl game is about to get bigger and better. Exercises that target the biceps are not just for pro bodybuilders; they are there to improve your overall health and quality of life. 

By The Way, Here’s me going through this entire bicep workout on Youtube!

The great thing about the Balloon Method workouts is that they are short and brutally effective. This makes training every muscle group a few times per week extremely easy. This is exactly what everyone on the Superhuman Muscle program trains and see's jaw dropping muscle building results in a very short period of time.

If you want to copy this bicep workout routine, i suggest that you do this workout 2-3x per week. If you are trying to grow your biceps fast, you can perform upwards of 30+ total working sets per week.

More volume is going to equal more hypertrophy up to a certain point. Performing 30 sets per week is going to give you better results than doing 10 sets per week, BUT you can certainly see incredible progress in those 10 sets per week if you train hard and train until failure!

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