Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
In search of an excellent arm workout that will build massive guns? Look no further! This intense bicep workout will give you an insane pump and some serious upper arm muscle growth.
Plus, we're only using one machine to get it all done. Get ready, because we're about to highlight an awesome upper arm cable machine workout and the best bicep cable exercises to include in your routine.
Table of Contents:
- 7 Best Cable Biceps Exercises
- 2 Best Bicep Cable Workouts
- Biceps Anatomy
- Benefits Of Using Cable Exercises To Train Biceps
What are you waiting for? Let's go build those bis!
The Best Bicep Cable Machine Exercises
One of the reasons we love the cable machine for bicep workouts is that it allows you to train just about every muscle and movement pattern, using a range of attachments, which you'll see in the exercises we're highlighting.
The 7 best cable bicep exercises are:
- Bayesian Curl
- Negative Bicep Curls
- Reverse Curl
- Cable Hammer Curl
- Cable Spider Curl
- Cable Bicep Curl
- Supine Cable Bicep Curl
We choose these cable biceps exercises because they enable you to place a range of loads on the biceps, train your upper arms in a more encompassing manner, and hit the biceps in different positions and angles with an increased range of motion1.
Let's go over each.
1. Bayesian Curl:
How to do Bayesian Curls:
- Set up the pulley machine at the lowest setting, attaching a single handle.
- Stand a few feet in front of the cable machine and turn away, so your back is facing the weights. Use a split stance with one foot slightly in front of the other to help create a strong base.
- Grab the handle with an underhand grip and extend your arm. You want the working arm to be on the same side as the foot that's forward to prevent twisting.
- In the starting position, your arm should be pulled behind you slightly. Begin to slowly curl the load up as you lean your body weight forward slightly.
- Bring the arm forward (elbow flexion) slightly and under control.
- Slowly lower the weight and return to the starting position.
A single arm cable curl variation, the Bayesian curl does not get nearly enough recognition. It's one of the best bicep exercises you can do, and you can only perform these with a cable machine!
This is because you must position your body and resist force in a way that draws your arm slightly behind you (shoulder extension). You can only do this by turning away from the resistance force, which is impossible to do with free weights or another machine.
Now, when you perform the curl, the resistance pulls your arm back, forcing your long head to contract with shoulder extension to stabilize the arm. This allows you to hit the biceps at both ends while the resistant force places constant tension on the biceps muscle. Hello, muscle hypertrophy!
2. Negative Biceps Curls:
How to do Negative Biceps Curls:
- Set up the cable pulley at a low setting and attach an EZ-curl bar attachment (or whichever attachment you choose). Choose a weight that only allows you to do a couple of clean reps.
- Grab the handles with an underhand grip that's shoulder-width apart, and stand erect in the starting position. Stand approximately a foot or so away from the pulley machine so that the force is at a slight angle.
- If using a bar, you will likely need to cheat the bar up. Do this using some body movement but don't make jerky movements. If you are unable to get the bar up relatively quickly with this body movement, lower the weight.
- Once the bar is raised, hold the weight and place your elbows against your body. Slowly lower the weight with a controlled motion. Try to keep your body erect and tight by bracing your torso.
Heavy negative biceps curls take advantage of your muscle's ability to generate more force during the eccentric portion of an exercise.
This is good news as the eccentric portion of an exercise has been found to play a more prominent role in muscle damage and its accompanying muscle recovery. As a result, the eccentric portion contributes more to overall muscle growth.
One of our favorite cable machine bicep exercises, this move is best performed with an EZ-curl bar attachment so less stress is placed on the wrist. You can use a straight bar attachment to perform these, but make sure you keep your wrist straight.
Another great variation is to use a handle attachment on each side of the cable machine. You've got options!
3. Reverse Curl:
How to do Reverse Curls:
- Set up a low pulley cable setting and attach your attachment. Place your hands shoulder-width apart, and use an overhand grip to put stress on the brachioradialis and brachialis.
- Stand back about a foot and let the cable pull your arms, so they're fully extended. Keep your elbows tucked in by your body. With your knees slightly bent, curl the bar up.
- As you curl the bar, the load will want to pull your wrists forward, flexing them. Keep your wrists straight by using your extensors. If this is difficult, use the EZ-curl bar until your forearm muscles get stronger.
- Curl the bar all the way to the top, hold, and lower.
Way too many people follow programs that don't train the forearms efficiently. Most routines are lucky to even have one forearm exercise, let alone a compound exercise that targets this muscle group. The reverse curl is an easy way to get both.
During the movement, your arm is pronated, decreasing the biceps' involvement and requiring only the forearms to do the work.
You can use either a straight bar or an EZ-curl bar.
4. Cable Hammer Curl:
How to do Hammer Curls:
- Set the cable pulley machine on the lowest setting and attach the rope attachment.
- Grab the handle, so the top of your hands (near your thumb) are on the sides of the balls at the end of the rope attachment. This is going to keep the rope from falling out of your hands.
- Stand back a foot with your arms fully extended and tuck your elbows into your sides. Curl the rope attachment by bringing the top of your hand up to your shoulder. Slowly lower the weight and repeat.
Hammer curls are usually associated with dumbbell hammer curls, but you can also perform them using a cable machine. To do this, attach the rope attachment so you can use a neutral grip.
Using a neutral grip provides several benefits, including taking stress off the wrist, allowing for heavier loads, and training both the brachioradialis and brachialis.
5. Cable Spider Curl:
How to do Cable Spider Curls:
- Set the pulley machine on the lowest setting, attaching the attachment of your choice.
- Facing the cable machine, place your chest and stomach on a bench that is set at an incline with your feet on the floor. Your arms start extended with an underhand grip.
- The starting position will have your arms fully extended. Slowly curl the attachment as much as you can, toward your shoulders, and then slowly lower down.
- A lighter weight tends to work better with the cable spider curl.
Spider curls, which are performed lying down on an incline bench, do a great job isolating the biceps.
You can utilize any of the attachments for this exercise.
6. Cable Bicep Curl:
How to do Cable Bicep Curls:
- Set the cable pulley at a low level and attach the bar.
- Stand back a few feet and use an underhand grip. You can play with the grip, anywhere from a shoulder-width grip to a narrow one. Add some variety.
- With your elbows tucked into the body, keeping your upper arms stationary, slowly curl the bar up. Squeeze and return to the start.
Form flip: You can face the opposite way of the pulley, changing up the dynamics of the tension.
7. Supine (Lying) Cable Biceps Curl:
How to do Supine Cable Biceps Curl:
- Set the cable pulley at a height that places the cable higher than your body when lying down.
- Lay down, either on a bench or the floor, with your head closer to the machine and your feet further away.
- Grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip using an underhand grip. Your arms are extended to start. Keeping your elbows straight, curl the bar toward your face, while concentrating on squeezing your biceps.
- Slowly straighten your elbows to full extension. Repeat.
The supine cable biceps curl can only be done using a cable machine due to the angle of force required. You can perform it lying on a bench or on the floor. Either position will make it nearly impossible to rely on your body's motion to help curl the bar.
We like performing supine cable curls with the EZ-curl bar attachment and lighter weight.
The Best Bicep Cable Workout
The wait is over! Here is a killer biceps workout, guaranteed to build muscle in your upper arms. You should rarely just train your biceps, which is why this program is designed to be added to the end of your pulling day session or even your back and biceps workout.
We've included 2 sessions, both with 5 exercises each. Each routine will start with chin-ups and negatives, followed by three other exercises, which only have 2 sets each.
Note: We included chin ups in this routine despite it not being a cable machine exercise. When people think about "bicep exercises," they usually go straight to isolation exercises, but whenever possible, it's good to include a compound move, like chin ups. Chin ups place a large amount of stress on your bis, especially during the eccentric contraction, making them ideal for hypertrophy.
Cable Biceps Workout Session A:
- Chin-Ups: 3x4-6
- Negative Biceps Curls: 4x4 with a 3-5 second drop
- Bayesian Curl: 2x8-12
- Hammer Curls: 2x8-12
- Supine Cable Curls: 2x8-12
Cable Biceps Workout Session B:
- Chin-Ups: 3x4-6
- Negative Biceps Curls: 4x4 with a 3-5 second drop
- Cable Spider Curl: 2x8-12
- Reverse Curls: 2x8-12
- Cable Bicep curls: 2x8-12
Bicep Cable Workout Tips:
Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of this routine.
- Train your sets close to failure.
- Utilize different grips throughout your workout.
- Play with different angles.
- Place a biceps workout at the end of a pulling workout or pair with a back routine.
- Perform both sessions in one week (with rest in between), or use one session for about 8 weeks and then swap in the other.
Anatomy Of The Biceps
The biceps muscle is a two-headed muscle that sits on the front of the upper arm. Biceps exercises, including everything from bodyweight biceps exercises to dumbbell bicep exercises, are some of the most popular, due to the aesthetics a well-developed biceps provides the upper body.
In addition to the bicep muscles, there are two other arm muscles, the brachialis and brachioradialis, that contribute heavily to the performance of the biceps and the size of the upper arm.
- Biceps Brachii: The biceps brachii muscle sits on the front of the upper arm and runs from the shoulder joint down to the elbow. While one muscle, the biceps brachii is composed of two heads: the short head and the long head. The biceps brachii's primary functions include turning your palms from facing down to facing up, bending the elbow, and assisting with bringing your arm forward and up.
- Brachialis: Even though the biceps get all the praise for flexing the upper arms, the brachialis is the actual mover. This muscle serves one purpose, and that is to flex the biceps. It's estimated to provide 50% of the force required for elbow flexion, which is why it's imperative to perform brachialis exercises. Not only will you be able to lift more weight, but it will also push the biceps brachii outward when it grows, meaning it directly helps build big biceps.
- Brachioradialis: The brachioradialis is a smaller muscle that sits on the forearm. Its two primary functions are bending the elbow and supinating your forearm, meaning to turn your palms from facing down to facing up. The brachioradialis is especially powerful when in a midposition (neutral grip).
Benefits Of Using Bicep Cable Exercises
We're going to be honest. We LOVE using cable machine exercises to train the biceps. And, after seeing the workout and exercises you can perform using this piece of equipment, we're sure you've joined Team Cable Machine as well.
We love the cable machine for everything from training isolation movements to smaller accessory work. Apart from free weights, it is easily our favorite piece of equipment in the gym.
The 4 best benefits of including bicep cable exercises in your routine are:
- Enables you to easily use multiple attachments.
- You can seamlessly switch from one exercise to the next.
- You can quickly change the weight you're using.
- You can train your biceps from multiple angles.
Let's take a closer look at each.
1. You Can Use Multiple Attachments During A cable workout for biceps.
The term "cable machine" really does this piece of equipment injustice, as it's quite literally an entire gym. Almost. There are a few exercises that are difficult to simulate, such as a squat or lunge. But you can essentially train the entire upper body.
This ability is, in part, due to the multiple attachments that you can easily switch out. Doing so lets you train single-arm exercises, bilateral exercises (both arms), pulling, pushing, and anything else you can think of.
2. You Can Swap Exercises Easily.
Being able to do multiple exercises is only beneficial if you're able to transition from one to another easily. With cable machines, you can easily switch through your exercises quickly.
Changing exercises is fast when swapping the attachment or changing from the low pulley cable position to a high position. This makes running a circuit extremely easy, assuming no one is waiting for your machine.
3. Cable Bicep Workouts Make It Easy To Change The Weight Stack.
In addition to changing the exercises, you can easily increase or decrease the cable weight by changing the pin. This allows you to run supersets if you want or just accurately and quickly find the appropriate weight.
This may seem trivial, but this can be a godsend after you've spent some time loading and unloading weights.
4. A Cable Bicep Workout Trains Muscles From Multiple Angles.
The track on which the cable pulley runs can be positioned so it's on the lowest setting near your feet or on the upper position that's generally 7+ feet tall. As a result, you can hit different angles with just one exercise.
While we believe in running a structured training program, we also believe that introducing variability can be beneficial to optimizing muscle growth.
Interested in adding a cable machine to your home gym? Check out the 9 Best Cable Machines!
Cable Machine Workouts Are Great For Growing Biceps
If you've never used the cable machine, you need to start! We went over the best of the best, but when you start playing around with grips and attachments, you'll quickly find that there is an endless assortment of cable bicep exercises you can do.
Add this biceps cable machine workout to the end of your next pulling or back day, and prepare to feel the bicep burn!
For more great cable moves, check out our article on the best Cable Arm Exercises. Interested in performing cable machine workouts anytime, anywhere? Consider adding a cable machine to your home gym! It enables you to perform a wide range of exercises and makes working out ultra-convenient.
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
References:
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Signorile JF, Rendos NK, Heredia Vargas HH, et al. Differences in Muscle Activation and Kinematics Between Cable-Based and Selectorized Weight Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2017;31(2):313-322. doi:https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001493
Garett Reid
Author