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Having muscular biceps is a crucial component of having a well-rounded physique.
Not to mention they play a role in performing exercises such as deadlifts, along with day-to-day activities like carrying groceries.
If you’re anything like me, you may find bicep training to be boring and oftentimes, negatively impact other body parts such as the shoulders.
That’s where these three bicep supersets we are about to cover come into play.
The goal of these supersets is to ramp up the intensity and train in an optimal way to maximize the bicep pump without much shoulder involvement.
These are some of the best bicep supersets that I have found work for me without putting a lot of strain on my shoulders.
Give them all a try and feel free to switch things around to work best for you.
Table of Contents
Bicep Superset: Total Destruction
This superset will include three exercise variations.
One with a dumbbell, and two with an EZ bar.
Like the name implies we want the total destruction of the brachialis, along with the short, and long head of the bicep.
We will start with single-arm dumbbell hammer curls.
These will target the brachialis, which is the ball-shaped muscle between the biceps and triceps.
This muscle is commonly undertrained, but growing it will make your arms appear even bigger.
After one set of these, we will move right into a set of close-grip EZ bar preacher curls.
Start with a close grip to work more of the long head.
Then move your hands to the outer curve of the bar and do another set to focus more on the short bicep head.
Below is the rep and set scheme we will use:
- Single-arm Dumbbell hammer curl
- 3×12 each arm
- Do the fourth set to failure (start with your weaker arm and do the same amount of reps with your strong arm to avoid imbalances)
- Close grip EZ bar preacher curl
- 3×8-10
- After the Third set do a drop set of 15 (do this drop set before switching to the wide grip)
- Wide grip EZ bar preacher curl
- 3×8-12
- On the fourth set do five-second negatives until failure
Performance Tips: Total Destruction
Tips for the single-arm dumbbell hammer curl:
- Use your free hand as a stabilizer by holding on to something.
- Favor your body weight towards the side of the working arm.
- Keep your shoulder relaxed.
- Hold your working arm in a position so that it is congruent to the floor when straightened out.
- Do the concentric phase just high enough to get full bicep engagement. Going any higher will take the tension off.
- Get a nice stretch in the eccentric phase.
- Grip the dumbbell at the top of the neck.
- Have your chest held high.
Tips for the EZ bar preacher curl (wide and close grip):
- Use a preacher curl seat and armrest pad if available.
- Rest your elbows firmly on the pad.
- Adjust the seat to a comfortable height to allow the full range of motion.
- Keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.
- Have constant tension on the biceps. Avoid over-repping on the eccentric or concentric phase.
- Get a nice firm grip on the bar. Don’t let it dangle in your fingertips, but don’t hold on too tight.
- For wide grip hold the bar so your hands are at or slightly past shoulder width.
Superset tips:
- Rest about 45 seconds between each full set.
- Each full set will consist of going right from one exercise to the next.
Bicep Superset: Peak Season
The goal with this bicep superset is to work on building the long head (outer).
Building up this part of the bicep will show more of that mountain peak look when flexing.
Maybe not as good as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, or maybe even better.
You won’t know until they start growing.
Some people just naturally have a larger point to the long head of their biceps than others, giving that peak look.
Nonetheless, it’s important to train this part of the arm for maximal growth so let’s get into it.
For this one, we will start with seated alternating bicep curls.
Then get right into close-grip EZ bar preacher curls.
Peak Season bicep superset workout rep and set scheme:
- Seated alternating bicep curls:
- 4×8-12 each arm
- On the fourth set drop the weight and do another one to failure.
- Close-grip EZ bar preacher curls:
- 4×15
- Add weight to each set. If you can’t complete the full rep on the last set do partials with good form.
Performance Tips: Peak Season
Performance tips for the seated alternating bicep curls:
- Sit on a bench with an angled backrest for support.
- Keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.
- If the butt pad of your bench is adjustable you can put it to a slight upwards angle for better positioning.
- Hold the inner neck of the dumbbells.
- Rotate the dumbbells outward at the top and inward at the bottom of the rep.
- Keep your shoulders retracted and your chest held high.
- Hold your elbows inwards, resting against your body.
Apply the same tips for EZ bar curls from the total destruction superset.
Bicep Superset: Meat Hammers
With great biceps, comes great responsibility to work each part.
That’s why the meat hammer bicep curl superset is one I created to emphasize short-head development.
Growing the short head (inner) will give your biceps an overhang effect when flexing.
Utilizing wider grip exercises will allow for better short-head engagement.
For this one, we will start with wide-grip standing cable curls.
Then get right into seated wide-grip EZ bar preacher curls.
For these exercises, we want to focus on the inner part so grabbing the bars to where your wrists are slightly inwards may help achieve better engagement.
Here is the rep and set scheme for the Meat Hammers bicep superset:
- Wide grip standing cable curls:
- 3×12-15
- On the third set do static holds on the first five reps for thirty seconds each.
- Wide grip EZ bar preacher curls:
- 3×12
- Go nice and slow on these. Get a good stretch on the bottom of the rep. Squeeze at the top.
Performance Tips: Meat Hammers
Tips for the wide grip standing cable curls:
- Stand with a solid leg base.
- Use a twisted or curved bar to allow for better inward hand positioning.
- Hold your arms at or a bit past shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your shoulders retracted and your chest held high.
- Stand with a slight lean, away from the cable.
Tips for wide grip EZ bar curls:
- Hold onto the curve part of the bar that allows for your hand palms to face slightly inwards.
- Hold the bar with your hands at or slightly past shoulder width.
- Apply the same tips from total destruction.
- Focus on flexing the inner part of the bicep at the top.
Wrapping Up
Give these supersets a try and see how you like them.
Be sure to incorporate a focus on each part of the bicep; long, short, and brachialis.
You could rotate between each one of these bicep superset workouts every week to ensure they’re all getting worked optimally.
I have to give much of the knowledge I learned about arm training to John Meadows.
He has been a great teacher to me through his videos and articles.
May he Rest In Peace.
Thanks for reading…
Stay Wild!