Long Head Bicep Exercises: Best Picks by the Evidence
The best long head bicep exercises keep your upper arm behind your body, which stretches the long head at the shoulder. Start with incline dumbbell curls, keep a heavy standing curl for progression, and add behind-the-body cable curls or hammer curls for variety. No growth study has measured the long head on its own, so these curls bias it rather than isolate it.
In this guide
What the long head does, and why shoulder position matters
Most long head bicep exercises are ordinary curls with one change: your upper arm sits behind your torso. A 2017 narrative review of biceps anatomy and function describes the long head starting at the top of the shoulder socket and the short head at the coracoid process. Both join one tendon on the radius, so the biceps crosses the shoulder and the elbow, and its main jobs are bending the elbow and turning the palm up.
Lifters call the long head the "outer biceps" because it sits on the outer side of the arm. Because it runs over the top of the shoulder, moving the arm back stretches it further. A lab study of 15 young men using shear-wave elastography, which measures passive stiffness at rest, found the long head most stretched with the shoulder extended and rotated outward.
Elbow angle matters too: a cadaver study of 10 arms estimated that the long head changes length by about 56% of its optimal length as the elbow bends. For the whole muscle, start with what the research says about the best biceps exercises or browse the biceps exercise hub.
The long head bicep exercises worth your sets
| Rank | Exercise | Why it earns the spot | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Incline dumbbell curl | Arm behind torso stretches the long head | Long-length biceps work |
| 2 | Dumbbell curl | Full range, free supination, easy to load | Main one-arm curl |
| 3 | Barbell curl or EZ-bar curl | Heaviest loads, small weight jumps | Long-term progression |
| 4 | Behind-the-body cable curl | Shoulder extended, tension near the bottom | Variety and shoulder comfort |
| 5 | Hammer curl | Neutral grip shares work with forearm flexors | Supporting volume |
Incline curls lead because they train the biceps with the long head stretched at the shoulder, and in a 12-week MRI trial in 21 untrained adults they grew the biceps slightly more than preacher curls. Standing curls follow because they let you load a full range and add weight for years. The cable curl is a sound option that has not beaten simpler curls for growth (details below).
Hammer curls rank last: the neutral grip takes away the biceps' supination job, so the forearm-side elbow flexors plausibly share more of the work. One of them, the brachioradialis, has a long lever at the elbow in the cadaver study of 10 arms. If you are weighing long head vs short head bicep work, the short head bicep exercises guide covers the arm-in-front side.
Incline curl vs preacher curl: what the trials found
Three growth trials have compared the incline curl, arm behind the body, with the preacher curl, arm in front. The most detailed, a 12-week MRI trial in 21 untrained adults, found biceps volume rose 22.1% with incline curls and 18.9% with preacher curls, while the brachialis and brachioradialis grew more with preacher curls and total elbow-flexor growth was similar. An 8-week trial in 63 young women found about 1 mm more elbow-flexor growth near the shoulder with incline curls and near the elbow with preacher curls.
A 9-week trial in recreationally trained women found a significant gain only at the site nearest the elbow with preacher curls, and no significant difference between the two curls. So the incline curl is a reasonable long-length choice, not a proven winner.
None of these trials measured the long head, and the two curls also differ in where the load peaks, so the cause of the small differences is not settled. Keep both arm positions in your year, including the preacher curl; the biceps research pillar walks through each trial.
Does a behind-the-body cable curl beat a normal curl?
The behind-the-body cable curl, often called the Bayesian curl, has you face away from a low pulley so the cable draws your arm back. It keeps the shoulder extended and loads the biceps hard near the bottom, where the muscle is longest. On paper it looks ideal; in the two matched trials below, it did not grow more muscle.
In a 10-week trial in 15 untrained men, one arm did Bayesian curls and the other did cable preacher curls. Biceps thickness rose 9% versus 7%, a difference that was not statistically significant, and brachialis growth was similar. A 10-week preregistered trial in 24 untrained men compared cable curls with extra shoulder extension against a neutral shoulder, with sets taken to failure in both. Growth was similar at both scan sites, even though the men lifted more weight with the arm back.
A small EMG study of 11 men with lifting experience recorded higher biceps activity in a dumbbell curl (111.46 ± 26.80%) than a Bayesian curl (93.39 ± 15.65%) at the same relative load. EMG measures electrical activity during the set, not growth, and a 2022 review of EMG as a growth proxy concludes it is not a validated predictor of hypertrophy. Keep the cable curl if you like it or it spares your shoulder.
Can you isolate the long head?
No. Both heads pull on one shared tendon, so every curl trains both, along with the brachialis underneath. What you can change is how stretched the long head is and where in the range it works hardest.
Grip width is the other common claim: a narrow grip for the long head, a wide grip for the short head. No peer-reviewed EMG or growth study this guide could find supports it, so pick the width that suits your wrists. The short head guide covers the grip and supination evidence.
An EMG study of 22 trained men found that, in one light rep at 40% of their maximal isometric force, incline and standing dumbbell curls produced similar long-head activity, rising to up to 95% of maximum near the top of the lift. Preacher curls loaded the long head most near the bottom instead. The incline curl did not raise long-head activity overall; it started from a more stretched position.
Moving tension around the range also changes growth along a muscle very little. A 2025 meta-analysis of 12 studies found only trivial differences in regional growth between training at longer and shorter muscle lengths, with a slight trend favoring longer lengths toward the distal end of the muscle. The drag curl, with elbows traveling back, also extends the shoulder, but no trial has tested it. For arm shape, see the bicep peak exercises guide.
Sets, reps and weekly volume
Weekly hard sets drive most of the result. A 2017 meta-analysis of 34 treatment groups from 15 studies found that more weekly sets per muscle were linked to more growth in a graded dose-response pattern. A 2026 meta-regression of 67 studies found growth kept rising with sets but with diminishing returns. It counted indirect sets, such as rows for the biceps, as half a set because that fit the data best, which is bookkeeping rather than a measured fact.
The MRI and cable trials above produced clear gains in beginners with 6 to 10 weekly sets of a single curl. In a trial of 27 resistance-trained men, 16, 24 and 32 weekly sets all grew the biceps, with no reported extra biceps growth from the top volume. Start with 6 to 10 direct sets a week on top of your back work, and add 2 sets when progress stalls and recovery is good. See how many sets per muscle per week.
Use 8 to 15 reps for dumbbell and cable curls and 6 to 10 for barbell or EZ-bar curls. A 2024 meta-regression of proximity to failure estimated that growth tends to increase as sets end closer to failure, while a 2022 meta-analysis of 15 studies found that failure itself was not required for growth. Stop most sets 0 to 2 reps short of failure; the RPE and RIR guide and the RPE chart help you judge it. Trainer logs each set, suggests your next weight and tracks weekly sets per muscle.
Technique cues for the top picks
Incline dumbbell curl
- Set the bench at 45 to 60 degrees, back flat on the pad.
- Let your arms hang so your elbows sit slightly behind your torso.
- Keep your elbows still; do not let them swing forward as you curl.
- Turn your palms up as you lift, and lower until your elbows are straight.
Dumbbell, barbell and EZ-bar curls
- Brace your ribs and glutes so your torso does not rock.
- Start each rep from a straight elbow and finish with your forearm against your biceps.
- Keep your elbows near your sides; a little forward travel at the top is fine.
- On the EZ-bar, pick the grip that keeps your wrists comfortable.
Behind-the-body cable curl
- Attach a single handle to the lowest pulley and face away from the stack.
- Step forward until the cable holds your arm slightly behind your hip.
- Keep your upper arm fixed as you curl; only the forearm moves.
- Lower under control until your elbow is fully straight.
Regressions and progressions
Make a long-head curl easier by reducing the shoulder stretch or the load, and harder by adding reps, load or range. Change one thing at a time.
| Level | Option | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Easier | Seated curl on an upright bench | The incline bothers your shoulder |
| Easier | Standing cable curl facing the stack | Learning a strict curl |
| Standard | Incline curl at 60 degrees | Most lifters start here |
| Harder | Incline curl at 45 degrees | 60 degrees feels comfortable |
| Harder | Behind-the-body cable curl | You want more load near the bottom |
| Harder | Bottom-half reps after full reps | Extending a set past full-range failure |
Stretched-range partials have some support. A 5-week trial in 32 untrained adults found that preacher-curl partials from 0 to 50 degrees of elbow flexion grew the elbow flexors more (8.9 ± 3.9%) than partials from 80 to 130 degrees (3.4 ± 2.7%). A 2023 systematic review of 11 studies found that full-range curls and stretched-range partials tended to produce more elbow-end (distal) growth than shortened-range partials. Neither shows partials beat full reps, so add a few bottom-half reps after a full-range set rather than replacing it.
To progress, add reps across your range first, then make the smallest weight jump. The progressive overload calculator maps the next step.
A sample long-head-focused arm session
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incline dumbbell curl | 3 | 8–12 | 90 s | Elbows behind the torso |
| EZ-bar curl | 3 | 6–10 | 2 min | Main loaded curl |
| Behind-the-body cable curl | 2 | 10–15 | 60–90 s | One arm at a time |
| Hammer curl | 2 | 10–12 | 60–90 s | Last set to failure |
That is 10 direct biceps sets. Run it once a week after a pull session such as the back and biceps workout, or split it into two halves on different days. The 2026 meta-regression of 67 studies found little evidence that spreading the same weekly volume over more sessions adds growth, so pick the layout you will repeat. For a full arm day, use the arm workout; for more options, read the bicep curl variations guide.
Common mistakes
- Letting your elbows drift forward on incline curls, which removes the arm-behind position you chose the exercise for.
- Cutting the bottom of the rep short. The stretched end is the reason to do long-head curls.
- Dropping the bench so low that the front of your shoulder hurts. Sharp pain means stop and raise the bench; if it persists, see a qualified clinician.
- Swinging your torso on barbell curls to move more weight.
- Choosing curls by EMG or peak claims instead of by progress in your log.
- Doing only long-head curls. The short head and brachialis grow from the same hard sets, so keep a mix.
What the research cannot tell you yet
Head-specific advice rests on anatomy, not growth data.
- No growth study has measured the long head and short head separately, so "this grows the long head more" has no direct growth data.
- Two cable trials with matched resistance profiles, one with a preacher comparison and one with a neutral shoulder, saw no growth advantage for curling with the arm behind the body.
- No trial has tested drag curls.
- Almost every curl trial used untrained people for 5 to 12 weeks.
- The only MRI trial that measured each elbow flexor separately is a single, recent study.
Frequently asked questions
Which exercise is best for the long head of biceps?
The incline dumbbell curl is the best first pick. It keeps your arm behind your body, which stretches the long head at the shoulder, and it grew the biceps slightly more than preacher curls in a 12-week MRI trial in beginners. Pair it with a heavy standing curl you can progress for months.
How do you isolate the long head of the biceps?
You cannot fully isolate it. Both heads pull on one shared tendon, so every curl trains both, plus the brachialis. You can bias the long head by keeping your upper arm behind your torso, as in incline and behind-the-body cable curls. That emphasis rests on anatomy; no growth study has measured the long head on its own.
How do you grow the long head of your biceps?
Grow the whole biceps. Do 6 to 10 hard curl sets a week, most within 0 to 2 reps of failure, in the 6 to 15 rep range. Include one arm-behind-the-body curl such as the incline curl, keep a heavy standing curl, and add reps or weight over time. Rows and pulldowns help too; as a bookkeeping rule, count each set as roughly half a biceps set.
Are long biceps harder to grow?
Long biceps usually means a muscle belly that runs close to the elbow with a short tendon. That is set by your anatomy, and no training changes where a tendon attaches. No study in this guide compared growth in people with long versus short biceps bellies, so claims that one type grows harder are unsupported. Train with full-range curls and progressive load either way.
What is the difference between the long head and short head of the biceps?
Both start on the shoulder blade and share one tendon on the forearm. The long head starts at the top of the shoulder socket and sits on the outer side of the arm; the short head starts at the coracoid process and sits on the inner side. Both bend the elbow and turn the palm up, and arm position changes how stretched each one is.
Sources
The studies and reviews this guide cites, and what each one supports. Activation (EMG) studies measure electrical signal, not muscle growth.
- Actions of the Biceps Brachii at the Shoulder: A Review (Landin et al., 2017)
The origins of both heads, their shared insertion on the radius, and elbow flexion and supination as the main biceps jobs; a narrative review with no training data.
- Effects of shoulder position during static stretching on shear elastic modulus of biceps brachii muscle (Iwane et al., 2023)
The long head is most stretched with the shoulder extended and externally rotated; passive stiffness in 15 men at rest, not contraction or growth.
- The isometric functional capacity of muscles that cross the elbow (Murray et al., 2000)
The long head's large length change with elbow motion and the brachioradialis' long lever; cadaver estimates with no shoulder-angle or training data.
- Exercise-specific preferential hypertrophy of individual elbow flexor muscles after incline versus preacher dumbbell curl training (Kobayashi et al., 2026)
Incline curls grew the biceps slightly more and preacher curls the brachialis and brachioradialis, with similar total and regional growth; one small novice trial that did not separate the heads.
- Distinct muscle growth and strength adaptations after preacher and incline biceps curls (Kassiano et al., 2025)
About 1 mm more proximal growth with incline curls and distal growth with preacher curls in young women; combined elbow flexors, not a single head.
- Regional Hypertrophy: The Effect of Exercises at Long and Short Muscle Lengths in Recreationally Trained Women (Zabaleta-Korta et al., 2023)
Only the distal site grew significantly, with preacher curls, and there was no significant difference between incline and preacher curls; recreationally trained women over 9 weeks, combined elbow flexors.
- Comparison Between Shoulder Flexed and Extended Positions in Elbow Flexion Resistance Training on Regional Hypertrophy and Maximum Strength: Preacher versus Bayesian Cable Curls (Attarieh et al., 2025)
Similar biceps and brachialis growth from Bayesian and cable preacher curls with matched resistance profiles; 15 untrained men over 10 weeks.
- The effects of shoulder extension angle on elbow flexor hypertrophy in the cable curl exercise (Larsen et al., 2026)
Extra shoulder extension in a cable curl did not add elbow-flexor growth over a neutral shoulder; 24 untrained men, combined muscles.
- Effect of the shoulder position on the biceps brachii emg in different dumbbell curls (Oliveira et al., 2009)
Shoulder position shifts where in the range the long head is most active; single-rep EMG at a light load, not growth.
- An Exploratory Study of Biceps Brachii Electromyographic Activity During Traditional Dumbbell Versus Bayesian Cable Curls (Parpa et al., 2025)
Higher biceps EMG in a dumbbell curl than a Bayesian curl at the same relative load; 11 men, EMG only, heads not separated.
- Longing for a Longitudinal Proxy: Acutely Measured Surface EMG Amplitude is not a Validated Predictor of Muscle Hypertrophy (Vigotsky et al., 2022)
EMG amplitude is not a validated predictor of growth, so EMG comparisons are not growth rankings; an opinion review with no new data.
- Does Muscle Length Influence Regional Hypertrophy? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Varovic et al., 2025)
Training at longer versus shorter muscle lengths changed regional growth only trivially; 12 studies, not biceps-specific.
- Elbow Joint Angles in Elbow Flexor Unilateral Resistance Exercise Training Determine Its Effects on Muscle Strength and Thickness of Trained and Non-trained Arms (Sato et al., 2021)
Stretched-range preacher partials grew the elbow flexors more than shortened-range partials; 5 weeks, untrained, no full-range group.
- Which ROMs Lead to Rome? A Systematic Review of the Effects of Range of Motion on Muscle Hypertrophy (Kassiano et al., 2023)
Full-range and stretched-range training tended to beat shortened-range partials for distal biceps and brachialis growth; 11 studies, no pooled estimate.
- Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Schoenfeld et al., 2017)
More weekly sets per muscle were linked to more growth in a graded pattern; few studies above 10 weekly sets.
- The Resistance Training Dose Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gains (Pelland et al., 2026)
Growth rises with weekly sets with diminishing returns, frequency adds little once volume is equal, and indirect sets fit best at half credit; abstract only, mostly young men.
- High Resistance-Training Volume Enhances Muscle Thickness in Resistance-Trained Men (Brigatto et al., 2022)
16, 24 and 32 weekly sets all grew the biceps in trained men, with no reported extra biceps gain at the top volume; small groups over 8 weeks.
- Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship Between Estimated Resistance Training Proximity to Failure, Strength Gain, and Muscle Hypertrophy: A Series of Meta-Regressions (Robinson et al., 2024)
Growth tends to rise as sets end closer to failure; exploratory, with reps in reserve estimated rather than measured.
- Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Grgic et al., 2022)
Training to failure was not required for growth or strength and did not harm them; only 7 hypertrophy studies with a wide confidence interval.
Try the numbers for yourself.
Your next working set
Decide when to add reps, increase load, or repeat the weight.
RPE chart
Compare effort, reps in reserve, and estimated percentages.
A useful next read.
All guidesArm in front, palm up: the curls that favor the short head.
Every curl compared by where it is hardest. Pick two and progress them.