9 bodyweight biceps exercises for stronger arms

Whether you’re skipping the gym or shaking up your routine, bodyweight bicep exercises are a solid way to build strength and definition at home.

Your biceps aren’t just for show – they’re essential for everyday movements like lifting groceries or picking up the kids.

With the right bodyweight exercises for biceps, you can strengthen your arms, boost your overall fitness and work toward bigger, more powerful biceps.

In this guide, we’ll break down the top bodyweight bicep exercises you can do at home. You’ll learn how to target your biceps without weights, level up your workouts, and get answers to common questions about building stronger biceps.

But before we get started, it’s important to note that these exercises will help strengthen your biceps – not necessarily grow them. If you’ve never stepped foot in a gym, or are new to exercise, these exercises are great for helping you build a level of foundational strength.

If you’re looking to add serious strength and size to your biceps, you’ll need to add more resistance and progressively overload your arm workouts – a set of dumbbells is a great option to start making proper gains.

The anatomy of the biceps

Your biceps, located at the front of your upper arms, consist of two primary muscles:

• Biceps brachii: This is the larger muscle with two heads (long and short), responsible for the classic “bicep bulge” and movements like elbow flexion and forearm rotation.
• Brachialis: Sitting beneath the biceps brachii, this muscle adds thickness to your arms and plays a major role in elbow flexion.

Together, these muscles power most pulling and lifting movements, making them essential for building functional strength and tackling everyday tasks with ease.

The benefits of bodyweight bicep workouts

Strengthening your biceps with bodyweight exercises comes with a host of perks. Here’s why they deserve a spot in your routine:

Convenience: You can do most of these exercises from your home, hotel room (if you’re traveling) or even a park.

No equipment needed: Skip the gym machines and weights, saving you money and space.

Increased functional strength: Train movements that translate to real-life tasks like lifting, pulling and carrying.

Improved joint health: Proper form builds elbow and shoulder stability, lowering injury risk.

Plus, many bodyweight bicep exercises work multiple muscle groups, delivering a balanced, full-body burn. Whether you’re aiming to tone up or build bigger biceps without equipment, bodyweight training is a simple, effective solution.

Bicep curl

The tried and true bicep curl is one of the best ways to build stronger arms. If you don’t have dumbbells, hold and curl a weighted object – like a bottle of laundry detergent.

1. Sit on a chair and hold your dumbbell or weighted object straight by your side.

2. Without swinging your arm, squeeze your bicep and raise the weight towards your front shoulder.

3. Slowly lower the weight back down to the starting position and repeat.

Standing inverted rows

This beginner version of the inverted row is great for building a solid level of foundational strength, using your bodyweight as resistance.

1. While standing, grip a bar at shoulder height, with your arms flexed and close to your chest.

2. Lean back until your arms are fully outstretched.

3. Pull yourself into the bar.

4. Slowly stretch your arms out and return to the starting position.

Intermediate bodyweight bicep exercises

Once you’re comfortable with the beginner moves, these intermediate exercises will add a new level of challenge to your biceps workout at home.

Pull-up

If you have access to a pull-up bar (or a strong tree branch), pull-ups are an excellent move for building bicep strength.

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with palms facing away and hands shoulder-width apart.

2. Pull your chest toward the bar, leading with your elbows.

3. Lower back to the starting position in a controlled manner.

Doorway rows

If you don’t have access to a bar for inverted rows, this exercise is a suitable replacement – although it might be slightly more difficult to grip a door frame.

1. Stand in a doorway and grip both sides at about waist height.

2. Lean back slightly while keeping your body straight.

3. Pull your chest towards the doorway, squeezing your shoulder blades together.

4. Slowly return to the starting position.

Inverted row

Once you’ve mastered the standing inverted row, turn up the difficulty of the exercise by increasing the amount of bodyweight resistance.

1. Lie on the ground with the bar centered around your chest.

2. Reach up, extend your arms and grip the bar – your back should not be touching the ground. This is the starting position.

3. Pull your chest into the bar in a rowing motion.

4. Slowly lower yourself back into the starting position and repeat.

Advanced bodyweight bicep exercises

These moves are more difficult variations of the previous exercises and will test the limits of your biceps.

Chin-ups

Similar to the pull-up, the chin-up activates more of your biceps and pecs, while the pull-up works more of your lats and traps.

1. Grip a bar with palms facing toward you and hands shoulder-width apart.

2. Pull your chest to the bar, focusing on your biceps and back.

3. Lower yourself slowly to the starting position.

Chin-up variations

These variations target more muscle groups than regular chin-ups and are generally harder to perform.

• Archer chin-ups: Pull yourself up and shift your body weight to one side, extending the opposite arm straight, then repeat with the other arm. This helps maximize your biceps’ time under tension.
• Narrow-grip chin-ups: Start on the bar with a narrow grip – one or two fists apart. This places more emphasis on your biceps when you curl upwards.
• Wide-grip chin-ups: Instead of shoulder-width, start with your hands further than normal. The wider your grip, the more you engage your lats in the exercise.