Let's be real for a second. Most guys in the gym spend forty-five minutes doing the same repetitive movements, wondering why their shirts still fit loose around the arms. It's frustrating. You’re putting in the work, but your biceps look like flat pancakes. Honestly, the standard barbell curl is great, but it’s one-dimensional. Your biceps aren't just one big slab of meat; they’re complex. If you want that peak—the kind that looks like a mountain under your skin—you’ve got to attack the muscle from different angles. That is exactly why the 3 way bicep curl has become a staple for bodybuilders and athletes who actually know what they’re doing.
It’s not just one move. It’s a sequence.
Think of it as a tactical strike on your upper arms. By shifting your grip and your arm position, you’re forcing different fibers to fire. Most people just mindlessly swing weights, but this method forces intention. It’s hard. It burns. You’ll probably hate it by the second set. But the results? They speak for themselves.
The anatomy of why this works
Your biceps brachii has two heads. Hence the "bi" in the name. You have the long head, which sits on the outside, and the short head, which is on the inside. Most people ignore the brachialis too, which is a separate muscle that sits underneath the bicep. When you grow the brachialis, it actually pushes the bicep up, making your arm look thicker from the side.
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The 3 way bicep curl targets all of these.
When you do a standard supinated curl (palms up), you’re hitting the meat of the muscle. Switch to a hammer grip (palms facing each other), and suddenly your brachialis and brachioradialis—that’s your forearm—are screaming. Flare your elbows out or tuck them in, and you shift the tension between the long and short heads. It’s basic biomechanics, really. If you only ever train in one plane of motion, you’re leaving gains on the table. It’s like trying to build a house with only a hammer. You need the whole toolbox.
Dr. Bret Contreras, often called the "Glute Guy" but a master of EMG (electromyography) data, has shown through various studies that minor shifts in hand position significantly change muscle activation. While he focuses a lot on the posterior chain, the principle applies perfectly to the upper body. When you rotate your wrist, you change which tendon is taking the brunt of the load.
How to actually perform the 3 way bicep curl without looking like a rookie
Don't just grab the heaviest dumbbells in the rack. Seriously. Ego is the enemy of arm growth. If you're swinging your hips to get the weight up, you're doing a lower back exercise, not an arm workout.
Position one: The standard supinated curl
Start with your palms facing forward. Keep your elbows pinned to your ribs. Don't let them drift forward. If your elbows move forward, your anterior deltoids (shoulders) are taking over. We want biceps. Curl the weight up, squeeze at the top like you're trying to pop the muscle, and lower it slowly. The eccentric phase—the way down—is where a lot of the muscle tearing (the good kind) happens.
Position two: The hammer curl
Without dropping the weights, shift your grip. Your palms should now face your thighs. Curl them up. This feels different, right? It’s more of a "pulling" sensation. This hits the long head and that crucial brachialis muscle. It’s the secret to that "thick" look that makes your arms look huge even in a long-sleeved shirt.
Position three: The wide-out or "drag" variation
This is where people get confused. You can either flare your elbows slightly out and curl toward your shoulders to hit the inner short head, or you can perform a "drag curl" where you pull the bar or dumbbells up the line of your body, elbows driving back. For the classic 3 way bicep curl circuit, most experts recommend the wide-angle curl. By turning your wrists out slightly and curling away from your midline, you put an intense stretch on the short head.
It’s a brutal trifecta.
Why your current arm routine is probably failing you
Standardization is boring. More importantly, it's inefficient for hypertrophy. Your body is an incredible machine that adapts to stress very quickly. If you do 3 sets of 10 standing curls every Monday, your nervous system eventually says, "Okay, I know how to do this," and stops building new tissue.
You need mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage.
The 3 way bicep curl provides all three in a single set. By the time you reach the third position, your muscles are flooded with lactic acid. That "pump" isn't just for mirror selfies. It’s actually swelling the muscle cells, which signals the body to repair and enlarge the fibers. It’s science, not just gym bro talk.
Also, let's talk about the "sticking point." Everyone has one. It’s that part of the curl where the weight feels five times heavier. By changing angles mid-set, you move the sticking point around. You're working through different strength curves. This prevents you from hitting a plateau where you can't increase the weight because you're weak in just one specific inch of the movement.
Common mistakes that kill your progress
Stop using momentum. Please. I see it every day. Someone picks up the 50lb dumbbells and starts rocking like they're on a boat in a storm. Their biceps are doing maybe 20% of the work. If you have to swing, the weight is too heavy.
Another big one: Grip tension.
If you squeeze the handle like you’re trying to crush a diamond, you’ll often find your forearms fatigue before your biceps do. Try a firm but controlled grip. Focus the mind-muscle connection on the elbow joint. Your hand is just a hook. The movement happens at the elbow.
- Partial reps: Unless you're doing 21s (which is a different beast), go all the way down. Full range of motion leads to better growth.
- Wrist curling: Don't curl your wrists toward your forearms at the top. It shortens the lever and takes tension off the bicep. Keep your wrists neutral or slightly extended.
- Breath holding: Don't pass out. Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down. Basic, but easy to forget when your arms feel like they're on fire.
The frequency factor: How often should you do this?
You can't train arms every day. I mean, you can, but you won't grow. Muscles grow while you sleep, not while you're in the gym. For most people, hitting the 3 way bicep curl twice a week is the sweet spot.
Maybe once on a "Pull" day and once on a dedicated "Arm" day.
Give yourself at least 48 hours between sessions. If your elbows start to ache—not the muscle, but the joint—back off. Tendonitis is a real risk with high-volume arm training. Use a lighter weight and focus on the squeeze if your joints feel cranky.
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Interestingly, some old-school lifters like Vince Gironda (the "Iron Guru") advocated for high-volume, low-rest training. He was a fan of changing angles constantly. He didn't call it a 3-way curl back then, but the principles were the same. He knew that the bicep was a stubborn muscle that needed to be surprised.
Real world results and expectations
You aren't going to wake up with 20-inch arms tomorrow. Sorry.
But within four to six weeks of consistent training with the 3 way bicep curl, you will notice better definition. Your arms will feel "harder." When you flex, you'll start to see that separation between the two heads of the bicep and the tricep. That’s the goal.
It’s also worth noting that your diet has to be on point. You can't build muscle out of thin air. You need a slight caloric surplus and enough protein—aim for about 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you're undereating, all the curls in the world won't save you.
Actionable Next Steps
To get started with the 3 way bicep curl today, follow this specific protocol during your next workout:
- Select a weight that is about 60% of what you usually use for a single set of 10 curls. Since you’re doing three variations back-to-back, fatigue sets in fast.
- Perform 8 reps of the Supinated Curl. Keep it slow. Three seconds down, one second up.
- Immediately switch to 8 reps of the Hammer Curl. No rest. Keep your posture tall and your core tight.
- Finish with 8 reps of the Wide-Angle Curl. Push through the burn. This is where the growth happens.
- Rest for 90 seconds. Repeat this for 3 to 4 total sets.
If you find that the third variation is impossible to finish with good form, drop the weight slightly for the next set. Quality always beats quantity. Focus on the feeling of the muscle lengthening and shortening. Once you master the dumbbell version, try it with a cable machine to keep constant tension on the muscle throughout the entire range of motion. Use an EZ-curl bar for a different wrist angle if dumbbells bother your joints. Monitor your progress by tracking the weight and reps in a journal, and ensure you are progressively adding load or intensity every two weeks to avoid plateaus.