Bicep Curls vs Pull-Ups: Which Builds Bigger Biceps?

Imagine you want the muscles on the front of your upper arms — your biceps — to grow bigger.

There are two main ways to exercise them: bicep curls and pull-ups.

A bicep curl is when you lift a weight by bending your elbow, and it works almost only the biceps.

A pull-up is when you pull your body up to a bar, and it works your biceps together with many other muscles in your back, shoulders, arms, and tummy.

If your only goal is big biceps, curls are usually the better choice because all the effort goes straight to those muscles.

But pull-ups are also wonderful because they make your whole upper body stronger at the same time.

Simply doing ten of either exercise will not automatically make your muscles grow.

You have to keep making the exercise a little harder over time, so your muscles always get a good challenge — experts call this progressive overload.

That is why most fitness experts suggest doing both exercises: curls to focus on the biceps and pull-ups to build overall strength.