Build your biceps and triceps with Men’s Fitness’ 12 favourite barbell arms exercises.

Barbell moves are among the most efficient for building muscle and strength for one simple reason: they allow you to lift more weight than any other bit of kit. The barbell is also an incredibly versatile bit of kit, suitable for a range of protocols. Heavy compound lifts like squats, presses and deadlifts (use a pair of the best lifting straps to prevent grip fatigue) are the barbell’s bread and butter, and while it can be used for some arms-specific moves, such as the close-grip bench press and barbell curl, a better bar option for targeting your biceps and triceps is the EZ-bar. 

This joint-friendly bit of kit has an undulating middle section that’s ergonomically designed for a grip that reduces strain and pressure on your wrists and elbows, so it’s perfect for hitting your biceps and triceps hard without compromising your joint health. EZ-bars, like barbells, come in two varieties: fixed, where the weight can’t be changed; or an empty bar on which you can add weight plates to increase the amount of resistance you lift.

Here we’ve rounded up our favourite bicep-building, tricep-toning best barbell arms exercises, using both conventional barbells and EZ-bars. 

The best barbell arms exercises for your biceps

man in red vest and black shorts performing barbell curl in the gym

Barbell curl

  • Stand tall with your chest up, abs braced and elbows by your sides holding a barbell with an underhand grip with your hands just outside your hips
  • Keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, curl the bar up, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical
  • Slowly lower the bar back to the start position

Top tip:
An Olympic barbell weighs 20kg before you add any weight plates to it, so curling an empty bar may be enough. Add plates only when you can do 3 sets of 8-10 reps with the bar. 

man in red vest and black shorts performing barbell reverse curl in the gym

Barbell reverse curl

  • Stand tall with your chest up, abs braced and elbows by your sides, holding a barbell with an overhand grip with your hands just outside your hips
  • Keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, curl the bar up, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical
  • Slowly lower the bar back to the start position

Top tip:
One of the more technical barbell arms exercises, this is an advanced move that requires serious biceps and forearm strength, and well as very strong and stable wrists and elbows, so it’s an exercise you should gradually work up towards by first doing dumbbell and EZ-bar reverse curls.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar curl in the gym – one of the best barbell arms exercises

EZ-bar curl

  • Stand tall with your chest up, abs braced and elbows by your sides, holding an EZ-bar with an underhand grip with your hands just outside your hips
  • Keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, curl the bar up, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical
  • Slowly lower the bar back to the start position

Top tip:
Avoid rocking back and forth to generate momentum, which only serves to take tension off the biceps and means you’re not fully utilising your training time.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar reverse curl in the gym – one of the best barbell arms exercises

EZ-bar reverse curl

  • Stand tall with your shoulders back and feet close together, holding an EZ-bar with an overhand grip with your hands just outside your hips
  • Keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, curl the bar up towards your chest, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical
  • Slowly the bar back down to the start under full control and avoid rocking to generate momentum

Top tip:
If you can’t keep your elbows tight to your sides and they move forward and backward with each rep, this becomes more of a front shoulder exercise than a biceps move. We can’t stress this enough: use a weight you can fully control up and down to get the maximum benefit from every single rep.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar preacher curl in the gym – one of the best barbell arms exercises

EZ-bar preacher curl

  • Sit or stand at a preacher bench, holding an EZ-bar with an underhand grip
  • Keeping your upper arms and elbows on the bench, curl the bar up towards your chin
  • Squeeze your biceps hard then lower the bar slowly and under complete control, fully straightening your arms at the bottom

Top tip:
As with many barbell arms exercises, you can switch grips for different results: in this case go wide to work the inner biceps, or closer to work the outer biceps.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar preacher reverse curl in the gym – one of the best barbell arms exercises

EZ-bar preacher reverse curl

  • Sit or stand at a preacher bench, holding an EZ-bar with an overhand grip
  • Keeping your upper arms and elbows on the bench, curl the bar up towards your chin
  • Squeeze your biceps hard then lower the bar slowly and under complete control, fully straightening your arms at the bottom

Top tip:
Really squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement, but once you get to the top avoid taking a rest.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar prone incline curl in the gym – one of the best barbell arms exercises

EZ-bar prone incline curl

  • Lie chest down on an incline bench, holding an EZ-bar with an underhand grip
  • Keeping your chest against the bench, curl the bar up until your forearms break horizontal
  • Squeeze your biceps hard then lower the bar slowly and under complete control, fully straightening your arms at the bottom

Top tip:
Keep your upper arms locked in position throughout – they should remain motionless, with just your elbows extending.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar prone incline reverse curl in the gym

EZ-bar prone incline reverse curl

  • Lie chest first on an incline bench holding an EZ-bar with an overhand grip
  • Keeping your chest against the bench, curl the bar up until your forearms break horizontal
  • Squeeze your biceps hard then lower the bar slowly and under complete control, fully straightening your arms at the bottom

Top tip:
Finish the movement with the barbell around six inches away from your shoulders.

The best barbell arms exercises for your triceps

man in red vest and black shorts performing close-grip bench press in the gym
man in red vest and black shorts performing close-grip bench press in the gym

Close-grip bench press

  • Lie on a flat bench with a slightly narrower than shoulder-width overhand grip on the bar with straight arms
  • Slowly lower the bar to your chest, aiming to touch down gently around nipple height
  • Press up powerfully to return to the start

Top tip:
If you find this grip too narrow, widen your hands so that they are shoulder-width apart and bench press from this position to keep the main focus on your triceps, without overly-stressing your wrist, elbow or shoulder joints.

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar triceps extension in the gym
man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar triceps extension in the gym

EZ-bar triceps extension

  • Lie on a flat bench, holding an EZ-bar above your chest with straight arms
  • Keeping your elbows locked in position, pointing to the ceiling, slowly lower the bar towards the top of your head by bending your elbows
  • Without arching your back, slowly return the bar to the start position by straightening your arms

Top tip:
You don’t need to go heavy with this move, because your triceps are isolated and have to handle all of the workload by themselves. Start light and use good form to really feel it working your triceps. 

man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar triceps press in the gym
man in red vest and black shorts performing EZ-bar triceps press in the gym

EZ-bar triceps press

  • Lie on a flat bench, holding an EZ-bar above your chest with straight arms
  • Slowly lower the bar down towards your chest, keeping your elbows tight to your sides
  • Press back up powerfully to return to the start position

Top tip:
This move makes a great second exercise in a triceps-focused superset with the previous move. You can use the same weight for both, and try to do double the number of presses as you can do extensions.

man in red vest and black shorts performing overhead triceps extension in the gym
man in red vest and black shorts performing overhead triceps extension in the gym

EZ-bar overhead triceps extension

  • Stand tall, holding an EZ-bar above you with straight arms
  • Slowly lower the bar towards the back of your head by bending your elbows, keeping your upper arms as still as possible
  • Without arching your back, slowly return the bar to the start position by straightening your arms

Top tip:
This is one of the toughest barbell arms exercises that isolates the triceps, so form and control are far more significant factors for muscle growth than weight on the bar. Remember, always be in control of the weight; don’t let it be in control of you.