Biceps Curl with Overhead Extension using Dumbbells on Stability Ball

Muscles worked

Two muscle groups share the work: the triceps brachii, which straightens the elbow, and through its long head helps pull the arm back at the shoulder and the biceps brachii, which bends the elbow and rotates the forearm palm-up.

Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the forearms hold the grip, which is often what gives out first; the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range.

Every exercise for:TricepsBicepsForearmsShoulders

How this movement works

Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

Dumbbells let each side work on its own, surfacing a strength difference between limbs that a barbell would quietly cover for, and leaving the wrist free to rotate through the movement.

Every exercise using:Dumbbell

These train the triceps and biceps too, using equipment this one does not:

• Board Pressbarbell
• Body Tricep Pressbody only
• Cable Lying Triceps Extensioncable
• Close-Grip EZ-Bar Presse-z curl bar
• Dip Machinemachine