Big arms have long been one of the poster children of fitness. For decades, the image of “getting in shape” was tied closely to bodybuilding culture, where big biceps often symbolised strength, athleticism, and effort in the gym. More recently, fitness culture has shifted toward “functional training,” with compound lifts, conditioning, and gymnastics-inspired movements often seen as more practical. That shift is not all bad. Compound exercises are great. But somewhere along the way, direct arm training started to get treated like vanity work. There is nothing unhelpful, outdated, or “unfunctional” about training your biceps. In fact, strong biceps can support everyday movement, complement bigger lifts, and help keep your training well rounded. In this article, we’ll cover what the biceps do, how curls work, and why training individual joints still has a place in a full-body program.
What are the biceps?
The Biceps Brachii sits on the front of the upper arm. It crosses both the shoulder and the elbow, which makes it a biarticular muscle. That matters because the biceps can influence movement at more than one joint. Most people know that the biceps bend the elbow. You’ve “flexed your guns” before right? The biceps also assist with forearm supination, which means turning your palm upward. Lastly, they contribute to shoulder flexion, or bringing the arm forward. Anatomically, the biceps therefore help with several common upper-body tasks, not just posing in the mirror. In everyday life, this shows up in simple ways. Carrying groceries, picking up a child, lifting a bag, holding a stack of books close to your chest, climbing, pulling open a heavy door, or moving yourself during a chin-up all involve elbow flexion and often some degree of supination and shoulder movement. Stronger biceps do not do all the work alone, but they contribute meaningfully.
Why biceps matter in daily life
A lot of “functional” training discussions miss something simple: many real-life tasks involve single-joint contributions inside bigger movements. When you carry something close to the body, your elbow flexors help maintain that position. Think holding a stack of books. When you pull an object toward you, your biceps contribute. When you lower a weight under control, they may work hard eccentrically, meaning they produce force while lengthening. Even during exercises where the biceps are not the main driver, they still help coordinate and stabilise the arm as other muscles also compete to pull on the bone, such as the triceps.
This is one reason direct arm work is not separate from functional training. It supports it. If your goal is to build a body that is stronger, more resilient, and more capable, then training major muscle groups directly is not a distraction. It’s sensible and a great way to inject some variety and more total volume. Compound lifts remain valuable, but they do not automatically make isolation work pointless.
How a biceps curls work
A biceps curl is one of the clearest examples of elbow flexion training. In simple terms, you are creating an external force that tries to straighten the elbow, and the elbow flexors must oppose that force to move the first upwards or hold the load. During the lifting phase, the biceps help flex the elbow. During the lowering phase, they control the descent. Depending on the variation, they may also contribute more or less to forearm supination and shoulder stability.
That is why many different curl variations can train the biceps effectively. These include:
- dumbbell curls
- barbell curls
- preacher curls
- incline curls
- hammer curls
- reverse curls
Not all of these bias the exact same tissues to the exact same degree, but they all involve the elbow flexors doing meaningful work.
EZ Bar, Shoulder Health, and Function
You might have seen a funky curved bar at the gym? Well, that’s an EZ bar. An EZ bar is a curl bar with angled grips that many people find more comfortable than a straight bar. A straight bar fixes the wrists in one position, which can feel restrictive for some lifters, whereas an EZ bar allows more freedom of movement and may reduce the effort needed to stabilise the wrist. Arm work may also influence shoulder “health” in a rehab setting. It’s important to be clear: shoulder-specific exercises still have the strongest support in rehab settings ¹, ². However, that doesn’t make arm work irrelevant. Because the biceps cross both the elbow and shoulder, curls can still contribute to overall upper-limb strength and may be a useful way to keep training when more direct shoulder work is not tolerated. Simply put, load in the arms requires work in the shoulders. More broadly, curls train elbow flexion, which plays a role in everyday tasks like carrying, pulling, and lifting. In that sense, they are both practical and complementary to full-body training.
Finish your last set strong
Training your biceps isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about building a stronger, more capable upper body that supports everyday movement and long-term progress in the gym. While compound lifts should form the foundation of your training, including some direct arm work can help round out your program, support joint function, and address potential weak links. If your goal is to be Stronger For Life, your training should reflect that: balanced, practical, and sustainable. If you’re based in Sydney and want guidance on building a program that actually fits your lifestyle and goals, reach out to our team at Sydney Strength Training, we’d be happy to help you get started.
References:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38848304/
- https://sydneystrengthtraining.com.au/wp-admin/post.php?post=1877&action=edit