Chin ups or Bicep Curls
Have you ever wondered which exercise is better for biceps growth; chin ups or biceps curls?
Are bicep curls “non-functional?” Are bicep curls and other single joint bicep movement required to develop the arms fully? Or are chin ups sufficient to reach your genetic muscular potential and strength?
In this article, we will discuss who might want to focus only on chin ups, and who might want to include bicep curls in their weight training routine.
Short Answer:
Most people can skip the curls and do chin ups only. Bodybuilders and special populations might want to also include curls.
The Chin up
Chin ups are a multi-joint or compound exercise.
A multi-joint or compound exercise is one that involves movement at multiple joints. Multi-joint exercises involve multiple muscle groups working together to produce movement.
The chin up helps to develop coordination and work capacity.
Chin ups can help you learn to control your body through space and develop your cardiovascular system.
The chin up is a closed chain exercise. In a closed chain exercise, your hands or feet are fixed and cannot move. You move your body towards your hands, not the other way around. Your body decides how much each joint moves and in which direction–minimizing joint stress.
Chin ups are a joint-friendly exercise.
Chin ups (and other closed-chain exercises) allow natural movement patterns and are joint friendly.
In addition, chin ups are a great choice for athletes.
This exercise strengthen multiple muscle groups at once and can help build better, stronger athletes.
Finally, the chin up is an excellent exercise for muscle building. Read here to learn why chin ups are an excellent exercise for mass.
The Bicep Curl
Bicep curls are a single-joint exercise.
Isolation exercises involve movement at one joint only. They work the biceps and forearms only.
The bicep curls is an open chain movement.
Your hands are not fixed, they move through space.
Finally, bicep curls also build muscle and tendons.
Chin ups or Bicep Curls: Are Bicep Curls Necessary?
In 2015 Gentil et. al studied the effects of a program of lat pulldowns (similar movement to the chin up) versus a program of bicep curls on 34 young men 20-26 years old. The authors measured both strength and muscular thickness of the biceps before and after the study.
The group during curls and the group doing chin ups gained the same amount of size and muscle.
In 2013, Gentil et. al studied young men and put them on a routine of solely compound exercises or a routine of compound plus isolation exercises. The first group did chin ups or pull ups only. The second group did chin ups and bicep curls.
Both groups biceps’ got stronger and bigger, with no significant differences between groups.
The authors concluded that there was no additional benefits of adding single joint exercises to an exercise program including multi-joint exercises.
Author’s Note:
For what it is worth, the group doing both chin ups and curls gained just a tiny bit more muscle. So if you are willing to do more work for a very small additional benefit, it might be worth it.
V02 Max and Body Composition
Multi-joint exercises might be better for improving muscular strength and improving VO2 max (maximal oxygen consumption) than single joint exercises.
Obviously, you wont get a huge aerobic training stimulus from training curls and isolation movements only.
Author’s note:
If single joint movements had simply been added to a program of multi-joint movements, they might have resulted in slightly better improvements in body composition and muscle mass and similar improvements to V02 max.
Chin ups Versus Bicep Curls: Chins, Curls or Both?
The research indicates clear advantages of filling your training program with multi-joint exercises. Specifically, the studies suggest you should prioritize exercises like chin ups and probably skip curls.
If you can only train a few hours per week you should focus on the big, heavy compound movements, like presses, squats, deadlifts, rows, and chin ups.
However, if you are a bodybuilder, you might choose to include some bicep curls and isolation movements after prioritizing chin ups and heavy compound exercises to get a small benefit.
Additionally, athletes in hypertrophy-dependent sports, like powerlifting, might also be wise to include curls and other isolation exercises.
Additionally, very experienced trainees might also benefit from adding curls. Those who are already close to their genetic potential will need to add even more training volume to make additional progress.
The closer you get to your peak strength and size, the more work you have to do just to make a little bit of progress. So those curls and other single-joint accessory movements might help you accumulate a little bit more training volume. That extra training volume could help you bust through a plateau.
Still, you should not need too many sets for arms, provided your training program is already providing a lot of chin ups.
Chin ups Versus Bicep Curls: What is the Verdict?
If you are tight on time or can’t recover from too much training, do chin ups only as part of a simple multi-joint exercise routine where you emphasize progressive overload and continual strength improvements.
However, if you have the time to spare or are willing to put in extra work to get a very small extra dividend on your investment, go ahead and do the curls, after you have finished your chin ups and other compound exercises.
And What if I just like doing Curls?
Honestly, go ahead anddo them. Life is short and you should do what makes you happy.
