15 Calisthenics Exercises for Biceps: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Progressions

Calisthenics is all about using body weight movements to build strength, flexibility, and endurance.

It’s not just about building muscles, it also focuses on improving overall coordination, balance, and mobility. It’s a great way to achieve functional strength that translates into everyday tasks and sports activities (1).

One thing many calisthenics athletes strive for is a pair of well-defined, strong biceps. Not only do they enhance the appearance of your arms, but they also play an essential role in many upper-body movements, such as pulling exercises.

In this article, we’ll discuss 15 calisthenics exercises that specifically target your biceps. These exercises are suitable for beginners, intermediate athletes, and even advanced practitioners who are looking to take their bicep training to the next level.

Why Do Calisthenics Athletes Have Big Biceps?

Unlike traditional weightlifting where specific muscle groups are isolated and trained separately, calisthenics utilizes compound movements that engage multiple muscle groups at once.

This means that when you perform a pull-up or chin-up, your biceps aren’t the only muscles being activated. Your back, shoulders, and core also play a significant role in the movement. This full-body engagement leads to greater muscle recruitment and ultimately, increased bicep development.

Many calisthenics exercises require you to control and stabilize your body through various ranges of motion. This constant tension on the muscles leads to hypertrophy (muscle growth) and strength gains (2) (3).

So, by incorporating these 15 calisthenics exercises into your routine, you can expect to see some serious bicep gains.

What Are the Best Calisthenics Exercises for Biceps?

Movements that involve rowing, pulling, and chin-ups are some of the best exercises for targeting your biceps. They also engage other muscle groups, which makes them compound movements that provide a full-body workout.

However, the following 15 calisthenics exercises specifically target your biceps. We’ve divided them into three categories – beginner, intermediate, and advanced progressions – to cater to different fitness levels.

Beginner Calisthenics Biceps Exercises

If you’re new to calisthenics and looking to build your biceps, it’s important to start with the basics. These beginner exercises will help you establish a solid foundation before you progress to more challenging movements.

1. Negative Chin-Ups

This exercise primarily targets the biceps brachii, forearms, and latissimus dorsi through the eccentric (lowering) phase, building strength during the descent. It’s excellent for beginners and helps develop the necessary strength for full chin-ups and pull-ups.

Steps to Perform:

1. Use a stable pull-up bar and grip it with your palms facing you.
2. Jump or step up to position your chin above the bar.
3. Slowly lower your body in a controlled manner, taking 3-5 seconds to descend.
4. Keep your core engaged and shoulders down throughout the movement.
5. Once fully extended, release the bar and repeat.

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2. Isometric Chin-Up Hold

Engaging the biceps, forearms, and upper-back muscles, this exercise involves holding a static position to build isometric strength. It develops grip strength and endurance, which are essential for dynamic chin-up and pull-up variations.

Steps to Perform:

1. Grip the pull-up bar with your palms facing you, shoulder-width apart.
2. Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar.
3. Hold this position for as long as possible, aiming for 10-30 seconds per hold.
4. Maintain a tight core and controlled breathing.
5. Lower yourself back down slowly after holding.

3. Resistance Band Curls

Targeting the biceps through elbow flexion, this exercise uses resistance bands to mimic traditional curls, which builds arm strength and endurance. It’s beneficial for more complex exercises such as one-arm chin-up progressions.

Steps to Perform:

1. Stand on a resistance band with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold the band handles or ends with your palms facing forward.
3. Keep your elbows close to your body and curl your hands toward your shoulders.
4. Squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement.
5. Lower your hands back to the starting position in a controlled manner.

4. Bodyweight Curls

This exercise works the biceps and forearms by using your body weight as resistance in a curling motion. It helps develop the strength needed for exercises such as archer pull-ups by improving elbow flexion strength and control.

Steps to Perform:

1. Position yourself under a low bar or rings with your feet flat on the ground.
2. Grip the bar with your palms facing up and your body leaning slightly back.
3. Pull your upper body toward the bar by bending your elbows.
4. Keep your elbows close to your sides throughout the movement.
5. Lower yourself back to the starting position with control.

5. Australian Pull-Ups

Also known as inverted rows, this exercise targets the biceps, forearms, and upper back through a pulling motion. It helps build the pulling strength needed for pull-ups and chin-ups and offers a scalable step as you progress.

Steps to Perform:

1. Set a bar at waist height and lie underneath it.
2. Grip the bar with your palms facing toward you, shoulder-width apart.
3. Keep your body straight and pull your chest toward the bar.
4. Pause briefly at the top, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
5. Lower yourself back to the starting position in a controlled manner.

6. Reverse Grip Push-Ups

This variation targets the biceps and forearms, utilizing a pushing motion with an altered hand position. It enhances arm strength and can be a precursor to exercises that require strong elbow flexion, such as front lever pulls.

Steps to Perform:

1. Assume a push-up position with your hands placed under your shoulders.
2. Rotate your hands so your fingers point toward your feet.
3. Lower your body by bending the elbows, keeping them close to your sides.
4. Push back up to the starting position.
5. Maintain a straight body line and engage your core throughout.

Read more: The Ultimate 30-Day Muscle Gain Plan for Beginners

Intermediate Calisthenics Bicep Exercises

These exercises offer a step up in difficulty from the beginner variations and provide a challenge for those who have already mastered the basics.

7. Chin-Ups

This classic exercise targets the biceps and other muscles such as the lats, traps, and core. It requires a good strength-to-body weight ratio and is an essential movement in any calisthenics workout.

Steps to Perform:

1. Grip a bar with your palms facing you, wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Pull your body up until your chin is above the bar.
3. Pause briefly at the top with shoulders down and back engaged.
4. Lower yourself down with control until your arms are fully extended.
5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

8. Close Grip Pull-Ups

This variation focuses on the biceps, forearms, and upper-back muscles by using a narrow grip. It requires greater strength than regular pull-ups as it decreases leverage.

Steps to Perform:

1. Grip a bar with your palms facing you, shoulder-width apart or slightly closer.
2. Pull your body up toward the bar by bending your elbows.
3. Squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement.
4. Slowly lower back down to complete one repetition.
5. Keep your core tight throughout the exercise.

9. Towel Chin-Ups

Towel chin-ups primarily engage the biceps, forearms, and grip muscles by using towels for an enhanced grip challenge. 

This exercise strengthens the grip significantly and can help develop the foundation for more complex movements, such as weighted chin-ups, by improving grip endurance and upper arm strength.

Steps to Perform:

1. Drape two towels over a pull-up bar, shoulder-width apart.
2. Grip the towels tightly, using an overhand grip.
3. Pull your body up until your chin reaches above the level of your hands.
4. Hold briefly at the top and engage your core.
5. Lower your body in a controlled manner to complete one repetition.

10. Incline Plank to Push-Up Position

The incline plank to push-up position focuses on the core, shoulders, and chest muscles and involves both static and dynamic movements. It helps build the stability and strength required for more complex movements, such as planche push-ups, by strengthening the shoulders and core.

Steps to Perform:

1. Assume a plank position on an inclined surface, your feet lower than your hands.
2. Keep your body straight and your core engaged.
3. Transition into a push-up position by lowering your body onto your hands.
4. Press back up into the starting incline plank position.
5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, maintaining tight form.

11. Commando Pull-Ups

Commando pull-ups target the biceps, triceps, shoulders, and core muscles through a unique rotational movement. This exercise builds the necessary coordination and unilateral strength for more advanced exercises, such as one-arm pull-ups, by promoting balanced muscle development and enhancing lateral stability.

Steps to Perform:

1. Stand by a bar and grip it with one palm facing toward you and the other facing away.
2. Pull your body up while rotating your head to one side to clear the bar.
3. Alternate the direction of your head with each repetition.
4. Reach the top position with your head aligned with your hands.
5. Lower yourself down smoothly and repeat, alternating sides.

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Advanced Calisthenics Bicep Exercises

Advanced exercises require a high level of strength, control, and coordination to perform them correctly. These workouts take time and practice to master, but offer impressive results for those who put in the effort.

12. Archer Pull-Ups

This advanced variation requires significant strength in the biceps, back, and core muscles, together with the ability to control the body through a unilateral movement. It helps develop the pulling strength necessary for one-arm pull-ups by improving elbow flexion strength and control.

Steps to Perform:

1. Position yourself under a low bar or rings with your feet flat on the ground.
2. Grip the bar with one hand facing up and the other facing down.
3. Pull your upper body toward the hand with the supinated grip.
4. Keep your body straight and your core engaged throughout the movement.
5. Lower yourself back down in a controlled manner and repeat on the other side.

13. Typewriter Pull-Ups

The typewriter pull-up is an advanced variation that targets the biceps, lats, and shoulders through a lateral movement. It challenges strength, balance, and coordination by requiring control over your body’s sideways movement as you pull yourself up toward the bar.

Steps to Perform:

1. Grip a bar with your palms facing away from you, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Start pulling your body up until one hand reaches above the bar.
3. Move your body toward the opposite hand while keeping your core engaged.
4. Reach the other hand above the bar and hold for a second.
5. Lower yourself back down with control, repeating on each side.

14. One-Arm Chin-Up Progressions

The one-arm chin-up is considered the ultimate display of pulling strength and control in calisthenics. It requires significant bicep, back, and core strength and stability. These progressions allow you to gradually build up toward a full one-arm pull-up.

Steps to Perform:

1. Assisted One-Arm Chin-Up: Use resistance bands or a partner’s assistance to reduce the load on the working arm.
2. One-Arm Negative Chin-Up: Start at the top position with your chin above the bar and slowly lower down.
3. One-Arm Eccentric Chin-Up: Start with both hands gripping the bar and release one hand halfway through the movement, then perform an eccentric chin-up with one arm.
4. One-Arm Chin-Up: Use minimal assistance or none at all to pull yourself up with one arm.
5. Full One-Arm Chin-Ups: Continue practicing and building strength until you can perform multiple repetitions without any assistance.

15. Front Lever Pulls

Front lever pulls are an advanced exercise that targets the biceps, lats, and core muscles through a challenging isometric hold combined with a dynamic pulling movement. This exercise is essential for developing the straight-arm strength necessary for advanced calisthenics holds and enhances core stability.

Steps to Perform:

1. Hang from a bar with an overhand grip, keeping your arms straight.
2. Engage your core and lift your legs parallel to the ground, assuming a front lever position.
3. While maintaining the front lever, gently pull your chest toward the bar.
4. Lower back down in a controlled manner, keeping your body in a straight line.
5. Focus on controlled movements to maximize core engagement and strength building.

Learn the difference between Hammer Curls vs Bicep Curls and the benefits each has to offer in our previous blog.

Read more: Upper Body Workout Schedule: Tips And Exercises For Fast Results

How to Isolate Biceps with Calisthenics

Muscle isolation involves focusing on one muscle group to enhance its development. While calisthenics is primarily compound in nature, you can tailor certain exercises to emphasize the biceps by adjusting form and technique.

For example, instead of traditional pull-ups, try close-grip chin-ups, which place more emphasis on the biceps. The closer hand position allows for greater elbow flexion, which increases bicep activation.

Here are some other techniques you can use to isolate the biceps:

1. Exercise Selection: Choose exercises that naturally emphasize the biceps, such as chin-ups, towel curls, and resistance band curls. These exercises allow for greater focus on the biceps by involving elbow flexion.
2. Grip and Form: Use an underhand grip (supinated) for exercises such as chin-ups, as this position engages the biceps more than an overhand grip. Keep your elbows close to your body to maintain focus on the biceps.
3. Controlled Movements: Perform exercises slowly and with control, particularly during the lowering phase, to maximize tension on the biceps. Avoid using momentum, which can shift the focus to other muscle groups.
4. Mind-Muscle Connection: Concentrate on the biceps during each movement. Visualizing muscle working can enhance engagement and effectiveness (4).
5. Progressive Overload: Gradually increase the difficulty of exercises by adding resistance or increasing repetitions to continue challenging the biceps (5).

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can you build biceps with calisthenics?

Yes, you can build biceps with calisthenics. Exercises such as chin-ups, bodyweight curls, and towel curls effectively target the biceps using body weight, which promotes muscle growth and strength.

• Do push-ups work the biceps?

Push-ups primarily target the chest, shoulders, and triceps. While they engage the biceps to a certain extent, they’re not the most effective exercise for bicep development.

Check out more Bicep Workouts at Home No Equipment in our previous post.

• Is it OK to only do calisthenics?

Yes, it’s okay to only do calisthenics. This form of exercise can provide a full-body workout, enhancing strength, flexibility, and endurance without the need for weights or gym equipment (1). 

• Is calisthenics better than the gym?

Calisthenics and gym workouts both have their benefits. Calisthenics improves functional strength and flexibility using body weight, while gym workouts can offer targeted muscle building and strength through resistance training. The choice depends on your personal fitness goals.

• Can calisthenics increase testosterone?

Regular exercise, including calisthenics, can help maintain healthy testosterone levels (6). However, significant fluctuations in testosterone are more related to overall lifestyle factors such as diet, sleep, and weight (7) (8).

• Should I do calisthenics every day?

While calisthenics can be performed daily, it’s important to allow for rest and recovery to prevent overtraining (9). Listening to your body and incorporating rest days or lighter sessions can help maintain progress and prevent injury.

The Bottom Line

Calisthenics is an excellent way to build strong, functional biceps without the need for weights or equipment. By regularly incorporating these exercises into your workout routine, together with proper nutrition and rest, you can achieve impressive results in bicep development.

In addition, these exercises contribute toward building overall strength, stability, and control in the upper body. With dedication and consistency, you can continue to advance and master advanced calisthenics bicep exercises for a strong, sculpted physique.