This article covers the art of designing a back and bicep dumbbell workout. You’ll find our favorite exercises to choose from. I’ve also included three sample back and bicep dumbbell workouts to get started!

Most fitness enthusiasts would agree that resistance training is essential. Organizing your workouts is one of the most important things to understand about resistance training.

There are many ways to do this. You could choose a full-body routine in which you complete one exercise per body part. You could do an upper-lower split where you train your upper body on one day and your lower body on the next. Or you can choose one of the most common routines, pairs synergist muscle groups.

Synergist muscle groups assist each other in completing a movement. You probably know this split as a bodybuilding style routine or “bro split.” It looks something like this:

• Chest & Triceps
• Back & Biceps
• Shoulders
• Legs & Abs

There are many variations within the bodybuilding split to consider. But the two most common days are Chest & Triceps and Back & Biceps. In this post, I focus on the back and biceps. One of our goals at Outdoor Muscle is to make fitness accessible to everyone. Not everyone can afford an expensive gym membership. But most people can afford a set of dumbbells. This post focuses on back and bicep workouts you can do entirely with a set of dumbbells. Not to mention you can use dumbbells for a variety of other home workouts.

Now let’s look at the muscles in the back and biceps you will target.

Back Anatomy

The back is one of the largest groups of muscles in the body. And each muscle plays a different role in supporting movement. The major muscles of the back include the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, erector spinae, and the teres major and minor.

The latissimus dorsi, also known as the lats, are the largest muscles of the back. Your lats are like the central hub for the pulling movement. They are responsible for pulling the arms downward and inward. Exercises like pull ups, lat pulldowns, and rows activate your lat muscles.

The trapezius, or traps, sit along your upper back and neck. The traps are among the larger back muscles but are much smaller than the lats. Your traps are responsible for moving and stabilizing your shoulders. Exercises like shrugs, upright rows, and overhead press work your traps.

The rhomboids are located in the middle area of the upper back. These two smaller muscles retract the scapular (your shoulder blades). Exercises like rows and reverse flys work your upper back muscles.

The erector spinae are the muscles that run the length of your spine. They are responsible for spinal extension and lateral flexion. Exercises like deadlifts, hyperextensions, and good mornings work your erector spinae.

The major and minor teres are small muscles near the shoulder blade. These muscles are responsible for arm adduction (bringing your arms together) and internal rotation. Exercises like rows and lat pulldowns work your teres major and minor.

Training your back is vital for maintaining good posture. It protects your spine and builds strength in pulling and carrying movements. That’s why it’s important to train each back muscle group.

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Biceps Anatomy

The biceps brachii is what most refer to as the biceps or “bis.” Your biceps are located in the front of your upper arms and attach at the elbow and the shoulder. The biceps are composed of two heads, the short head, and the long head.

The primary function of your biceps is to flex the elbow joint (aka bending your arm). The elbow is one of the most active joints in the human body. We must flex our elbows to do everything from curling a dumbbell to picking up groceries.

The other primary function of your biceps is to supinate, rotating your hand, so your palms face upward. You probably use this movement more than you think. You use your biceps to supinate your wrist whenever you hold a cup or turn a doorknob.

Exercises that flex the elbow against resistance will work your biceps’ long and short head. Bicep curls, hammer curls, and chin-ups place tension on the bicep muscles, causing them to contract to flex the elbow.

The brachialis and brachioradialis work alongside the biceps. These muscles are also located in the upper arm and assist with elbow flexion. Exercises like hammer curls, reverse curls, and pull-ups work your brachialis and brachioradialis.

Training your biceps will improve your body’s ability to pull and carry. Targeting the biceps can also increase your arms’ size and strength. And who doesn’t want big arms? If that’s not enough, below are a few more benefits for training your back and bis.

You may also like these articles!

9 Best Triceps Workouts at Home With Dumbbells

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Why You Should Train Back and Bis

Upper body strength: Back and biceps are major muscle groups in the upper body. Training your back and biceps can increase upper body strength. This can carry over to your day-to-day life, like picking up your kids or rearranging your living room. Upper body strength is also crucial, so almost any sport movement. If you’re an athlete, you need to be training for strength, at least for part of the year.

Improved posture: It’s no secret that our posture is deteriorating. The popularity of smartphones and the increase in desk jobs have wreaked havoc on our posture. Exercising your back, especially the upper back, can help maintain good posture. Exercises like rows and pull-ups can help develop a strong back to combat the effects of staring at a screen.

Balanced muscle development: It’s no secret that men, in particular, love to train their chest. Many male fitness enthusiasts will skip all other days before letting a chest day slip by. But focusing only on your chest can create muscle imbalances. When your chest becomes stronger than your back, it can cause your shoulders to come forward, exacerbating the postural issues mentioned above. Paying equal attention to your back and biceps can reduce the risk of developing muscle imbalances. So don’t skip back and biceps day!

Injury prevention: Resistance training can help diminish the risk of injury. Since the lower back is one of the most commonly injured regions of the body, back training that includes deadlifts can help strengthen the erector spinae muscles that line the spine.

Now that you understand the importance of training back and biceps, let’s look at some exercises you can do for an excellent back and bicep dumbbell workout.

Back Exercises

Bent-Over Row

Bent-over dumbbell rows target the lats, traps, and rhomboids. They are one of the best back exercises for developing total back strength. You can do bent-over rows with dumbbells, kettlebells, or a barbell.

How to Do Bent-Over Rows

• Place a pair of dumbbells on the floor in front of you. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Grip the dumbbells using a neutral, pronated grip (overhand grip). Angle the dumbbells at a 45-degree angle.
• Bend over with a straight back like you are forming a table with your body. Keep your eyes on the floor in front of you.
• Pull the dumbbells to your chest, squeezing your lats.
• Lower the dumbbells back down, allowing your arms to reach full extension. Repeat.

To do the reverse grip bent-over row, use the underhand grip (supinated).

Single-Arm Row

Single-arm rows are a good alternative to the bent-over row.

How to Do Single-Arm Rows

• Use a bench or chair to stabilize yourself by placing your left knee and left hand on the bench. Pick up a dumbbell in your right hand.
• Keeping your spine aligned, pull the weight up to your rib cage. Use a controlled motion (don’t jerk the weight).
• Squeeze your right lat at the top of the movement, then lower the weight back down. Perform all reps on the right side before switching to the left.

Single-Leg Deadlift

Single-leg deadlifts isolate the hamstring and erector spinae muscles of the lower back.

How to Do the Single-Leg Deadlift

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand.
• Keep your spine neutral. Lower the dumbbell or kettlebell toward the ground in front of you by driving your hips back. Allow your other foot to lift off the ground as you lower the weight.
• Stand back up to the starting position and repeat all reps on one side before moving to the other.

Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is one of the best exercises to strengthen the lower back muscles.

How to Do RDLs

• You will start with a dumbbell in each hand. Feet shoulder width apart.
• Keeping your spine neutral, hinge backward at the hips.
• Keep your lats activated. Keep the dumbbells close to your body as you hinge back. Continue hinging until you are just above parallel with the floor.
• Stand upright by bringing the hips forward. Engage your lats, hamstrings, and lower back throughout the movement.

Farmer’s Carry

The farmer’s carry is a full-body, compound movement that works the entire back.

How to do the Farmer’s Carry

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Adjust your posture as you would when trying to stand up straight. The eye’s forward, chin up. 
• Then, walk at a comfortable pace.
• Keep your core tight as you move forward and your shoulders back.
• If your neck tightens, put the weight down and give yourself a break. If your neck tightens in the first few steps, consider reducing the weight you carry in each arm.
• Choose a distance you will carry the weight. Walk at a moderate-to-quick pace from a starting point to an endpoint.

Shrugs

Another excellent exercise for your trapezius muscle is the shrug.

How to Do Dumbbell Shrugs

• Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body.
• Raise your shoulders toward your ears like you are shrugging to a question you don’t know the answer to.
• Lower your shoulders back down to the starting position.
• Keep your chin up throughout the movement to reduce neck strain.

Reverse Fly

The reverse fly targets the rhomboids of the upper back and the rear delts (the back side of your shoulders).

How to Do The Reverse Fly

• Hold a light dumbbell in each hand with a supinated grip (underhand).
• Bend at the waist, so you look at the ground in front of you, and the dumbbells hang behind your calves.
• Raise the dumbbells out to the side like you are trying to touch the wall on either side of you.
• Once you reach parallel, reverse the motion to return to the starting position.

Biceps Exercises

The above exercises give you a solid base for dumbbell back training. Now let’s look at some bicep exercises you can do with dumbbells.

Hammer Curls

Dumbbell hammer curls are great for training the brachialis.

How to Do Hammer Curls

• Grip the dumbbells with a supinated grip with your palms facing your body. Keep your spine neutral, chin up, and eyes forward.
• Keep your grip tight and your wrist straight. Raise the dumbbell toward your shoulder, keeping your elbow stationary.
• Lower the dumbbell back to the starting position. Resist the downward pull of the dumbbell in a slow, controlled manner.

Alternating Bicep Curls (Dumbbell Curl)

Bicep curls are a simple, effective way to improve bicep strength.

How to Do Bicep Curls

• Stand up tall with your shoulders back and your eyes forward. Place your feet hip-width apart. Grip a dumbbell in each hand with your palm facing your leg.
• Keep your elbow stationary. Lift one of the dumbbells, rotating it as you lift so that your palm faces your body at the end of the range of motion.
• Squeeze your bicep at the top of the movement.
• Rotate it back to the starting position as you lower the dumbbell.
• Repeat on the other side, alternating arms each rep.

If you have an adjustable bench, you can also perform incline curls by putting the bench at a 90-degree angle.

Concentration Curls

The concentration curl is a great way to target the short head of the bicep. Your body creates a degree of stabilization with concentration curls that allow you to use heavier weights.

How to Do Concentration Curls

• Sit on a bench or elevated flat surface. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand with a supinated grip.
• Place your elbow against your right thigh. Curl the dumbbell toward your chest, keeping your elbow against your thigh.
• Squeeze your bicep at the top of the movement.
• Lower the dumbbell to the starting position to ensure you use a full range of motion.
• Complete all reps on the right side before moving to the left.

Back and Bicep Dumbbell Workout

Below are three sample workouts, including hypertrophy, strength, and muscular endurance workout examples. For any workout, make sure to include a warm-up. Focus on using good form and progressing gradually. Take rest days as needed.

Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy is a term to used to describe muscle growth. It involves damaging the muscle tissue using resistance exercise. Through what’s known as General Adaptation System, your muscles adapt to the damage by repairing the tissue. The repair process creates stronger, dense muscle tissue leading to increased muscle mass. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the ideal sets and reps for hypertrophy work are 3-6 sets of between 6 and 12 reps with a load around 70-85% of your one rep max.

Here is a sample back and bicep dumbbell workout with a hypertrophy focus. Beginners should start with this workout once per week. More advanced lifters can increase the frequency to two sessions per week.

Warm-Up

It’s essential to start with a 10-minute warm-up of walking, jogging, biking, or jumping rope. A warm-up increases the body’s core temperature, elevates the heart rate, and prepares the muscles for more strenuous work.

Hypertrophy Workout

4 x 8-10 Reverse Grip Bent-Over Row

3 x 8-10 Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

3 x 8-10 Single-Leg Deadlift

4 x 10-12 Hammer Curls

3 x 10-12 Concentration Curls

Rest periods: 1-3 minutes

Strength

Strength training involves high intensity (heavy weights) at lower volume (fewer reps). Your body uses fast-twitch muscle fibers (Type II) through strength training. Type II fibers develop the rapid force required to move heavier weights. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the ideal sets and reps for strength work are 2-5 sets of less than 6 reps at 85-95% one rep max. This type of training is good if you have a wide range of dumbbells or heavy adjustable dumbbells at your disposal.

Warm-Up

Start with a 10-minute warm-up of walking, jogging, biking, or jumping rope.

Strength Workout

3 x 5 Bent-Over Row

3 x 5 Romanian Dumbbell Deadlift

3 x 5 Shrugs

2 x 5 Biceps Curls

2 x 5 Hammer Curls

Rest periods: 2-5 minutes

Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance training uses high volume (lots of reps) and low intensity (lighter weight) movements. Muscular endurance is an important aspect of many sports and career fields. The armed forces, for example, all use max push-ups to test members. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the ideal sets and reps for muscular endurance work are 2-3 sets of greater than 12 reps at less than 70% one rep max. This is a great training modality if you have limited weights. No need for heavy dumbbells.

Rest periods: 30 seconds to 1 and a half minutes

Warm-Up

Start with a 10-minute warm-up of walking, jogging, biking, or jumping rope.

Muscular Endurance Workout

3 x 15 Reverse Grip Bent-Over Row

3 x 20 feet Farmer’s Carry

2 x 15 Reverse Flys

3 x 15 Concentration Curls

2 x 15 Alternating Dumbbell Curls

These are only a few options for organizing a back and bicep dumbbell workout. Feel free to experiment with different exercises and rep ranges to suit your goals. Consult with a healthcare provider whenever you begin a new exercise program. Ensure the program suits your needs and fitness level before starting.

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