The Best Bicep Workout Without Equipment for Beginners

A bicep workout without equipment is a simple way to start building upper body strength at home. You can use your body weight, door frames, and even backpacks to train your arms effectively, especially as a beginner.

You will not build competition-level biceps with bodyweight alone, but you can absolutely get stronger, add some muscle, and prepare your joints and tendons for heavier training later. Below, you will find beginner-friendly exercises, how to put them into a workout, and tips to progress safely.

Understand what bodyweight bicep training can do

Bodyweight bicep exercises are ideal when you are new to strength training or returning after a break. They teach you how to control your body, improve form, and strengthen surrounding muscles like your forearms, shoulders, and back.

However, it helps to set realistic expectations. While moves like push ups often involve pressing close to your body weight, they usually do not create enough direct, targeted resistance to grow your biceps as fast as traditional dumbbell curls. That kind of growth usually comes later, once you start adding external loads or advanced skills like handstand push ups.

Think of a bicep workout without equipment as your foundation phase. You will build:

Better joint stability
Stronger grip
Stronger back and core to support heavier lifts later
Baseline bicep strength that you can progress over time

Peloton instructor Erik Jäger suggests doing bodyweight bicep and pulling movements, like rows and pull ups, about two to three times per week for effective progress. That frequency works well for most beginners too.

Focus on pulling, not just pushing

When you think of home workouts, you might picture push ups, planks, and crunches. Those are helpful, but your biceps work hardest on pulling movements, not pushing ones.

This is why exercises like:

Pull ups and chin ups
Inverted rows under a table or low bar
Door frame bodyweight curls

tend to be more effective for your biceps than endless push ups. Pushing movements mostly train your chest, triceps, and shoulders, while pulling movements ask your biceps to bend the elbow against resistance.

When you design a bicep workout without equipment, try to include at least one or two pulling moves along with supportive exercises like planks or push ups. This keeps your shoulders and core balanced while you focus on your arms.

Starter bodyweight moves that hit your biceps

You do not need many exercises to get started. A small set of reliable moves is enough to build a beginner routine.

Plank

A basic plank will not pump your biceps, but it stabilizes your shoulders and core for every pulling and pushing exercise you do.

Start on your forearms, elbows under shoulders
Extend your legs behind you, toes on the floor
Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels
Hold for 20 to 30 seconds to start

As you get stronger, increase to 45 to 60 seconds. A steady plank tightens your entire midsection, which helps keep your body rigid during pull ups, rows, and push ups.

Inchworm

The inchworm is a gentle way to load your arms and shoulders through a long range of motion while keeping your core engaged.

Stand tall with feet hip-width apart
Hinge forward and place your hands on the floor in front of your feet
Walk your hands out into a high plank position
Pause for a second, then walk your feet toward your hands
Stand up and repeat

This movement warms up your wrists, shoulders, and upper arms and prepares your biceps and triceps for more focused strength work.

Push ups and bicep push ups

Traditional push ups mostly target your chest, shoulders, and triceps, but they still involve your biceps as stabilizers. They are also a simple way to build overall upper body strength without equipment.

To do a standard push up:

Place your hands slightly wider than shoulder width
Keep your body straight from head to heels
Lower your chest toward the floor, then press back up

If regular push ups are too difficult, start on your knees or elevate your hands on a sturdy table or countertop.

To put more emphasis on your biceps, try bicep push ups. These are a modification where you reverse or rotate your hand position so your fingers point toward your feet instead of forward. This orientation places more tension on your biceps and forearms.

Start cautiously with a small range of motion because the grip can feel intense on your wrists and elbows. Over time, you can increase depth as your joints adapt.

Pull based moves that really challenge your biceps

To make real progress with a bicep workout without equipment, you want movements where you are pulling your body weight or part of it.

Chin ups

Chin ups are one of the best bodyweight bicep builders. The underhand grip places your palms facing you and puts your biceps in a strong position.

You will need a pull up bar, a sturdy tree branch, or a strong horizontal bar that can safely hold your weight.

Grip the bar with palms facing you, about shoulder width apart
Start from a dead hang with straight arms
Pull your chest toward the bar, leading with your elbows
Lower yourself with control

Chin ups heavily engage your biceps and back. If you cannot yet do one full chin up, use an assisted variation like jumping up and lowering slowly or looping a strong resistance band around the bar for support when you are able to add equipment later.

Inverted rows

Inverted rows are a great option if you have a low bar or a sturdy table that will not tip.

To do table inverted rows:

Lie under a heavy, stable table
Reach up and grab the edge with both hands, overhand or underhand
Bend your knees with feet flat or extend your legs straight for more difficulty
Pull your chest toward the table edge, then lower with control

If you use an underhand grip, you will pull more through your biceps. These rows also work your lats and core, which makes them a solid all-around upper body move without equipment.

Some people also create makeshift suspension straps by tying strong ropes or folded bedsheets over a closed door. This can allow inverted row variations at home, but always make sure your setup is secure to avoid accidents.

Door frame bodyweight curls

Door frame curls are one of the simplest true bicep curl variations you can do without any special gear.

Stand inside an open doorway
Grab the door frame with one or both hands, not the knob
Lean your body backward so your arms are extended
Pull yourself toward the frame by bending your elbows, keeping your body in a straight line

The further your feet are from the frame, the harder you work. This exercise closely mimics a curl pattern and targets your biceps directly.

Use everyday objects for “no equipment” negative curls

Even if you do not own dumbbells, you can still mimic their effect using household items. This helps you perform negative or eccentric curls, which focus on the lowering phase of the movement.

Research shows that eccentric training, the part where the muscle resists while lengthening, is particularly effective for strength and muscle growth. You can use items like filled milk or water gallons, loaded backpacks, or heavy purses as makeshift weights to take advantage of this.

Here is one simple setup for bilateral negative curls:

Fill a backpack with books or other heavy objects
Thread a rolled-up towel or belt through the top handle to create a “bar”
Stand tall and grip each end of the towel or belt with both hands
Use your legs or your free hand to help bring the backpack up to the top of a curl
Slowly lower the “bar” using only your arms for three to five seconds

This variation challenges your grip strength and recruits not only your biceps but also your brachialis and brachioradialis muscles in your upper and lower arms.

Even though you are using household objects, this still counts as a no traditional equipment approach, and it can significantly increase the challenge of your bicep workout without equipment.

Tip: If the backpack starts to feel easy, add more books or bottles to gradually increase resistance.

Try isometric holds for extra strength

Isometric exercises involve holding a position where your muscles are working but not changing length. This can be a surprisingly effective way to build strength without a lot of movement or equipment.

For your biceps, you can try:

Holding halfway up on a chin up or inverted row for 10 to 20 seconds
Pausing at the midpoint of a door frame curl
Squeezing a heavy backpack in a static “curl” position

Isometrics are especially useful if you struggle to complete full repetitions or if you want to add intensity without more joint stress. They teach your muscles to create high tension, which supports both strength and muscle gain over time.

How to structure a beginner no equipment bicep workout

You can turn these exercises into a complete routine two to three times per week. Here is a simple template you can follow:

Warm up, 5 minutes
March in place, arm circles, shoulder rolls, and a few inchworms.
Main strength block

Plank, 2 sets of 20 to 30 seconds
Door frame curls, 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Inverted rows or chin ups, 3 sets of as many quality reps as you can manage
Bicep push ups or regular push ups, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Optional finishing work

Negative curls with a backpack, 2 sets of 4 to 6 slow negatives
Isometric hold at the top of a curl or halfway up a row for 10 to 20 seconds

Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets. Keep your form clean and stop each set when you feel your technique start to break down.

Bodyweight bicep exercises typically put less stress on your joints than heavy weights, so they are a safer starting point. As you adapt, you can progress by:

Slowing down the lowering phase
Adding more repetitions per set
Reducing rest time a little
Changing body angles to increase resistance, like walking farther under the table for harder rows

When to move beyond bodyweight

Bodyweight training can take you far, especially in the first several months. It helps you avoid injuries, learn good technique, and build a strong base. However, there is a limit to how much muscle your biceps can gain if you never increase resistance.

You will know it is time to add some form of external load when:

You can do high reps of door frame curls or inverted rows without much effort
Your biceps no longer feel challenged during workouts
You stop seeing progress in strength or appearance for several weeks

At that point, the same principles you learned with bodyweight exercises still apply, you will just use heavier tools to keep progressing. The base you built with a bicep workout without equipment makes that transition smoother and safer.

Start with two sessions this week, even if it is just a short circuit of door frame curls, planks, and push ups. As your confidence grows, you can add rows, chin ups, and negative curls. Over time, those small, consistent steps add up to stronger, more capable arms.