For this bodybuilding exercise, you usually use dumbbells, though if you are in a fix, like a hotel room on business or vacation and without your kit, you can use almost anything - like bags of sugar or filled 2 liter bottles even - anything you can grip properly can do, in the circumstances. By getting creative, you can still have your bodybuilding fix, wherever you are!



To do this excellent and very simple bodybuilding exercise, stand with a straight back, with the weights in your hands, palms towards your sides, facing inwards.

Now, it's time to get your breathing just right, so take the time to concentrate on nice deep breaths that come from lower down in your torso, rather than your chest. Taking a good minute here to focus and get a deep breathing pattern can make all the difference to your success later on.

Ready to do the exercise then? Slowly and consistently, move the dumbbells upwards towards the chest with the elbows tight in next to your body. Don't rush this, however tempting it might be, as the slow drag on your muscles is what makes the difference. As you do this, coordinate it with breathing out fully.

Gently rotate the wrists such that when they get to chest level, they are facing the chest comfortably. If this is the first time you have tried this, it might take a couple of goes to get it right - that's OK, taking your time now to perfect your technique is well worth it!

Then it's time to hold for a couple of seconds, before letting the weights down. One important additional benefit is if you slowly reverse the action back down, rather than relax too quickly, you will get the value of a second action on the muscles, thus doubling the benefit on the way back down. This is where your gentle breathing in, remember, from lower down rather than at the top of your chest, works best for you.

The key to good muscle development is the repetitions, rather than extreme weights, so choosing a weight that is too heavy will make the first repetition feel uncomfortable, which is not a good thing. Use this as your test.

Gentle pressure on up to 20 reps will be the best you can do to develop your biceps comfortably and safely. In all bodybuilding exercises, gradually increasing the weight as you gain strength will be best for you.

Dumbbell curls are one of the easiest bodybuilding exercises you can do and after a series of repetitions that suit you personally (and a weight that is adequate too) you will immediately feel a toning to your biceps.

In fact each day that you do this bodybuilding exercise, you will, all day, have a wonderful sensation that you are making a difference, to your physique, step by step.