The Study
Distinct muscle growth and strength adaptations after preacher and incline biceps curls
This study shows that different bicep exercises might lead to growth in different parts of the muscle, but it doesn’t fully prove one causes the other. It’s like noticing a pattern, but not being totally sure why it happened.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Girls did one type of bicep curl for 8 weeks. Some did preacher curls, others did incline curls. Scientists checked how much their arm muscles grew and got stronger.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 549 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The muscle growth and strength gains were small but show that different curls work different parts of the bicep and improve strength in that specific move.
- 2Incline curls made the top part of the bicep grow more (0.08 cm more).
- 3Preacher curls made the lower part grow more (0.10 cm more).
- 4Each curl made people stronger in that same curl: preacher curls added 1.88 kg, incline curls added 0.86 kg.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
International Journal of Sports Medicine
Year
2024
Authors
Witalo Kassiano, Bruna Costa, Gabriel Kunevaliki, Felipe Lisboa, Natã Stavinski, Aline Prado, Ian Tricoli, Jarlisson Francsuel, Luis Lima, J. Nunes, A. Ribeiro, Edilson S. Cyrino
Related Content
Videos (2)
Claims (10)
Performing different types of biceps curls, such as hammer curls or preacher curls, leads to different amounts of muscle growth and strength improvements depending on how the movement is performed.
If young women do preacher curls twice a week for 8 weeks, they’ll get stronger at preacher curls than if they did incline curls instead — and that makes sense because your body gets best at the moves you actually practice.
If young women do incline bicep curls twice a week for 8 weeks, they’ll get stronger at that exact move compared to doing preacher curls — it’s like getting better at one exercise by practicing that one specifically.
If young women do incline bicep curls twice a week for 8 weeks, their upper arm muscles grow more than if they did preacher curls — showing that the type of curl might change where the muscle grows most.
Doing bicep curls on an incline bench builds more muscle in the upper part of your biceps than preacher curls do.
Working your biceps with your arms stretched back might grow the upper part of the muscle a bit more than doing curls with your arms already in front of you.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.