Do Dumbbell Rows Work The Biceps?

All dumbbell row exercises require your biceps to contract for the exercise to be performed properly; however, the way your hands and arms are positioned has a significant impact on how hard your biceps work relative to your back muscles. Row exercises require you to pull an object such as a dumbbell toward your chest while you are bent over, or against cable resistance while you are seated. Learning how to alter your hand and arm positions will allow you to perform a wide variety of rowing exercises to meet your specific workout needs.

Biceps

Your biceps are actually made of two muscle heads that start at your shoulder and run into your elbow after traversing the top of your upper arm. The main function of your biceps is to flex your elbow by drawing your forearm toward your upper arm. Your biceps perform this function at varying levels regardless of hand position and arm location, provided your forearm moves closer to your upper arm. From an aesthetic standpoint, the biceps make up a third of your upper arm — so developing them can make you appear significantly more muscular since they are regularly visible.

Grips

There are several hand positions you can use when performing dumbbell rows: a pronated, or overhand, grip; a supinated, or underhand, grip; and neutral hand position. The supinated grip puts your biceps in the most mechanically advantageous position — meaning they can perform more of the work during the load and get more training. A pronated grip, meanwhile, uses less biceps strength, with another muscle, the brachioradialis, performing more work. Using a neutral grip falls between the two.

Arm Positioning

The overall position of your arms also factors into the activation of your biceps. Keeping your arms and hands closer during the row activates your biceps more. The farther apart your arms are, the less work your biceps perform. The position of your elbows during the lift also affects biceps involvement. If your elbows stay close to your trunk during the lift, the more active your biceps are. If you are performing a row variation that requires your elbows to flare out, your biceps become less active.

Considerations

Ultimately, the type of row you use should reflect your workout goal. For maximal biceps activation when performing rows, use an underhand grip while keeping your elbows close to your body throughout the lift. To optimize back involvement, use an overhand grip with your arms spaced farther apart and keep your elbows flared out during the lift. Muscle fatigue also plays a role in how active your biceps are during rows. If your back muscles are extremely fatigued, your biceps will "take over" and become more active during the lift to compensate.