Andrew Huberman recently trained biceps and forearms with legendary fitness educator Jeff Cavaliere at Gold’s Gym Venice.
The session revealed decades of training wisdom packed into practical, science-backed techniques.
For Huberman, a neuroscientist who’s followed Cavaliere’s work for years, this was a bucket-list moment.
What emerged was a masterclass in proper form, muscle activation, and intelligent exercise selection that challenges conventional gym wisdom.
Jump to:
- Warming Up the Entire Kinetic Chain
- Resisted Supination: The Missing Element
- Alternating vs. Simultaneous Curls
- Preacher Curls: Standing Changes Everything
- Mechanical Drop Sets for Extended Time Under Tension
- Isolating the Brachialis Through Pronation
- High-Rep Forearm Burnout
- Small Details, Big Differences
Warming Up the Entire Kinetic Chain
Cavaliere’s warm-up protocol goes far beyond typical arm swings.
Using just a single weight plate, he demonstrated a comprehensive sequence targeting shoulders, elbows, wrists, and the entire upper body.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
So what you do is you start with this halo where you grab the plate up overhead, and then you’re just going to wrap it around as tight as you can in front of your face.
The sequence includes plate halos for shoulder rotation, overhead tricep extensions with wrist tilts, trap raises with changing wrist positions, and figure-eight patterns.
Each movement serves multiple purposes—mobilizing joints while activating stabilizer muscles throughout the upper body.
Resisted Supination: The Missing Element
Most people understand bicep curls involve elbow flexion and some supination (turning thumbs outward).
But Cavaliere revealed a critical detail that transforms the exercise.
What I like to do is shift the dumbbell on my hand towards the thumb side. Because what that will do is it will put a disproportionate amount of the weight down, pulling me into pronation. So I have to actually lift against that.
This offset grip creates resisted supination—forcing the bicep to work against the weight’s natural tendency to rotate the forearm inward.
The result? Dramatically increased muscle activation without adding weight.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The Little Lift That Makes All the Difference
At peak contraction, Cavaliere adds one more element most trainers miss.
When I get to the top here, good contraction. I lift just a little bit more to get that really balled up, strong contraction, that little bit of discomfort at the top.
This subtle shoulder flexion at the end range maximizes bicep shortening.
The timing matters—too early turns the movement into a front delt exercise.
Alternating vs. Simultaneous Curls
Cavaliere’s approach to alternating versus simultaneous curls isn’t about personal preference.
It’s about strategic application based on weight and training goals.
As you start to get the heavier sets of a curl, you’re introducing another factor, which is core stability. If I have to move 100 pounds back in that direction, I have to have my core stabilized to counteract that.
Lighter warm-up sets work well done simultaneously to save time.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Heavier working sets benefit from alternating, which reduces core stabilization demands and allows better focus on the biceps.
The Instinctive Twist That Actually Works
Many trainers discourage twisting during curls, viewing it as cheating.
Cavaliere sees it differently.
When I curl, I’ll do a little bit of a twist towards that working side. This is one of those cases where it knows what to do, but it’s actually not taking away from the exercise. It’s just giving you more stability to perform the exercise.
The cue: look down at the working bicep and lean slightly into it.
Huberman immediately noticed a stronger contraction and improved stability when implementing this adjustment.
Preacher Curls: Standing Changes Everything
Traditional seated preacher curls create a dangerous fulcrum at the elbow.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Cavaliere’s solution? Stand up.
By standing over the top of it, and then I actually drive back into the pad, now I’ve got my lats working. I get adduction of the elbow towards the side. I get stability of the entire shoulder girdle.
This positioning transforms the exercise from potentially injurious to exceptionally effective.
- Drive elbows back into pad to engage lats
- Maintain full extension at bottom for complete range
- Stop short of full flexion at top to maintain tension
- Control eccentric slowly to feel muscle elongation
Huberman’s observation captured the principle perfectly: “I can make a phone call” when going past peak tension.
You Can’t Fire a Cannon From a Canoe
Cavaliere referenced Paul Chek’s famous stability principle to explain why proper positioning matters.
Without a stable base, the bicep cannot generate maximum force.
Standing preacher curls with engaged lats provide that stable platform.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Mechanical Drop Sets for Extended Time Under Tension
Instead of reducing weight when reaching failure, Cavaliere changes body position to continue with the same load.
Let’s say we take a weight that I could do for 10 reps. And I stopped short, and I do 5. And then I change body position, same weight. I do 5 more reps.
His three-position sequence specifically targets different aspects of bicep function.
- Incline curls (arms behind body): 5 reps emphasizing long head
- Seated upright curls: 5 reps with reduced difficulty
- Leaned-forward drag curls: 5 final reps maintaining arm position advantage
The result? Fifteen total reps with a ten-rep max weight through strategic positioning changes.
Isolating the Brachialis Through Pronation
The brachialis sits underneath the bicep and contributes significantly to arm size.
Most people use hammer curls to target it, but Cavaliere takes pronation further.
If the main or that secondary function of the bicep is to supinate, we can quiet it down and make the brachialis do more of the work by just pronating the forearm.
His crossbody pronated curl involves dragging the dumbbell diagonally across the torso.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The dumbbell ends chest-high on the opposite side, fully pronated, with elbow staying down throughout.
Why It’s Harder Than Hammer Curls
Huberman immediately noticed he could handle significantly less weight than with traditional hammer curls.
Even just that little bit of neutral positioning brings the bicep in a little bit more. It’s helping, right? So we go here, we’re really isolating more effectively that brachialis.
The key adjustment: think hammer curl motion, but control pronation with the wrist, not the elbow.
High-Rep Forearm Burnout
Traditional forearm training focuses on heavy reverse curls or wrist curls.
Cavaliere’s “ring outs” take a completely different approach using an empty barbell with a single plate.
When you lift up here, you’re lifting the weight a little bit right, curling against. And you’re getting flexion on this side. When I turn forward, I’m getting flexion. When I turn backwards, I’m getting extension.
The movement involves rotating the barbell clockwise for 30-40 reps, then counterclockwise for another 30-40.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Arms remain straight throughout—all work comes from wrist flexion and extension against the offset load.
Why High Reps Matter for Forearms
Cavaliere pointed out that modern life lacks duration demands on forearm muscles.
Let’s face it, people aren’t writing much these days. So there’s not a lot of duration going on in those muscles.
High-repetition work provides a different stimulus than heavy sets.
The burn lingers significantly longer than typical muscle pumps, indicating the muscles are genuinely challenged.
Small Details, Big Differences
What separated this training session from typical gym workouts wasn’t exotic exercises or extreme intensity.
It was precise execution of fundamentals most people overlook.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Offset grip for resisted supination, strategic alternating versus simultaneous reps, standing instead of seated preacher curls, mechanical drop sets, full pronation for brachialis isolation.
Each adjustment seems minor in isolation but compounds into dramatically better results.
Huberman’s assessment after decades of training captured it perfectly—small things and big things learned in a single session that made a tremendous difference.
For anyone serious about arm development, these aren’t just tips to try occasionally.
They’re fundamental principles that should define how bicep and forearm training gets done.
