Terrence Ruffin’s 3-Move Biceps Workout: A Simple Fix for Stubborn Arms
UPLIFT IRON CLUBWhy Ruffin's stubborn-arm problem is useful
Terrence Ruffin has spent years proving that a classic physique is not built by chasing whatever body part already grows easily. In a recent training post, the two-time Arnold Classic winner admitted that arms were one of his slowest areas to develop. His response was not a 12-exercise arm marathon. He narrowed the job to two or three biceps movements, trained them twice per week, and made the reps easier to audit.
That context matters after the 2026 Classic Physique Olympia, where Ruffin finished fifth in a brutally deep lineup won by Niall Darwen. Fresh result coverage noted Ruffin's polished posing and improved triceps in side shots. In other words, this is not a beginner discovering curls; it is an elite bodybuilder still treating a stubborn area as a solvable programming problem.
The useful lesson is specialization without chaos. A lagging muscle needs enough weekly exposure, exercises that actually load the target, and progression you can measure. It does not need a new social-media trick every session. Ruffin's three-move biceps setup is interesting because each choice gives him a slightly different way to flex the elbow while keeping the total menu small enough to repeat and improve.
Move 1: heavy single-arm curls without turning them into a circus
Ruffin's first movement is a heavy single-arm curl performed with the working arm braced against a preacher-style support. The unilateral setup does two useful things. First, it removes the temptation to let the stronger arm quietly dominate a bilateral curl. Second, it gives each side the same job: stabilize the upper arm, flex the elbow hard, and move a load through a controlled range.
For a recreational lifter, “heavy” should not mean turning the rep into a hip swing. The point of bracing is to make the biceps do more of the work, not to create a platform for an ugly one-rep max. Start with the weaker side, match the repetitions with the stronger side, and stop when the range shortens or the shoulder starts rolling forward to rescue the rep.
A practical target is two or three hard sets in a moderate rep range, leaving enough control to own the lowering phase. If one arm consistently trails by several reps, do not reward the stronger side with extra volume. Let the weaker side set the ceiling. Over a training block, the cleanest evidence of progress is more controlled reps with the same load or the same reps with a slightly heavier dumbbell.
Move 2: preacher curls make progression brutally obvious
The second movement is the single-arm preacher curl. It looks similar to the first exercise, but the fully supported upper arm makes cheating even harder and turns the set into a very obvious test of elbow-flexor strength. The biceps brachii remains the star, while the brachialis underneath it also contributes to flexing the elbow.
Preacher curls are especially useful when you want repeatability. Seat height, pad position and arm angle can stay almost identical from week to week. That makes the logbook meaningful. If you add two reps while keeping the shoulder planted and the bottom position controlled, you probably improved. If the extra reps appear only because you shortened the range and bounced out of the bottom, the spreadsheet is lying to you.
Do not force a painful lockout. The stretched bottom of a preacher curl can feel demanding, particularly when the load is too ambitious or the elbow is irritated. Lower under control to the deepest comfortable position, reverse smoothly, and keep the wrist stacked rather than letting it collapse backward. A machine or cable preacher variation is perfectly valid if it gives you a cleaner path. Ruffin's routine is about targeted tension, not loyalty to one piece of equipment.
Move 3: cable hammer curls build the arm around the biceps
The third exercise changes the grip: a single-arm cable hammer curl. Instead of turning the palm upward, the hand stays neutral. That still trains the biceps, but it increases the contribution of the brachialis and brachioradialis, helping build thickness around the upper arm and forearm rather than chasing only the visual biceps peak.
The cable also keeps resistance on the arm through more of the repetition. Set the pulley low, stand far enough away that the cable is already taut, and keep the upper arm quiet. Curl without letting the elbow sprint forward, squeeze without folding the wrist, then lower until the arm is long and controlled. A rope or individual handle works; comfort and repeatability matter more than attachment tribalism.
This is where Ruffin's three-move selection becomes smarter than doing three nearly identical supinated curls. The first two movements emphasize controlled biceps work with the palm turned up. The hammer curl changes the forearm position and gives the surrounding elbow flexors more attention. For physique training, that matters because a complete arm is a shape problem. Biceps height, brachialis thickness and forearm development all influence what the arm looks like from different angles.
Double progression: make the logbook tell the truth
Ruffin says he typically uses two to three sets and applies a double-progression approach. The principle is simple even if different coaches define the details slightly differently: keep an exercise stable, earn more repetitions within a chosen range, then increase the load once the top end is repeatable with the same technique. The load goes up only after the reps justify it.
For example, give a preacher curl a working range of 6–10 reps. If you get 9, 8 and 7 clean reps, keep the weight next time and try to beat the total without changing the movement. Once you can produce something like 10, 10 and 10 with the intended range and control, add the smallest useful increment. Your reps may fall back toward six or seven, and the climb starts again.
This method is particularly good for isolation work because giant load jumps can wreck technique quickly. Adding one clean rep is real progression. So is using the same weight with a slower, more controlled eccentric or a more consistent bottom position. What does not count is turning every set into a different exercise. If your torso movement, range and tempo change whenever the logbook gets uncomfortable, you are measuring creativity rather than biceps strength.
A two-day biceps template normal lifters can recover from
You do not need to copy Ruffin's professional workload to borrow the structure. Start with two weekly biceps exposures separated by at least a couple of days. On the first day, use a heavier unilateral curl for 2–3 sets of 6–10, then a hammer curl for 2–3 sets of 8–12. On the second day, use a preacher curl for 2–3 sets of 8–12 and, if recovery is good, one lighter cable curl for 2 sets of 12–15.
Count the pulling already in your program. Rows, chin-ups and pulldowns are not direct biceps isolation, but they still fatigue the elbow flexors. If your back training is high volume, six to ten challenging direct biceps sets per week may be plenty to start. Add work only when performance is rising, elbows feel good and soreness is gone before the next session. A lagging body part does not become less lagging because you irritated the tendon attached to it.
Run the same core exercises for four to six weeks, record load and reps, and judge the block by performance plus visual change. Ruffin's example is useful precisely because it is boring: a small exercise menu, unilateral control, two weekly exposures and measurable progression. For a muscle that has been stubborn for years, boring is often a feature. The goal is not to win arm day. It is to create enough high-quality repetitions that the arm has no excuse to stay the same.
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