Back and biceps is Tuesday and Friday on my actual split, and it took me embarrassingly long to realize the two muscle groups are basically a package deal. Almost every pulling exercise recruits your biceps as a secondary mover, which either means back and biceps day is efficient programming or your biceps just never get a day off. Both are true.
This wasn't always how I trained. I started with the classic beginner mistake of one muscle group per day, which meant back got exactly one session a week and I spent the other six days wondering why progress felt glacial. Switching to a twice-weekly hit changed more than any individual exercise swap did, and it's the same lesson that eventually reshaped every other day of my split too.
Why Train Back and Biceps Together at Home
Back and biceps pair naturally because nearly every back exercise, from rows to pull-ups, already recruits the biceps as a synergist, which means a well-built back session gives your biceps real work even before you touch a dedicated curl. This is standard programming logic, not a home-workout compromise. Hitting each muscle group twice weekly, as I do with this session on Tuesday and Friday, has been linked in research to better hypertrophy outcomes than training once a week, though a more rigorous follow-up review found that once total weekly volume is matched, frequency itself matters less than the split you use to get there (Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger, 2016; Grgic, Schoenfeld & Latella, 2019).
Home Exercises for Back
A back home workout built around pull-ups, dumbbell bent rows, inverted rows, dumbbell pullovers, bird dogs, and resistance band lat pulldowns covers vertical pulling, horizontal pulling, and spinal stability, using whatever combination of dumbbells, bands, and bodyweight you actually have available.
Pull-Ups
Pull-ups are the gold standard vertical pulling movement, working the lats, upper back, and biceps against your full bodyweight, using a doorframe bar or any sturdy overhead bar you have access to. If you can't do a full rep yet, that's not a failure, it's just where everyone starts. Negative pull-ups (jumping to the top position and lowering slowly) build the same strength in reverse.
- 3-4 sets, as many controlled reps as you can manage, or 3-4 sets of slow negatives if you're building up
- Full range of motion matters more than rep count. A half-rep pull-up trains less muscle than a controlled full one.
Dumbbell Bent Rows
Dumbbell bent rows target the mid-back and lats through a horizontal pulling motion, hinged forward at the hips with a flat back.
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps per arm
- Row the weight toward your hip, not your shoulder, and avoid twisting your torso to generate momentum
Inverted Rows
Inverted rows use a sturdy table, low bar, or doorframe setup to row your bodyweight horizontally, and they're one of the most underrated bodyweight back exercises precisely because the difficulty scales with how horizontal your body is.
- 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Lower your body (more horizontal) to make it harder, raise your feet or bend your knees to make it easier
Dumbbell Pullovers
Dumbbell pullovers work the lats and chest through an overhead arc, lying on a bench or the floor with a single dumbbell held in both hands.
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Keep a slight bend in your elbows throughout, and stop the stretch at a range that feels controlled, not maximal, especially early on
Bird Dogs
Bird dogs aren't a pulling exercise, they're a core-stability movement, and they belong on this list because a stable spine is what actually lets your back muscles produce force safely during every other exercise here. An EMG comparison of common core-stability exercises found the bird dog effectively activates the lumbar erector spinae, multifidus, and glutes, muscles directly responsible for the spinal stability that supports rows and pulls (PMC comparison study). It's also one of Dr. Stuart McGill's well-known "Big Three" spine-sparing exercises, specifically because it trains your core to resist unwanted spinal motion rather than create it.
- 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps per side
- Extend opposite arm and leg simultaneously, keeping your hips level rather than letting one side rotate up
Resistance Band Lat Pulldowns
Resistance band lat pulldowns mimic a cable lat pulldown by anchoring a band overhead (a door anchor or a sturdy hinge works) and pulling down through the same lat-focused range of motion.
- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Focus on pulling your elbows down and back rather than just bending your arms, which is where most of the actual lat engagement comes from
Home Exercises for Biceps
A biceps home workout built around dumbbell bicep curls, hammer curls, doorframe rows, chin-ups, resistance band curls, and concentration curls hits the biceps from enough angles that dedicated equipment isn't strictly necessary, though a pair of dumbbells makes a real difference.
Dumbbell Bicep Curls
Standard dumbbell bicep curls remain the most direct biceps isolation movement there is, and I specifically prefer dumbbells over a barbell here for the same reason I prefer them everywhere else. A barbell lets your stronger arm quietly do more of the work, masking imbalances that dumbbells force you to address directly, which reduces injury risk over time by not letting one side compensate for the other indefinitely.
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Keep your elbows pinned at your sides throughout. Letting them drift forward turns the movement into a shoulder-assisted curl rather than an isolated one
Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Hammer curls, performed with palms facing each other rather than up, shift some emphasis onto the brachialis and forearm alongside the biceps.
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- The neutral grip also tends to feel more shoulder-friendly for people who get elbow or wrist discomfort from standard curls
Doorframe Rows
Doorframe rows use a sturdy doorframe as an anchor point, gripping the frame and leaning back to row your bodyweight, which works both back and biceps without any equipment at all.
- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
- Keep your feet planted close to the base of the doorframe and lean back only as far as you can control. This is easy to overdo on a door that isn't as sturdy as it looks
Chin-Ups for Biceps
Chin-ups, a pull-up variation performed with palms facing you, shift meaningfully more emphasis onto the biceps compared to a standard overhand pull-up, making them the single best bodyweight biceps builder on this list.
- 3-4 sets, as many controlled reps as you can manage
- If a full chin-up isn't available yet, the same negative-rep approach used for pull-ups applies here too
Resistance Band Bicep Curls
Resistance band curls provide continuous tension through the range of motion, which is a genuinely different stimulus than the more front-loaded tension of a dumbbell curl.
- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Step on the band with a wider stance for more resistance, narrower for less. This is your easiest way to progressively overload without buying heavier equipment
Concentration Curls
Concentration curls isolate one arm at a time, seated with your elbow braced against your inner thigh, removing almost all momentum and forcing the biceps to do the actual work.
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps per arm
- This is a good exercise to specifically address a strength imbalance you've noticed between arms, since the seated, braced position leaves nowhere for a stronger side to compensate
The Full Back and Biceps Home Workout
Here's how I'd structure the full session, mixing dumbbell, band, and bodyweight movements:
| Exercise | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|
| Pull-Ups (or negatives) | 3-4 x max reps |
| Dumbbell Bent Rows | 3 x 10-12 per arm |
| Inverted Rows | 3 x 8-12 |
| Dumbbell Pullovers | 3 x 10-12 |
| Bird Dogs | 2-3 x 8-10 per side |
| Resistance Band Lat Pulldowns | 3 x 12-15 |
| Dumbbell Bicep Curls | 3 x 10-12 |
| Hammer Curls | 3 x 10-12 |
| Concentration Curls | 3 x 10-12 per arm |
That's a full session. On days I'm shorter on time, I'll cut it to pull-ups, one row variation, and two curl variations rather than trying to force the entire list in. If you have gym access on the days this session falls, I've also written up the full gym version of this same day. This is one day of a full twice-weekly split, and the other days are covered in Chest and Triceps (Home) and Legs and Shoulders (Home). Since nutrition is doing most of the actual work behind any of these sessions, my High Protein Diet Plan lays out exactly what I eat to support this training.
Common Mistakes in a Back and Biceps Home Workout
Most of what goes wrong here comes down to substituting momentum for actual muscle work.
- Using body swing on curls to move more weight. If your torso is doing the work, your biceps aren't getting the stimulus you think they are.
- Rowing with a rounded back. This shifts strain onto your spine instead of your lats and mid-back, and it's an easy habit to slip into once fatigue sets in.
- Skipping bird dogs because they don't feel like "real" training. They're not going to make your biceps bigger, but a stable spine is what lets every other exercise on this list load safely.
- Treating a shaky doorframe like a rock-solid gym anchor. Test any doorframe or table setup with partial bodyweight before committing fully. This isn't a mistake you want to learn the hard way.
FAQs
Can you build a bigger back at home without a pull-up bar?
Yes, inverted rows, doorframe rows, and dumbbell bent rows can all build genuine back strength and size without a bar, though a pull-up bar (even a cheap doorframe-mounted one) adds a valuable vertical-pulling option that's harder to fully replicate otherwise.
Do chin-ups work biceps better than curls?
Chin-ups engage the biceps more than a standard pull-up due to the palms-facing grip, but a dedicated curl still isolates the biceps more directly since chin-ups also demand significant back and grip strength, so the two exercises complement rather than replace each other.
How often should you train back and biceps at home?
Twice a week is a reasonable, well-supported starting point for most people, giving each muscle group 48 to 72 hours of recovery between sessions while still accumulating enough weekly volume for meaningful progress.
Why do bird dogs belong in a back and biceps workout?
Bird dogs train the spinal stabilizers, specifically the multifidus and erector spinae, that keep your spine safely positioned during every rowing and pulling movement in this workout, making them a supporting exercise rather than a main muscle-builder.
What can I use instead of a doorframe for rows if my door isn't sturdy enough?
A sturdy table edge, a secured broomstick between two chairs, or a low, load-bearing railing can all substitute for a doorframe, as long as you test the setup's stability with partial bodyweight before committing to a full rep.