maratoolAlternate Incline Dumbbell Curl
How to do the alternate incline dumbbell curl
- Sit down on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand being held at arms length. Tip: Keep the elbows close to the torso.This will be your starting position.
- While holding the upper arm stationary, curl the right weight forward while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. As you do so, rotate the hand so that the palm is facing up. Continue the movement until your biceps is fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a second as you squeeze the biceps. Tip: Only the forearms should move.
- Slowly begin to bring the dumbbell back to starting position as your breathe in.
- Repeat the movement with the left hand. This equals one repetition.
- Continue alternating in this manner for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the biceps brachii, which bends the elbow and rotates the forearm palm-up.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the forearms hold the grip, which is often what gives out first.
How this movement works
One joint changes angle and the resistance travels toward you along a single arc. Nothing is positioned to help, so tension stays where you aimed it and the usable load drops sharply against a multi-joint pull for the same muscle. Protect the range of motion; buying weight by shortening the arc defeats the point.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
Dumbbells let each side work on its own, surfacing a strength difference between limbs that a barbell would quietly cover for, and leaving the wrist free to rotate through the movement.
Every exercise using:Dumbbell
These train the biceps too, using equipment this one does not:
- Barbell Curlbarbell
- Bicep Curl Lunge with Bowling Motionmedicine ball
- Bicep Curl with Machinemachine
- Brachialis-SMRfoam roll
- Cable Hammer Curls - Rope Attachmentcable
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 99 biceps exercises in this database, 38 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.