maratoolLying Close-Grip Bar Curl On High Pulley
How to do the lying close-grip bar curl on high pulley
- Place a flat bench in front of a high pulley or lat pulldown machine.
- Hold the straight bar attachment using an underhand grip (palms up) that is about shoulder width.
- Lie on your back with your head over the end of the bench.
- Now extend your arms straight above your shoulders. Your torso and your arms should make a 90-degree angle and the elbows should be in. This will be your starting position.
- As you breathe out, curl the bar down in a semicircular motion until it touches your chin. Squeeze the biceps for a second at the top contracted position. Tip: As you execute this motion only the forearms should move. At no time should the upper arms be moving at all. They are to remain perpendicular throughout the movement.
- Return to starting position slowly.
- Repeat 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.
Every exercise for:Biceps
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
A cable holds tension for the whole range, including the point where a free weight would go slack. Moving the pulley changes the angle the resistance arrives from without changing the movement.
Every exercise using:Cable
These train the biceps too, using equipment this one does not:
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.