maratoolPreacher Curl with Barbell
How to do the preacher curl with barbell
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- Adjust the seat of the bench so that your arms are level with the top of the bench.
- Grasp the bar with palms facing up, shoulder width apart.
- Picking up the bar, rest your arms against the bench and extend them fully.
- Keeping your arms on the bench at all times, curl the bar up towards your head.
- Pause for a moment and then lower the bar back to starting position.
- Note: Perform this exercise in a slow controlled manner for best results.
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
Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.
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 barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.
Every exercise using:Barbell
These train the biceps too, using equipment this one does not:
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.