maratoolTwo-Arm Preacher Curl with Dumbbell
How to do the two-arm preacher curl with dumbbell
- A Preacher Curl uses a special bench to support the triceps and isolate the biceps to build the arms. This version of the exercise uses dumbbells.
- Adjust the seat of the bench so your arms are level with the top of the bench.
- Grasp a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing up.
- Picking up the dumbbells, rest your arms against the bench and extend them fully towards the floor.
- Keeping your arms on the bench at all times, curl the weight up towards your head.
- Pause for a moment and then lower the weights 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
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:
- Wide Grip Standing Biceps Curl with Barbellbarbell
- 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.
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.