Concentration Curl
Trains the Biceps.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Sit on the end of a flat bench with your feet wide apart and a dumbbell in one hand.
- Lean forward slightly and brace the back of your working upper arm against the inside of the same-side thigh, just above the knee.
- Let the arm hang straight down with the dumbbell just off the floor, palm facing away from your leg.
- Curl the dumbbell up toward your shoulder, keeping the upper arm pressed against your thigh throughout.
- Squeeze at the top, then lower under control to a full stretch. Complete the set before swapping arms.
Common mistakes
- Letting the upper arm slide up the thigh. The leg is there to fix the elbow in place; if the arm travels, the movement has become a standing curl.
- Leaning back to help the weight up. The torso should stay still — with one arm braced against one leg, any movement of the trunk is momentum.
- Swinging the dumbbell out of the bottom. This is the one curl variation where the position makes cheating obvious, which is most of its value.
- Believing it changes the shape of the biceps peak. The peak is a matter of where the long head's belly sits and how long its tendons are, and neither moves. Training makes the muscle bigger.