Lying Cable Curl
Trains the Biceps.
- Equipment
- A cable station
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set a low pulley with a straight bar and lie on the floor on your back, head toward the machine.
- Take the bar with an underhand grip about shoulder-width apart, arms straight toward the pulley.
- Set your elbows on the floor beside your ribs and keep them there.
- Curl the bar toward your face by bending the elbows only.
- Stop when the forearms are roughly vertical.
- Let the cable draw the arms straight again under control.
Common mistakes
- Lifting the elbows off the floor. The floor is what fixes the upper arm; lifting them lets the shoulders help and removes the only advantage this position has.
- Lying too close to the pulley. Close in, the cable goes slack at the bottom — a step further out keeps tension across the whole range.
- Arching the lower back to pull harder. Lying down leaves few ways to cheat, and this is the main one.
- Expecting to match a standing curl. The cable line is nearly horizontal here, so the resistance is highest at the start rather than halfway up, and the weight that suits it is different.