Lying High Bench Barbell Curl
Trains the Biceps.
- Equipment
- A barbell, a box and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set a flat bench high enough on blocks that your arms can hang straight beneath it.
- Lie face down on the bench with your arms hanging over one side.
- Take a barbell from the floor with an underhand grip about shoulder-width apart.
- Curl the bar up toward the underside of the bench without letting the upper arms move.
- Squeeze briefly at the top.
- Lower under control until the arms hang straight again.
Common mistakes
- Setting the bench too low. If the bar reaches the floor before the arms straighten, the bottom of the range is cut off — and the bottom is where the biceps is longest and least assisted.
- Lifting the chest off the bench to pull higher. The bench is what removes the shoulder and the lower back from the movement.
- Swinging the upper arms. Hanging free beneath a bench, the shoulders can move a long way; keeping the upper arms still is the whole reason for the setup.
- Loading it from a standing curl. With the torso fixed and the arms hanging vertically, nothing helps, and the weight reflects that.