Overhead Cable Curl
Trains the Biceps.
- Equipment
- A cable station
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set a single pulley above head height and take the handle in one hand.
- Stand side-on to the machine with the working arm raised out to the side at shoulder height.
- Stand tall with your stomach braced and the upper arm level with the floor.
- Curl the hand toward your ear by bending the elbow, keeping the upper arm where it is.
- Squeeze briefly with the hand beside your head.
- Let the cable draw the arm straight again without letting the upper arm drop, then finish the side before swapping.
Common mistakes
- Letting the upper arm fall as the set goes on. Holding it out at shoulder height is the whole position; once it drops, this is a standing curl performed awkwardly.
- Leaning toward the machine. One cable pulling outward is a balance the trunk holds; leaning is that balance being lost rather than the arm working harder.
- Choosing the weight by what you can curl standing. Holding the arm out to the side is work for the shoulder before the elbow does anything.
- Treating it as a peak-building exercise. Holding the arm high shortens the biceps at the shoulder, which changes where in its range it works — not the shape it grows into.