Preacher Curl
Trains the Biceps.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a preacher bench so the top of the pad sits under your armpits when you are seated.
- Sit down and lay the backs of your upper arms flat against the pad, shoulder-width apart.
- Take an underhand grip on an EZ-bar or a straight bar and let your arms straighten against the pad.
- Curl the bar up until your forearms are roughly vertical, keeping the upper arms flat on the pad.
- Lower under control until the arms are almost straight — stopping just short of a locked elbow at the bottom, because the pad puts the arm in a position where a sudden full extension under load is worth avoiding.
Common mistakes
- Lifting the upper arms off the pad at the top. The pad exists to stop the elbows travelling; letting them rise turns the exercise into a standing curl with extra steps.
- Dropping into the bottom position fast. With the arms fixed against a pad the elbow has nowhere to go, so the descent should be deliberate.
- Expecting it to train the long head well. With the elbows forward of the body, the long head is already shortened at the shoulder, so the short head and brachialis take more of the work. An incline curl is the opposite case.
- Setting the pad too low, so the armpits are above it and the shoulders round forward.