Reverse Cable Curl
Trains the Biceps, Brachialis and Brachioradialis.
- Equipment
- A cable station
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Clip a straight bar to a low pulley and take it with an overhand grip about shoulder-width apart.
- Step back until the cable is taut and stand tall with your elbows tucked at your sides.
- Curl the bar up without letting the palms turn, keeping the wrists in line with the forearms.
- Stop when the forearms are roughly vertical — a shorter range than an underhand curl.
- Squeeze briefly, then lower under control against the cable.
- Finish with the arms straight before the next repetition.
Common mistakes
- Keeping your underhand cable curl weight. Turning the palms down takes the biceps out of its strongest position and the load drops, often by a third.
- Letting the wrists fold backward under the bar. The wrist extensors hold the hand in line and are usually the first thing to give out; when the knuckles start dropping the set is done.
- Letting the elbows drift forward as the cable pulls. A cable pulls down and back, which makes the elbows want to travel — keeping them pinned is more work here than with a barbell.
- Treating it as a weaker biceps exercise. The point is the muscles underneath — the brachialis flexes the elbow whatever the hand is doing, and the brachioradialis has its best leverage nearer this grip.