Seated Dumbbell Palms-Down Wrist Curl
Trains the Forearm Extensors.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Sit on the end of a flat bench with a light dumbbell in each hand, feet flat on the floor.
- Rest your forearms along your thighs with the wrists just past your knees, palms facing down.
- Let the dumbbells drop so the wrists flex downward as far as is comfortable.
- Lift the backs of the hands upward as far as the wrist will travel.
- Squeeze briefly at the top.
- Lower under control back to the bottom.
Common mistakes
- Using the palms-up weight. The extensors on the outside of the forearm are much smaller than the flexors, and the load here is a fraction of a palms-up wrist curl.
- Lifting the forearms off the thighs to help. The thighs fix the forearm so only the wrist moves.
- Expecting a long range. Wrist extension travels much less far than flexion, and forcing past the end of it is where the wrist objects.
- Expecting it to train the whole forearm. Palms down loads the extensors on the outside; the flexors need the palms-up version.