Reverse Grip Barbell Curl
A standing barbell curl taken with the palms facing down, shifting the work from the biceps onto the forearms.
How to do it
- Load a barbell and stand upright with your feet about hip-width apart.
- Grip the bar palms down with your hands roughly shoulder-width apart.
- Let the bar rest at your thighs with your elbows straight and pinned to your sides.
- Curl the bar up by bending only at the elbows, keeping your wrists straight.
- Stop when the bar reaches chest height and hold the top briefly.
- Lower the bar under control to full extension and repeat.
Key technique cue
Go lighter, elbows pinned, wrists straight; don't let them bend back.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Loading it like a standard curl, which collapses the wrists long before the forearms are trained.
- ✕ Letting the wrists bend back under the bar, which moves the strain to the wrist joint.
- ✕ Swinging the elbows forward, which turns the lift into a front raise.
- ✕ Rocking the torso to start each rep, so momentum replaces the elbow flexors.
Benefits
- ✓ Puts the forearm elbow flexors in their strongest pulling position.
- ✓ Builds the grip and wrist strength that carries into rows and deadlifts.
- ✓ Adds forearm thickness that palms-up curls alone tend to miss.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 You are here - Reverse Grip Barbell Curl
- EZ Bar Reverse Preacher Curl
About the exercise
The reverse grip barbell curl is a standard curl performed with a pronated grip. Palms face the floor, hands sit about shoulder width, and the elbows stay pinned to the ribs while only the forearms move. Turning the hands over takes the biceps out of its strongest line of pull and hands the job to the forearm elbow flexors, which is why the forearms are the target here and the biceps only support. Expect the working weight to fall sharply against a normal curl, because grip and wrist position, not elbow strength, set the ceiling here.
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