Spider Curl
A chest-supported curl performed face down on an incline bench, with the arms hanging free below the shoulders.
How to do it
- Set an incline bench to roughly fifty degrees and stand behind the high end.
- Lie chest-down on the pad so your torso is supported from sternum to hips.
- Plant your feet on the floor behind the bench for a stable base.
- Let your arms hang straight down with a dumbbell in each hand, palms forward.
- Curl both dumbbells up while keeping your upper arms vertical and still.
- Lower under control until the elbows are straight, then repeat.
Key technique cue
Chest on the pad, upper arms hanging straight down.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Letting the chest lift off the pad, which brings back the swing the bench removes.
- ✕ Resting the weights at the bottom, which drops the tension the position is built for.
- ✕ Swinging the upper arms forward, which turns the curl into a partial row.
- ✕ Setting the bench too flat, so the arms cannot hang clear of the pad.
Benefits
- ✓ Chest support removes body English, so the biceps do the work.
- ✓ Keeps tension on the biceps at the bottom of the range.
- ✓ Makes uneven left and right effort obvious because nothing can compensate.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here
About the exercise
The spider curl is a biceps curl done lying chest-down over an incline bench. Your torso rests on the pad from sternum to hips, your arms hang straight down in front of the bench and the dumbbells sit directly below your shoulders. With the body pinned to the pad there is nowhere to lean and nothing to swing, so the elbow flexors move the weight on their own. The hanging start also keeps tension on the biceps at the bottom, where a standing curl usually rests.
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