Wide-Grip Barbell Curl
A standing barbell curl with the hands set wider than the shoulders, shifting emphasis toward the inner biceps.
How to do it
- Load a barbell and stand upright with your feet about hip-width apart.
- Grip the bar palms up with your hands set wider than your shoulders.
- Let the bar rest across your thighs with your elbows straight.
- Pin your elbows to your sides and curl the bar toward your chest.
- Squeeze the biceps at the top without letting your elbows travel forward.
- Lower the bar under control to full extension and repeat.
Key technique cue
Don't arch your lower back to throw the bar up — tuck your hips.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Arching the back to swing the bar up, which trades biceps work for lumbar strain.
- ✕ Letting the elbows flare out with the wide grip, which drags the shoulders into the lift.
- ✕ Keeping the same load as a shoulder-width curl, which breaks form at the wrists.
- ✕ Stopping short at the bottom, which cuts out the stretched half of the range.
Benefits
- ✓ Trains the inner part of the biceps that a shoulder-width grip works less.
- ✓ Adds a low-cost variation to arm blocks that already use standard curls.
- ✓ The fixed bar keeps both arms moving on exactly the same path.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 You are here - Step 2
About the exercise
The wide-grip barbell curl is a standard curl with the hands placed outside shoulder width. The wider grip rotates the shoulders slightly outward and biases the inner portion of the biceps. Everything else stays strict: feet planted, torso rigid, elbows against the ribs and movement only at the forearms. Because the bar sits wider than usual the wrists take an unfamiliar angle, so most lifters work lighter here than on a shoulder-width curl.
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