Preacher Curls

Muscles Worked

Biceps

How to Perform Preacher Curls

Follow these steps to properly perform preacher curls:

1. Sit on the preacher curl bench with your arms over the pad. The pad should be close to your armpits, and your arms should be flat on the pad. If necessary, raise or lower the seat or pad so that your arms are flat and you are sitting flat.
2. You can use dumbbells, a barbell, or an EZ Curl bar (as in the video below) for this exercise. If you use dumbbells, you will need to hold them while getting into place on the bench, or have someone hand them to you. If you use a barbell, there is typically a rack to set it on below the arm pad.
3. Raise the barbell or dumbbells from a straight arm position to bent elbow position. Move slowly enough that this takes about 2 seconds.
4. Stop BEFORE your forearm is perpendicular to the ground. This keeps constant tension on the bicep muscle.
5. Slowly lower the barbell or dumbbells back to the starting position. Do it slowly enough to at least count to 3.
6. Continue to raise and lower the weight without resting until you have completed the appropriate number of reps. You should be near muscle failure at the end of the set.

Precautions when doing this exercise:

1. If you raise the barbell or dumbbells too far up (to the point where your forearms are vertical) the weight will be resting instead of providing constant resistance to your bicep muscle.
2. Don't move around a lot on the bench to get the weight to move. Use a lighter weight and do the exercise strictly to get the best results and prevent injury.
3. Don't allow your arms to be lowered beyond being straight. You risk a bicep muscle pull or tear.