Barbell Curl: How To, Benefits, Muscles Worked, and Variations

If you ask a kid to flaunt his muscles, he would probably flex his arms to show off his biceps — love for strong and jacked arms is deeply engraved into our psyche.

The barbell curl is an isolation exercise that builds muscle and strength in the arms, and it’s probably the first exercise most people start their bicep training with.

If you have been doing the barbell curls for a while but can’t seem to obtain the manifested results, then you are probably doing it wrong! This article will discuss everything about barbell curls and help you re-learn the proper techniques.

Muscle Worked

Performing barbell curls targets the following muscles: 

• Primary muscles: Barbell curl is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the biceps brachii — long and short head. The long head develops a better bicep peak, and the short head enhances the thickness. 
• Secondary muscles: Brachialis and brachioradialis are the stabilizer muscles that operate in synergy with the biceps brachii to flex the forearm at the elbow. Also, adding thickness and size to the arms.

How To Perform Barbell Curl 

This is how to perform barbell curls with perfection. 

1. Load the barbell with the appropriate weight. 
2. Grab the bar with a supinated grip at shoulder width. 
3. Stand upright with arms fully extended, chest up, and shoulder blades retracted. 
4. Keeping the elbows close to the torso. This should be your starting position. 
5. Exhale and curl the barbell up until it reaches shoulder level. 
6. Hold the contraction for a movement. 
7. Inhale and slowly lower the barbell to the starting position. 
8. Repeat for the desired number of reps. 

Form Tips:

Below are some form tips to make the most of the barbell curl:

• Master the proper breathing techniques before you try to go heavy. Exhale as you curl the bar up and inhale as you lower the bar.
• Keep the core braced and engaged throughout the movement.
• Make sure you are not using the momentum to lift the weight up.
• Pinch your shoulder blades together to keep the chest up and maintain good posture.
• Squeeze the bar hard to boost muscle activation.
• Don’t let the bar drop quickly. Controlled eccentric boosts muscle gain.

Benefits of Barbell Curl

In pursuit of being the stronger version of yourself, training arms may take a back seat to popular compound moves like squats, deadlifts, and presses. However, paying attention to the barbell curls offers the following benefits: 

1. Builds Strength and Size

There is no secret that the barbell curl is one of the most effective exercises to add strength and size to the arms. It targets the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis to improve the overall size and strength. 

The barbell curl is a bilateral movement, meaning you will be able to train heavier. Resulting in enhanced muscle activation, significant CNS fatigue, and improved strength.

2. Boost Functional Fitness

Your arms are the most functional part of your body and are used in almost every daily activity.

Strong arms mean you will be able to lift heavier objects, run faster, throw powerful punches, and minimize the chances of elbow or wrist injuries.  

3. Improved Grip Strength

It’s said that “you are as strong as your grip.” That’s the reason wrestlers and power athletes extensively train their grip strengths. Having a solid grip strength instantly boost the raw strength. Don’t believe us? The next time you do the deadlift or bench press, squeeze the barbell as hard as you can — the weight will feel lighter. 

When you do heavy barbell curls, it’s not just the arms that are working hard — forearms and grip strength are getting benefited too. Additionally, barbell curl is an exercise that allows you to train with a heavier load compared to other arm-specific exercises. 

Common Mistakes

The barbell curl is a very effective arm builder and a staple movement; however, we still don’t see many guys with sleeve-splitting guns. Let’s look at common arm training mistakes that are probably blocking you from growing a mountain peak.

Many mistakes that we are about to discuss are not particularly the barbell curl mistakes, but the mistakes that might be sabotaging the growth of your biceps and are applicable in almost every bicep exercise.

1. Pairing it Wrong

Do you train the biceps after a back workout? You are probably not doing justice to them.

One of the big mistakes that are stopping you from developing bigger and stronger biceps is that you pair it with the back workout and leave the bicep curls for the later part of your training.

After a few sets of heavy deadlifts, lat pulls, and rows, there isn’t enough fuel left in the bicep to train at full potential. If you want to emphasize the bicep development — it’s time to train them separately.   

2. Using Too Much Momentum

Using the momentum might help you curl out a few more reps, but that’s taking off the stress from the biceps. Stand straight, keep your elbows pinned to the sides, and engage your biceps to curl the barbell up.

Leave cheat curls for the advanced lifers, who have already mastered the strict barbell curls.

3. Rushing Through the Reps

You should not rush through the reps if you are training for hypertrophy. Hypertrophy comes with the combination of time under tension and training volume.

We understand your urge to complete the desired number of reps before fatigue kicks in. However, that’s not how new growth happens — slow down the tempo, focus on muscle contraction, and slow down the eccentric portion to help your guns grow big.

If you are not focusing on the eccentric portion of your lifts, then you are leaving substantial muscle gains on the table. 

4. Partial Range of Motion

A partial range of motion restricts you from optimizing the muscle gains and it’s a very common mistake.

Maybe you are not extending the arms all the way to the bottom, or you might not be bringing the weight to the top. “Ego lift” is a habit where nothing grows, and it’s cruising you towards potential injury.

5. Lacking Mind-Muscle Connection

Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate! Inadequate mind-muscle connection is a major reason behind not being able to achieve the desired physique goal. Here are a few tips to boost mind-muscle connection:

• Flex in between every set.
• Hold every contraction for two seconds.
• Slow down the tempo, especially the eccentric portion.
• Focus on training muscles, not lifting weights.

6. Doing the Same Exercise for a Long Time

Bringing variety to the training routine allows you to stimulate the muscle differently, and you will be able to add more value to each training session. You have to remember the novelty factor when trying to build muscle mass. 

7 Barbell Bicep Curl Variations

Barbell curls are great, but doing them for a long time will lead to a plateau. Let’s look at some variations that will keep the novelty factor alive.

Plus, introducing variations in the workout allows you to target the muscle fibers through various angles — inducing growth and hypertrophy. 

1. Close Grip Barbell Curls

Training with a barbell facilitates multiple gripping options. Grabbing the bar with a close grip enables one to focus more on the long head of the bicep.

How to do it:

1. Grab the bar with a supinated grip, slightly closer than shoulder-width.
2. Stand upright with arms fully extended, and shoulder blades retracted.
3. Keeping the elbows close to the torso. This should be your starting position.
4. Exhale and curl the barbell up until it reaches shoulder level.
5. Hold the contraction for a movement.
6. Inhale and slowly lower the barbell to the starting position.
7. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Pro tip: Focus on the slow eccentric movement, and keep the core braced.

Benefits:

• Long head muscle is responsible for the bicep peak.

2. Wide Grip Barbell Curls

The wide grip is just the opposite of the close-grip version. Wide grip barbell curls allow you to focus on the short head of the bicep. 

How to do it: 

1. Grab the bar with a supinated grip, wider than shoulder-width.
2. Stand upright with arms fully extended, and shoulder blades retracted.
3. Keeping the elbows close to the torso. This should be your starting position.
4. Exhale and curl the barbell up until it reaches shoulder level.
5. Hold the contraction for a movement.
6. Inhale and slowly lower the barbell to the starting position.
7. Repeat for the desired reps.

Pro tips: Hold every contraction for two seconds. 

Benefits:

• Emphasizing the short head enhances the thickness of the biceps.
• Improves front double biceps pose.

3. Standing Reverse Curl

It’s performed just like the standard barbell curl but with a pronated grip. The focus of the reverse barbell curl is to work on the brachioradialis (anterior part of your forearm).

How to do it:

1. Grab the bar with a pronated grip at shoulder width.
2. Stand upright with arms fully extended.
3. Keeping the elbows close to the torso.
4. Exhale and curl the barbell up.
5. Hold the contraction for a movement.
6. Inhale and slowly lower the barbell until your arms are fully extended.
7. Repeat for the desired reps.

Pro tip: Maintain an upright posture and keep your elbows pinned to the sides.

Benefits:

• Grow bigger and stronger forearms.
• Improves grip strength.

4. Barbell Preacher Curl

Building an eye-catching set of arms takes precision and a solid mind-muscle connection. The preacher curl is best known for its ability to develop impressive bicep peaks.

The preacher curl is a barbell curl variation performed by resting the elbows on an angled bench. It allows you to fix the elbows in one position and prevents cheating. 

How to do it:

1. Lean towards the angled pad of the preacher curl bench.
2. Rest your armpits on the upper edge of the pad. Ensure the back of your arms is placed flat on the pad.
3. Extend your arms to grab the loaded bar with a supinated grip.
4. Curl the weight up until your forearms are vertical to the floor.
5. Make sure your elbows are pointing forward, and your arms are parallel to each other.
6. Slowly bring down the barbell until your arms are fully extended.
7. Repeat for the desired reps.

Pro tip: Maintain a strong back, don’t let the shoulders drag forward. Squeeze through the pinkies on the barbell for the bicep peak. 

Benefits:

• Improves bicep isolation.
• Prevents cheating.
• Enables better focus on negative movement.

5. Spider Curl

It’s an excellent exercise to target the inner biceps or short head. Spider curls, also known as prone incline curls, are a cheat-free exercise because your upper body is supported against the bench. Using momentum to lift the weight in this position is very hard.

How to do it:

1. Set an adjustable bench to about 45 degrees, and place your chest against the inclined pad.
2. Grab the barbell with a supinated grip at shoulder width.
3. Curl the weight up to your shoulder level.
4. Lower it with a slow and controlled motion.
5. Perform for the recommended number of reps.

Pro tip: Choose a lightweight and focus on muscle contraction and lengthening.

Benefits:

• One of the best isolation exercises for arms.
• Prevents cheat reps.
• Facilitates full range of motion and puts muscles under constant tension.

6. Seated Barbell Curl

Standard barbell curls target not only the biceps brachii but also the brachialis and brachioradialis. Brachialis and brachioradialis are primarily the first movers during the first half of your standard barbell curl.

How to do it: 

1. Hold a barbell with a shoulder-width, supinated grip. Sit on the bench and rest the barbell on your thighs.
2. Keeping your back upright, bend your arms and curl the bar to your shoulder level.
3. Lower the bar to the starting position.
4. Repeat for the desired reps.

Pro tip: You can switch between wide, narrow, and regular grips to optimize the bicep development.

Benefits:

• Seated barbell curls also address the sticking point of regular barbell curls.
• Restricted range of motion allows you to focus more on the biceps brachii.

7. Cheat Curls

There is a lot of fuss about cheat curls; some think they are great strength builders, and others disagree. Whether the cheat curls are good or bad depends on the way you employ them in your workout.

Cheat curl is a variation that allows you to use the body momentum to smash really heavy curls while focusing on the slow and controlled eccentric portion. The purpose of the cheat curl is to let the muscle fibers adapt to heavier loads and break through the plateau.

How to do it:

1. Grab the bar with a supinated grip, at shoulder-width. 
2. Stand upright with arms fully extended, core tight, and shoulder blades retracted. 
3. Use hip drive and body swing to get the movement started and curl the barbell up to reach shoulder level. 
4. Hold the contraction for a second. 
5. Slowly bring the barbell down to starting position. 
6. Repeat for the desired reps. 

Pro tip: Keep your wrist slightly flexed to improve bicep activation.

Benefits:

• Build impressive arm strength. 
• Grow bigger and stronger forearms. 

Related: Complete guide to cheat curls for bigger biceps

Wrapping Up:

If you are serious about adding slabs of meat to your arms, then barbell curls and their variations are the must-have in your training program.

However, it’s always wise to pair it with a proper warm-up routine to get the blood flowing into the muscle fibers before you annihilate them for growth and hypertrophy. Make sure you are using the proper form and techniques to obtain the desired physique goal. 

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