Barbell Wrist Curl

How to Perform the Barbell Wrist Curl

Sit on a bench and hold a barbell with an underhand grip, hands about shoulder-width apart.
Rest your forearms on your thighs with your wrists extending just past your knees, palms facing upward.
Let the barbell roll down toward your fingertips by extending your wrists downward.
Curl your fingers to grip the bar, then flex your wrists upward as high as possible, squeezing the forearm muscles.
Hold the top position briefly for a peak contraction.
Slowly lower the barbell back down under control and repeat for the prescribed number of reps.

Lifting the forearms off the thighs during the curl

Keep your forearms firmly pressed against your thighs so only the wrists are moving.

Using momentum by jerking the weight

Perform each rep slowly and deliberately; the forearm muscles respond best to controlled, high-rep sets.

Using too heavy a weight

The wrist flexors are small muscles; use moderate weight that allows a full range of motion and proper form.

✓Directly strengthens the wrist flexors for improved grip strength.
✓Builds forearm mass and definition.
✓Improves performance on exercises that require strong grip, such as deadlifts and pull-ups.

●Let the bar roll to your fingertips at the bottom for extra range of motion and finger flexor work.
●Superset wrist curls with wrist extensions for balanced forearm development.
●Perform these at the end of your workout so fatigued forearms do not limit your grip on other exercises.

Strength

4-5 sets of 8-10 reps

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 12-15 reps

Endurance

2-3 sets of 20-30 reps

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