Reverse Barbell Curl

How to Perform the Reverse Barbell Curl

Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell with an overhand (pronated) grip at shoulder width.
Let the barbell hang at arm's length in front of your thighs with your arms fully extended.
Keeping your elbows pinned to your sides, curl the barbell upward by flexing at the elbows.
Lift until your forearms are roughly parallel to the floor or just past 90 degrees.
Squeeze the forearm muscles at the top of the movement.
Slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position with control.
Keep your wrists straight and rigid throughout the entire movement; do not let them flex or extend.
Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Letting the wrists flex or bend backward

Keep your wrists locked in a neutral position throughout the curl to maintain tension on the forearms.

Swinging the body to lift the weight

Keep your torso stationary and elbows pinned; use a lighter weight if you need momentum to complete the curl.

Using too heavy a weight

The forearms and brachioradialis are smaller muscles; use a lighter weight than regular curls and focus on controlled reps.

✓Builds forearm size and grip strength by targeting the brachioradialis and wrist extensors.
✓Addresses muscle imbalances between the biceps and forearm muscles.
✓Improves grip performance for exercises like deadlifts, rows, and pull-ups.

●Start with a lighter weight than you use for regular curls since the overhand grip is a mechanically weaker position.
●Use a thumbless grip (thumb over the bar) to increase forearm engagement.
●Pair with regular barbell curls for complete arm development.

Strength

4-5 sets of 3-5 reps at 80-90% 1RM

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 8-12 reps at 65-75% 1RM

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps at 50-60% 1RM

Join 2,000,000+ lifters tracking their workouts with Stronger. Available on iOS and Android.