Barbell Curl

What it is

This isolation exercise primarily strengthens your biceps, helping to build strong and defined arms. You perform a controlled curl movement with a barbell, focusing tension on the upper arm muscles. It also engages your forearms as secondary stabilizers throughout the lift.

Technique tips

• Keep your elbows fixed close to your torso.
• Only your forearms should move during the curl.
• Exhale as you lift the weight, inhale slowly lowering it.
• Squeeze your biceps hard at the peak contraction.
• Control the bar's descent back to the starting position.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.