Palms-Down Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Bench

What it is

This isolation exercise strengthens the muscles on the top of your forearms, specifically targeting the wrist extensors. You perform it by gripping dumbbells with your palms facing down, while your forearms are fully supported on a bench. This movement is designed to precisely build grip strength and forearm endurance.

Technique tips

• Rest your forearms flat on the bench, allowing only your wrists to hang free.
• Maintain a palms-down grip on the dumbbells throughout the movement.
• Keep your forearms stationary; only your wrists should flex and extend.
• Exhale as you curl your wrists upwards and inhale as you lower them.
• Control the weight through the full range of motion, both up and down.

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.