How to do the Barbell Curl
Step by step
- Stand holding a barbell at thigh level with an underhand, shoulder-width grip.
- Keep your elbows pinned close to your sides and your chest up.
- Curl the bar up toward your shoulders by bending only at the elbows.
- Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower the bar slowly to straight arms.
The thing people get wrong
Keep your elbows still at your sides - swinging the bar up with your back and hips takes the work off your biceps and can strain your lower back.
Coaching cue
Take about two seconds to lower the bar instead of dropping it.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Use just the empty bar until your elbows stay still for every rep.
- Harder: Pause a second at the top and lower for a slow three-count.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Biceps
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.