Dumbbell Preacher Curl

How to Perform the Dumbbell Preacher Curl

Sit or stand at a preacher bench and place the back of your upper arm flat against the angled pad.
Hold a dumbbell with an underhand (supinated) grip and let your arm extend fully down the pad.
Curl the dumbbell upward by flexing your biceps, keeping your upper arm pressed firmly against the pad.
Raise the dumbbell until your forearm is roughly vertical and you feel a strong peak contraction.
Slowly lower the dumbbell back toward full extension under control, resisting gravity on the way down.
Stop just short of full lockout to maintain tension on the biceps, then repeat.

Lifting the upper arm off the pad during the curl

Keep your arm pressed firmly against the pad throughout; if you must lift off, reduce the weight.

Lowering the weight too fast on the eccentric

Use a controlled 2-3 second lowering phase to maximize muscle damage and growth stimulus.

Fully locking out at the bottom

Stop just short of full extension to protect the elbow joint and maintain constant tension.

✓Eliminates all momentum for pure biceps isolation.
✓The angled pad emphasizes the short head of the biceps for improved peak appearance.
✓Allows unilateral training to address arm size imbalances.

●Use one arm at a time for better focus and a stronger mind-muscle connection.
●The preacher bench position emphasizes the short head of the biceps for better peak development.
●Try different angles on the preacher pad to vary the resistance curve.

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.