Cable Preacher CurlMuscles Worked
The cable preacher curl works your biceps, with your forearms helping to hold the bar. Because the cable pulls from below and in front, tension stays on the biceps near the top of the curl, where a dumbbell preacher curl starts to feel light.
How to do it
- Set a preacher bench facing a low pulley, close enough that the cable runs up to your hands at an angle, and attach a straight or EZ bar.
- Sit with your armpits snug against the top of the pad and the backs of your upper arms flat on it.
- Take the bar with your palms up, getting a partner to pass it to you if it's hard to reach from the seat, and start with your arms nearly straight.
- Curl the bar toward your shoulders and squeeze your biceps hard at the top for a moment.
- Lower slowly until your arms are close to straight, keeping your upper arms on the pad.
Form tips
- Stop just short of locking out at the bottom so the tension stays on the biceps.
- Keep your upper arms on the pad; lifting them off to finish the rep turns it into a shoulder movement.
Why it made the list
No. 11 of 12
Best Bicep Exercises
Cable preacher curl provides constant tension in the peak contraction zone where dumbbells lose tension.
More bicep exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Cable Preacher Curl sets in KasMaker and watch your biceps and forearms fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
