Close-Grip Standing Barbell CurlMuscles Worked
The close-grip barbell curl works your biceps, with your forearms helping to grip and steady the bar. Holding the bar with your hands closer than shoulder width shifts more of the work to the long head on the outer side of the biceps.
How to do it
- Hold a barbell with an underhand grip, hands closer than shoulder width and about a fist or two apart.
- Stand tall with your feet about shoulder width, elbows at your sides and the bar resting against your thighs.
- Curl the bar up in an arc until it's close to your upper chest, keeping your elbows in place.
- Squeeze your biceps briefly at the top.
- Lower the bar slowly until your arms are straight, then go right into the next rep.
Form tips
- Don't lean back or bump the bar with your hips to get it moving.
- If the narrow grip bothers your wrists, the inner handles of an EZ bar give a similar close grip.
- Keep your wrists straight rather than curling them in at the top.
Why it made the list
No. 12 of 12
Best Bicep Exercises
Close grip shifts emphasis to the outer (long) head of the bicep. A simple grip variation for targeted development.
More bicep exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Close-Grip Standing Barbell 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.
