Machine Preacher CurlsMuscles Worked
Machine preacher curls work your biceps with very little help from anything else. The pad locks your upper arms in place and the machine guides the path, so there's no way to swing the weight, which makes it a simple way to train the biceps hard.
PrimaryBiceps
- Equipment
- Machine
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Adjust the seat so your armpits sit snugly over the top of the pad and your upper arms rest flat on it.
- Grab the handles with an underhand grip, keeping your elbows lined up with the machine's pivot point.
- Curl the handles up toward your shoulders while your upper arms stay pressed into the pad.
- Squeeze your biceps for a second at the top.
- Bring the handles down slowly until your arms are almost straight, then start the next rep before the stack touches down.
Form tips
- If your elbows sit out of line with the machine's pivot, the resistance feels uneven, so fix the seat height first.
- Don't lift your elbows off the pad or lean back to finish a rep.
- Control the bottom of each rep instead of letting your arms snap straight.
Why it made the list
No. 8 of 12
Best Bicep Exercises
Machine-guided preacher curl isolates the bicep with zero momentum. Great for beginners and focused hypertrophy.
More bicep exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Machine Preacher Curls sets in KasMaker and watch your biceps fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
