BicepsBarbellBeginner

How to Do Barbell Curls

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

A barbell curl is a biceps exercise done standing with a straight bar. Hold it palms up at about shoulder width, keep your elbows at your sides and curl the bar to your shoulders. It trains the biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps.

Sets x reps 3-4 x 6-12

Median 10-rep weight 6530 lbkg men 32.515 lbkg women

Muscles Biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis

Grip Palms up, shoulder width

1Start. Underhand grip about shoulder width, hands just outside your thighs. Stand tall with the bar against your thighs and your arms straight.
2Top. Bend at the elbows and curl the bar to your shoulders. Your elbows can rise a little at the very top. Lower over 2 to 3 seconds.

Watch 3 video demonstrations

Video 1 of 3

Find more video demonstrations in the Gravitus app

Technique

How to do a barbell curl

A barbell loads the curl the same way a dumbbell does: light with your arms straight, hardest with your forearms level. Our dumbbell curl guide charts it through the rep.

Load the bar evenly and clip the plates. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees soft.
Grab the bar palms up at about shoulder width, hands just outside your thighs. The bar sits deep in your palms and your wrists stay straight.
Stand tall with the bar against your thighs, arms straight and elbows at your sides.
Curl the bar toward your shoulders by bending at the elbows. Keep your elbows by your sides until the bar passes halfway; a small rise at the very top is fine.
Lower over 2 to 3 seconds until the bar touches your thighs, then start the next rep without bouncing.

Grip

Where to put your hands

DefaultShoulder widthHands just outside your thighs, forearms straight up and down. The most weight, and the easiest on most wrists.

WideOutside the shouldersYour upper arms turn out and the front delts work harder. Gravitus men log about 15% less weight.

CloseInside the shouldersYour wrists bend sideways to hold the bar. Fine if it feels good, and an EZ bar if it does not.

Sore wristsSwitch to an EZ barThe angled grip turns your palms partway in, for almost the same biceps work.

Hold the bar where your forearms hang straight down from your elbows with your palms forward. For most lifters that is about shoulder width, hands just outside the thighs. Your forearms angle out slightly from the elbow when your palms face forward, so a much narrower grip bends your wrists sideways. A wider grip turns your upper arms out: with a straight bar held a little wider than the shoulders, competitive bodybuilders showed 6% more front delt activity than with an EZ bar (Coratella 2023). No study has shown that grip width shifts work between the two heads of the biceps; our EZ bar curl guide covers the grip research.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you barbell curl?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 65 lb (30 kg) for 10 reps on the barbell curl, and the median woman 32.5 lb (15 kg).

Men, typical 65 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 50 to 75 lb
Top 10% lift: 90 lb or more
Starting out: under 50 lb

Women, typical 32.5 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 27.5 to 40 lb
Top 10% lift: 45 lb or more
Starting out: under 27.5 lb

Men, typical 30 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 22.5 to 35 kg
Top 10% lift: 40 kg or more
Starting out: under 22.5 kg

Women, typical 15 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 13 to 18 kg
Top 10% lift: 20 kg or more
Starting out: under 13 kg

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 16,776 men and 3,038 women who log the barbell curl on Gravitus, computed Oct 4, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	70 / 50 lb	37.5 / 27.5 lb
Median	85 / 65 lb	45 / 32.5 lb
75th	105 / 75 lb	55 / 40 lb
90th	120 / 90 lb	60 / 45 lb

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 16,776 men and 3,038 women who log the barbell curl on Gravitus, computed Oct 4, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	30 / 22.5 kg	17 / 13 kg
Median	40 / 30 kg	20 / 15 kg
75th	47.5 / 35 kg	25 / 18 kg
90th	52.5 / 40 kg	27.5 / 20 kg

These are total weights, bar included. A standard Olympic bar weighs 45 lb (20 kg), more than many newer lifters curl for 10 reps, so start with a fixed-weight barbell or an EZ bar. At the median, Gravitus lifters log about the same weight for straight-bar and EZ bar curls, and men log about twice what they curl per dumbbell.

Research

Cheat curls: when swinging helps

A cheat curl uses a hip and back swing to get the bar past the hard middle of the rep, so you can handle more weight than you can curl strictly. In the only training study so far, 25 untrained adults curled a dumbbell with one arm strictly and swung the other, 4 sets to failure twice a week for 8 weeks. The swinging arm lifted far more total weight, and both arms grew the same (Augustin 2025). The swing neither added muscle nor cost any.

That study had beginners cheat on every rep. No study has yet tested the way most lifters use cheat curls, so use them on purpose:

After strict sets, not instead of them. Do your strict sets first, then add 2 to 3 cheat reps at the end of the last set.
Swing only enough to get past halfway. Then finish with your arms and lower over 2 to 3 seconds.
Drive with your hips. Keep your lower back neutral instead of jerking it back.

A related claim, that your elbows must never move, is too strict. When competitive bodybuilders let their elbows rise about 30 degrees at the top of a barbell curl, biceps activity on the way up was 18% higher, along with more front delt work (Coratella 2023). A small rise at the finish is fine. Letting the elbows drift forward to start the rep is the mistake.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

Biceps, long and short headBends the elbow and turns the palm up. A straight bar holds your palms fully up for the whole rep.

Primary

BrachialisBends the elbow in any grip.

Primary

BrachioradialisThe forearm muscle on the thumb side. Helps bend the elbow in every grip.

Secondary

Forearms, front delts, coreHold the bar, the shoulders and the torso still.

Stabilizer

Compare

Barbell vs EZ bar vs dumbbell curl

Attribute	Barbell	EZ bar	Dumbbell
Palms	Fully up	Up and turned partway in	Turn up as you curl
Biceps activity	Highest, by 2%	Within 2% of a straight bar	Lower than an EZ bar in one study
Wrists	Hard on some wrists	Easier than a straight bar	Free to rotate
Weight logged	Baseline	About the same	About half per hand
Weight jumps	2.5 lb or less	2.5 lb or less	5 lb per hand

Verdict

Close to a tie. The straight bar's edge over the EZ bar was 2% of biceps activity (Coratella 2023), and a dumbbell curl loads the rep the same way. Use the straight bar if your wrists are happy with it, and the EZ bar if they are not.

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3-4Sets

6-12Reps

0-2Reps left

Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range you can keep strict.

A bar takes small jumps. Add reps first: when every set reaches the top of your range, add the smallest plates you have to each side and drop back to the bottom of the range.

Form

Common mistakes

Swinging from the first repYour hips and back lift the weight. Go lighter until the first reps are strict, and save the swing for the last reps of the last set.
Elbows drifting forward to start the repYour front delts lift the bar. Keep your elbows by your sides until the bar passes halfway.
Wrists bent backThe bar rolls into your fingers and strains the forearms. Hold it deep in your palms with straight wrists.
Grip too narrowYour wrists bend sideways to reach the bar. Move your hands out until your forearms hang straight.
Bouncing off the thighsThe bounce starts the next rep for you. Touch the thighs lightly and curl from a dead stop.
Dropping the weightLower over 2 to 3 seconds instead of letting the bar fall.

Variations

Barbell curl variations

Wide Grip Barbell CurlHands outside the shoulders. More front delt work, and about 15% less weight.

Close-grip barbell curlHands inside the shoulders. The same muscles, harder on the wrists.

Wall curlBack and elbows against a wall, so you cannot swing. Gravitus men log about the same weight as on regular barbell curls.

Drag CurlDrag the bar up your torso as your elbows move back behind you.

Barbell Preacher CurlUpper arms on a pad in front of you. Loaded at the bottom, where the standing curl is light.

Reverse Barbell CurlPalms down. More forearm work with less weight.

Barbell 21s7 reps in the bottom half, 7 in the top half, then 7 full reps.

EZ Bar CurlAn angled bar that turns your palms partway in. Easier on the wrists.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What muscles do barbell curls work?

The biceps and the brachialis, with the brachioradialis helping. Your forearms, front delts and core hold you still.

How wide should my grip be on a barbell curl?

About shoulder width, with your hands just outside your thighs and your forearms hanging straight. Narrower bends the wrists, and wider turns the upper arms out and adds front delt work. No study has shown grip width favoring one head of the biceps.

Why do barbell curls hurt my wrists?

A straight bar holds both palms fully up. If your forearms cannot turn that far, or your grip is narrower than your forearms hang, your wrists bend to make up the difference. Widen your grip to shoulder width, hold the bar deep in your palms, or switch to an EZ bar.

Are cheat curls good for biceps growth?

They work, but they are not better. In an 8-week study, the arm that swung lifted far more weight and grew the same as the strict arm (Augustin 2025). Use a few cheat reps after your strict sets, and lower each one under control.

Should you bend your knees when curling?

Keep them soft, not locked, so you stand balanced. Do not dip and drive with your legs unless you mean to do a cheat curl.

Is barbell curl push or pull?

Pull. The biceps pulls your forearm toward your upper arm, so barbell curls fit on a pull day with rows and pulldowns.

Is barbell curl a compound exercise?

No. Only the elbow bends, so it is an isolation exercise. Chin-ups and rows are the compound lifts that also train the biceps.

How much weight should I barbell curl?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 65 lb (30 kg) for men and 32.5 lb (15 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 75 lb (35 kg) and 40 lb (18 kg) or more.

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References