BicepsCable machineIntermediate

Bayesian Cable Curl: The Ultimate Guide

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

A Bayesian cable curl is a one-arm biceps curl done facing away from a cable, with your upper arm slightly behind your body. Set up well, the cable is hardest near the bottom of the rep, where the biceps are stretched. It trains the biceps and brachialis. Most lifters do 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps per arm.

Sets x reps 3 x 8-15 per arm

Median 10-rep weight 3516 lbkg men

Muscles Biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis

Setup Hip-height or low pulley, D handle

Bayesian Cable Curl start and top positions

1Start. Back to the stack, D handle in one hand. Step forward until the cable draws your arm slightly behind your body, palm facing forward.
2Top. Curl the handle toward your chest by bending only at the elbow, then lower until your arm is straight.

Watch 3 video demonstrations

Video 1 of 3

Technique

How to do a Bayesian cable curl

Clip a D handle to a pulley at hip height, or on the lowest notch. Take it in one hand and turn your back to the stack.
Walk forward until the cable draws your arm slightly behind your body and the weight lifts off the stack. From a low pulley, keep going until the cable runs close to level.
Stagger your feet, brace your abs and turn your palm to face forward. Your elbow sits just behind your torso and stays there.
Curl the handle toward your shoulder by bending only at the elbow.
Lower over 2 to 3 seconds until your arm is fully straight and you feel the stretch in your biceps.

Setup

Where you stand changes the Bayesian curl

A cable pulls with the same force all rep, but not with the same leverage on your elbow. The curl is hardest when your forearm is at a right angle to the cable, so the closer the cable runs to level, the closer to arms-straight the hardest point sits. The curves are modelled for an arm held 20 degrees behind the body, with the shoulder 2 ft (0.6 m) or 5 ft (1.6 m) in front of a low pulley, or 3 ft (1 m) in front of a hip-height one.

Resistance through the rep by pulley height and stance

Low pulley, stepped well forward. The cable runs 25 to 30 degrees below level. Hardest a third of the way up, with the bottom loaded.

Low pulley, standing close. The cable runs along your forearm at the bottom, so the stretch carries almost no load. Hardest near halfway, like a dumbbell curl.

Pulley at hip height. The cable runs level. Hardest with your arm almost straight, and the top of the rep goes light.

What to do

Set the pulley at hip height, or step well forward from a low one. Training the curl with the arms nearly straight grew the biceps more than training the top half (Sato 2021, Kassiano 2023). Pulling your arm further back does not add load at the bottom: with a low pulley it moves the hardest point up the rep.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you Bayesian curl?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 35 lb (16 kg) for 10 reps on the bayesian cable curl.

Men, typical 35 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 27.5 to 55 lb
Top 10% lift: 75 lb or more
Starting out: under 27.5 lb

Men, typical 16 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 12 to 25 kg
Top 10% lift: 35 kg or more
Starting out: under 12 kg

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 3,608 men who log the bayesian cable curl on Gravitus, computed Sep 30, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men
25th	37.5 / 27.5 lb
Median	50 / 35 lb
75th	75 / 55 lb
90th	100 / 75 lb

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 3,608 men who log the bayesian cable curl on Gravitus, computed Sep 30, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men
25th	17 / 12 kg
Median	22.5 / 16 kg
75th	32.5 / 25 kg
90th	45 / 35 kg

These are one-arm loads on a single cable. Stack numbers are not comparable between machines: many functional trainers use a 2:1 pulley, where the 40 lb pin feels like 20 lb, and where you stand changes how heavy the same pin feels. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine.

Research

What the research says

Two 10-week trials have tested the arm-behind-the-body position directly. One-arm Bayesian cable curls grew the biceps 9% and preacher cable curls 6% to 7%, a gap too small to call (Attarieh 2025). In the second trial, cable curls with the shoulder fully extended or at neutral grew the elbow flexors by the same 6% to 9% when the resistance was matched (Larsen 2026). What the Bayesian curl adds is load at the bottom of the rep, where training grows the biceps most (Sato 2021).

Four common claims the research does not back:

It builds the long head more. The long head crosses the shoulder, so it is longer with your arm behind you. But in both trials the biceps grew the same at every site measured, whatever the shoulder angle.
Cables give constant tension. The pull on the cable stays the same, but its leverage on your elbow does not. With a hip-height pulley the top of the rep carries almost no load, as the chart above shows.
It works the biceps harder than a regular curl. At 80% of each lift's max, the dumbbell curl drew more biceps activity than the Bayesian curl (Parpa 2025). Activity is not growth, and the growth trials put the Bayesian level with other curls.
The name means it is evidence-based. It is named after Bayesian Bodybuilding, the coaching company of Menno Henselmans, who popularized it.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

Biceps, long and short headBend the elbow and turn the palm up. Grew 9% at every site in the Bayesian arm (Attarieh 2025).

Primary

BrachialisBends the elbow in any grip. Grew 8% in the same trial.

Primary

BrachioradialisHelps bend the elbow, more with a neutral grip.

Secondary

Forearms, front delts, coreGrip the handle, stop the cable pulling your arm further back and keep your torso still.

Stabilizer

Setups

Ways to set it up

StandardStanding, one armSingle D handle. The easiest to set up and to load.

Both armsDual cableFace away between the two pulleys of a crossover. Saves time, but both arms are harder to keep still.

SupportedSeatedA bench or chair holds your torso still. The Bayesian arm in the preacher-curl trial trained seated (Attarieh 2025).

Palms inRope or hammer gripLess biceps than palms up.

The same rule applies to every version: keep the cable close to level with your arm straight, and your elbow still.

Compare

Bayesian vs incline dumbbell vs preacher curl

Attribute	Bayesian cable curl	Incline dumbbell curl	Preacher curl
Upper arm	Behind your body	Behind your body	In front of your body
Hardest point	Near the bottom, set by your stance	Halfway, nothing at the bottom	Lower half
Growth research	9% in 10 weeks	No trial against the Bayesian	6% to 7% in the same trial (cable)

Verdict

A tie for growth. Bayesian and preacher cable curls built the biceps and brachialis about equally over 10 weeks (Attarieh 2025). The incline dumbbell curl puts your arm in the same place but is light at the bottom, where the Bayesian curl is hardest. Pick the one that suits your gym and your elbows, or rotate them.

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3Sets per arm

8-15Reps

0-2Reps left

Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets go close to failure (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range you can keep strict. Start with your weaker arm and match its reps with the other.

Stack jumps of 5 to 10 lb are big for one arm. Add reps first: when every set reaches the top of your range, move up one plate and drop back to the bottom of the range.

Form

Common mistakes

Standing on top of a low pulleyThe cable runs along your forearm at the bottom and the stretch carries no load. Step well forward, or raise the pulley to hip height.
Elbow drifting forwardIt turns into a regular cable curl and the front delts help. Keep your elbow just behind your side.
Stopping short at the bottomThe stretched part is the point of the exercise. Straighten your arm fully every rep.
Pulling the arm far backWith a low pulley the hardest point moves up the rep, and the front of the shoulder takes the strain. Slightly behind your body is enough.
Swinging the torsoYour hips lift the weight, not your biceps. Stagger your feet, brace and go lighter.

Variations

Bayesian curl alternatives

Incline Dumbbell CurlThe same arm position with dumbbells. Hardest halfway, light at the bottom.

Incline Cable CurlA cable curl lying back on an incline bench. The bench holds your torso still.

Preacher CurlUpper arm on a pad in front of you. Grew the biceps as much as the Bayesian in its cable version (Attarieh 2025).

Cable Preacher CurlA preacher curl on a low pulley, loaded near the bottom.

Cable CurlFacing the stack with both hands on a bar. Heavier loads, less stretch.

Drag CurlBar dragged up your body with the elbows moving back.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What does Bayesian curl target?

The biceps, both heads, and the brachialis, with the brachioradialis helping. What sets it apart is load on the biceps with the arm straight and stretched.

How to set up Bayesian cable curls?

Put a D handle on a pulley at hip height or the lowest notch. Face away, hold the handle and step forward until the cable draws your arm slightly behind your body. From a low pulley, step far enough that the cable runs close to level.

Is the Bayesian curl better than the incline dumbbell curl?

No trial has compared them. Both put your arm behind your body, but the incline dumbbell curl is light at the bottom and hardest halfway, while a well set-up Bayesian curl is hardest near the bottom. If you have a cable, the Bayesian loads the stretch better.

Do Bayesian curls work the long head?

Yes, along with the short head, but no study shows they favor it. In two 10-week trials, curling with the arm behind the body grew the biceps no more than curling with it in front or at your side (Attarieh 2025, Larsen 2026).

How much weight should I use for Bayesian cable curls?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 35 lb (16 kg) for men. The strongest quarter lifts 55 lb (25 kg) or more.

Gravitus See where your bayesian cable curl ranks

Log every set and see your percentile on every lift, bayesian cable curl included.

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References