Preacher Curl: How To Do It Correctly And Best Variation

Standing Preacher curls are a biceps isolation exercise. Performed with your upper arms fixed to an incline bench, they’re a very strict movement, and it’s almost impossible to cheat the weight up.

With your arms stand at about 30-45 degrees in front of your body, the long head of your biceps is not much active during preacher curls as it is in other biceps exercises. This puts more tension on the short head, which is what gives your biceps their thickness.

The standing preacher curl, as the name implies, is the standing version of the basic seated preacher curl. You may also stand on the reverse side of the bench to execute the movement similar to a spider curl.

In this article, we are going to explains:

• What is preacher curl
• Its benefits
• How to do the preacher curl with the proper form.
• We’ll then discuss the training tips that will help you to get the most from this movement.
• Best variation and alternate of preacher curl

Know More About Biceps Brachii Heads

Your biceps brachii has two heads: short (inner) and long (outer).

The long head constitutes the majority of your biceps peak, while the short head sits to the inner side, which add thickness.

Using a regular grip during curl, will place approximately equal emphasis on both heads.

Curling with your elbows back behind you will emphasize the long head and build the peak of your biceps.

And curling with your elbows in front of your body will emphasize the short head and give your biceps more width.

Muscles Worked During Preacher Curl

The preacher curl is going to primarily work the biceps, particularly the short head.

In addition to its target, the bicep. The spider curl has the involvement of several synergist muscles, these muscles include,

• Brachialis,
• Brachioradialis

A handful of other muscles worked or play the role of stabilizer muscles, include your

• Wrist flexors,
• Obliques, and
• Rectus abdominis.

Secondary stabilizing muscles worked during standing preacher curl are: Core, back and leg muscle.

What Are The Benefits Of Preacher Curls?

Apart from the obvious advantage of thicker-looking biceps, preacher curls are a great way to increase general upper-body strength. This makes it a brilliant choice of exercise to train for other weightlifting exercises.

The following are some benefits of the preacher curl exercise:

• Lifters who do the same exercises over and over will reach a plateau and cannot seem to get their biceps any bigger. If this describes you, then spider curl may provide greater results.
• The main advantage of executing incline prone curls is that having your arms stretched. This causes more metabolic stress, which in turn leads to an increase in the size of the biceps. 
• While there is a lot of emphasis on building the bicep peak through workouts that focus on the long head, using exercises that exercise the short head like the preacher curl will give the arm a more symmetrical look.
• Preacher curl provides a broader range of motion, thus, increasing movement efficiency. It gives a greater possibility of strength as well as size growth. 
• It will add freshness to your bicep workout and help to fill up the biceps and increase muscular growth.

Standing Barbell Preacher Curl

The body should be positioned to allow the armpit to rest near the top of the pad. The back of the upper arm should remain on pad throughout movement.

How To Do It

1. Standing with a staggered stance close to the preacher curl bench. Placing the back of your upper arms on the preacher bench pad, grab the barbell or EZ bar.
2. Curl the EZ bar until it reaches your shoulder level and gets maximum contraction at the top.
3. Hold the position for 1-3 seconds and then lower the bar so that your arms are again fully extended.
4. Repeats the desired number of sets.

Spider Curl Form And Tips.

It is difficult to cheat during the preacher curl, since you are working on the bench. However, this does not rule out the possibility that you are making some errors.

Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs.

• Make sure to keep your upper arms flat on the bench during the exercise to eliminate cheating. Only your biceps should be used to move the weight.
• The ideal bench angle for preacher curls is between 30-45 degrees.
• Don’t underestimate the pause at the top of your curl, and take a moment to squeeze your bicep when you get there.
• A slow controlled descent will increase time under tension, leading to more effective sets, and less risk of injury.
• Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement.
• Incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program.
• Rest for 24 to 48 hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

Best Prone Incline Dumbbell Curl Variations

There are many variations of preacher curl that you can do with dumbbells, barbell and machine

The preacher Curl can be done in different ways to suit your fitness level.

If you are new to performing preacher curl, you may want to apply a few modifications to make the exercise easier. One way to counter this problem is to use a lighter weight. Another option is to do preacher curl with a single dumbbell, and do machine preacher curl.

If you are looking for a more advanced variation to stimulate different muscle fibers in the bicep, then try reverse preacher curl and heavier weight.

1. Close Grip Preacher Curl

Preacher curl is the another great exercise for your barbell bicep workout.

It is the best exercise to build a long head of biceps. You can get fullness in this crucial area by giving your arms a complete look.

If you have a long tendon, then preacher curl is the best barbell exercise to build a longer biceps lower head and get a full biceps pump.

How To Do It

1. Get seated on the Preacher Bench with your chest against the support and hold the barbell with a close grip (can be hip width or closer).
2. Curl the bar as in standard barbell curl and get maximum contraction at the top.
3. Lowering the bar slowly gives constant stress throughout the movement. Lowers the bar to get the maximum extension.
4. Repeats the desired number of sets.

2. Standing Dumbbell Preacher Curl

The standing dumbbell preacher curl is an isolation exercise that targets the biceps, but the forearms, brachialis, and brachioradialis muscles receive stimulation as secondary movers.

It is usually performed by using an incline bench and a dumbbell.

How To Do It

1. Adjust the bench to an incline level so that you can comfortably rest your arm down the back of the headrest.
2. Grab a dumbbell in one arm and extend it over the bench so that your forearm and tricep are rested upon the bench.
3. Hold on to the top of the bench with the opposite arm to stabilize your body and to balance the weight.
4. Slowly curl the dumbbell up towards your shoulder, isolate the bicep and squeeze your muscle.
5. Hold the position for 1-3 seconds and then lower the bar so that your arms are again fully extended.

3. One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl

The one-arm dumbbell preacher curl is a variation of the preacher curl exercises, uses dumbbells and single arm movements for better control and targeting of the bicep muscles.

How To Do It

1. Adjusting the preacher bench seat so that your arm is level with the top of the bench.
2. Grab a dumbbell on one arm with an underhand (palms up) grip and rest your arm against the bench with your arm extended fully down.
3. Slowly curl the dumbbell up towards your head, keeping your arm on the bench at all times until you reach the top position.
4. Hold for a count, squeeze and isolate your bicep.
5. Repeat the desired number of repetitions, then change to your other arm.

4. Dumbbell Reverse Preacher Curl

The reverse preacher curl is a variation of the standard preacher curl targeting your brachialis muscle, which lies deeper than your biceps brachii in the upper arm.

The brachialis muscle helps the flexion of elbows, while the wrist flexors act as stabilizer muscles, undergoing contraction.

The reverse bicep preacher curl may be performed by a barbell, dumbbells, or EZ-curl bar.

But Dumbbell Reverse curl better provides stability and the full range of motion.

How To Do It

1. Adjust the preacher bench seat so that your arms are level with the top of the bench.
2. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with a pronated (palms down) grip and rest your arm against the bench with your arm extended fully down.
3. Slowly curl the dumbbells up towards your head, keeping your arms on the bench at all times, until you reach the top position.
4. Hold for a count, squeeze and isolate your biceps.
5. Repeat the desired number of repetitions.

5. Dumbbell Hammer Preacher Curl

Must add this workout in your biceps exercises with dumbbells arsenal. It is a very effective exercise that targets the brachioradialis, brachialis, and bicep muscles.

Using a hammer/neutral grip targets more of the brachioradialis and brachialis than the biceps. It is a great variation of the preacher’s curl.

How To Do It

1. Adjust the preacher bench seat so that your arms are level with the top of the bench.
2. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral/hammer grip and rest your arm against the bench with your arm extended fully down.
3. Slowly curl the dumbbells up towards your head, keeping your arms on the bench at all times, until you reach the top position.
4. Hold for a count, squeeze and isolate your biceps.
5. Repeat the desired number of repetitions.

6. Cable Rope Preacher Curl

If you’re looking for one more effective preacher curl exercise, try the cable preacher curl.

It is a single-joint arm exercise that builds strength and size in the biceps using a cable stack, a preacher bench, and a rope grip.

The neutral or “hammer” grip amplifies activation of both the grip and the brachialis muscles, building arm thickness. The angle of the bench also effectively removes the shoulders from the movement, largely isolating the biceps.

How To Do It

1. Start by setting up a rope extension attachment to a low pulley cable machine and placing a preacher bench in front of the machine.
2. Grab onto the rope with a neutral hammer grip, then sit down on the bench with your forearms rested over the padding.
3. Slowly curl the bar up towards your chest, isolating your bicep, and squeeze.
4. Hold for a count, then return to the starting position.
5. Repeat for as many reps and sets as desired.

What Are The Best Preacher Curl Alternative

The preacher curl is one of the most effective exercises for building the bicep muscle because the stability of the pad really lets you isolate the target area. But what if you don’t have a preacher curl bench?

Before we deep dive into the best preacher curl alternatives. We must remember, a good preacher curl alternative will be able to satisfy the following criteria:

• Activate the bicep muscle groups, which is trained in the preacher curl
• Isolate the muscle groups during execution
• Train the bicep muscle through a longer range of motion

Well, you needn’t worry. There are a variety of preacher curl alternatives that you can do without a bench.

Here are the 3 Alternate of Preacher curl that you can do without bench at home or at Gym.

1. Zottman Curl

The dumbbell zottman curl is one of the best variations of the standard bicep curl. The Zottman curl utilizes different hand positioning at different portions of the lift.

The first portion, the regular curl, focuses on bicep strength. You can perform Zottman curls with both arms at the same time, or alternate the arm you lift with.

2. Concentration Curl

Concentration Curl is one of the best bicep exercises to build a biceps peak and thickness. This exercise should be a part of your arms exercise, as peaked biceps are very impressive to look at.

This exercise is done by bending at the torso using a dumbbell. Resting the upper arm against the thigh prevents movement at the shoulder and is an excellent way to isolate the biceps.

3. Standing Inner Biceps Curl

There are many possible variations for this movement. For instance, you can perform the exercise sitting down on a bench with or without back support.

You can (and should) turn your hands from the position when palms are facing each other to the position when palms are facing upwards.

No preacher curls bench? No problem! Use any of these alternatives to build your best biceps ever.

Frequently Asked Question

Are preacher curls safe?

Yes.  Preacher curls are safe.  Some will raise a concern due to the stress that it can put on the elbow. Now, there is some truth to this, but it doesn’t mean it’s dangerous, just that you need to follow precautions.  The main point is to use light weight.  This is an isolation movement.  Don’t try to use excessively heavy loads.  80%1RM (8 rep max) should be the max weight you should use.

Takeaways

After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of how to do standing preacher curl and what makes up a proper preacher curl alternative.

As mentioned above, it’s important to isolate your arms and focus on the negative contractions when completing these exercises. By going slow, you’re able to add tension onto your muscle fibers to increase size and strength.

Know More About Bicep Training

• Short Head Bicep Workout For Mass and Strength
• Reverse Bicep Curl: Muscle Worked, Benefits, Variations
• 15 Best Biceps Exercises With Dumbbells
• 10 Best Bicep Exercises to Build Bigger and Stronger Arms
• 10 Best Back and Bicep Dumbbell Workout