Reverse Barbell Curl - How to Do This Bicep and Forearms Exercise

Among the hardest body parts to develop are your forearms. Although they develop along other, bigger muscle groups, you do need to give them a bit more focused attention to really get them into shape. The Reverse Barbell Curl is an excellent bicep and forearms exercise. It helps you build muscle mass and increase strength which will help you perform better in more focused biceps exercises.

What you need

To do reverse barbell curls you need a barbell or an EZ bar with some weights to put on either end.

Starting position

You place the barbell at your feet. Grab the barbell in an overhand grip with both hands. Make sure your hands are spaced at about shoulder width from each other. Let your arms dangle straight down while the bar lightely touches your thighs.

Make sure your back is stright, your head is up, and your elbows are close by your sides. You can bend your knees a bit or put one foot slightly behind you to increase stability.

Movement

Curl up the barbell as far as it will go. Make sure to not sway your hips or bend your back. Your elbows should remain firmly by your sides. Don't let them push forward. Do the reverse curl slowly and maintain full control throughout the exercise. The only muscles that should be working are your biceps and forearms. Don't let your shoulders, back, and leg muscles participate too much as it ruins the effectiveness of the exercise.

Once you reach the uppermost position, hold the bar for a second or two before lowering it back down slowly to the starting position.

Make sure to exhale when the bar is going up and inhale when it's going down.

Tips

I recommend doing the reverse grip barbell curl at the end of your bicep workout. Because the forearms serve as supporting muscles to all of your bicep exercises, you want to make sure that they're as fresh as possible while you're working out your biceps. The reverse curl focuses more closely on the forearms, so it should come last.

If you find that you do sway your hips, bend your back, or can't control your elbows, you should work with a lower weight and build strength gradually. Perfect form is always the way to go. It will help you achieve better results and reduce risk of injury.

So, now you know how to do a reverse bicep curl. Go build those biceps and forearms.


Visit How to Do Standing barbell Curls for another killer bicep exercise.

Visit Barbell Wrist Curls Technique to see how to do a massivce forearm exercise. John Davenport lost over 30 pounds in his twenties after being overweight most of his life. He now runs a weight loss forum and publishes a diet and fitness newsletter.

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