Lying Supine Dumbbell Curl

Also called lying dumbbell curl, supine dumbbell curl and flat bench curl.

Works

Biceps

Equipment

Dumbbells

Level

Beginner

Type

Isolation

How to do it

Setup. Lie down on a flat bench face up while holding a dumbbell in each arm on top of your thighs.

1. Bring the dumbbells to the sides with the arms extended and the palms of the hands facing your thighs (neutral grip).
2. While keeping the arms close to your torso and elbows in, slowly lower your arms (as you keep them extended with a slight bend at the elbows) as far down towards the floor as you can go. Once you cannot go down any further, lock your upper arms in that position and that will be your starting position.
3. As you breathe out, slowly begin to curl the weights up as you simultaneously rotate your wrists so that the palms of the hands face up. Continue curling the weight until your biceps are fully contracted and squeeze hard at the top position for a second. Tip: Only the forearms should move. Upper arms should remain stationary and elbows should stay in throughout the movement.
4. Return back to the starting position very slowly.

Cues

• Lie flat, arms hanging past the bench.
• Elbows stay still, curl up.
• Squeeze 1 second at the top.
• Lower slowly to a full stretch.

Common mistakes

• Elbows drifting forward.
• Too heavy for the stretch.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder and a sore elbow. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

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