Palms-Down Wrist Curl Over A Bench

Also called reverse wrist curl, barbell reverse wrist curl and wrist extension.

Works

Forearms

Equipment

Barbell

Level

Beginner

Type

Isolation

How to do it

Setup. Start out by placing a barbell on one side of a flat bench.

1. Kneel down on both of your knees so that your body is facing the flat bench.
2. Use your arms to grab the barbell with a pronated grip (palms down) and bring them up so that your forearms are resting against the flat bench. Your wrists should be hanging over the edge.
3. Start out by curling your wrist upwards and exhaling.
4. Slowly lower your wrists back down to the starting position while inhaling.
5. Your forearms should be stationary as your wrist is the only movement needed to perform this exercise.
6. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Cues

• Kneel, forearms flat on the bench.
• Palms down, wrists off the edge.
• Lift the knuckles, pause 1 second.
• Lower slowly.

Common mistakes

• Forearms lifting off the bench.
• Going too heavy.

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 sore wrists. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

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