A barbell spider curl is an isolation exercise targeting your biceps and the brachialis— a smaller muscle that sits underneath your biceps. Unlike a traditional bicep curl, you do this exercise lying face-down on an incline bench at a 45-degree angle with your chest supported. From here, you curl a loaded barbell upward, moving toward your bench, focusing on the contraction of your biceps at the top. If you tend to swing of “kip” your bicep curls, a bicep spider curls reduces the momentum you use compared to a traditional curl. This isolates more of the muscular emphasis to just your biceps since less of your core stabilizer muscles have to kick in. This makes a spider curl with a barbell a highly effective way to build arm strength and size.
Lie face-down on an incline bench with a barbell resting on the floor in front of you.
Hold the barbell with an underhand grip, keeping your hands shoulder-width apart.
Slowly curl the weight up as far as possible. Squeeze your biceps and hold briefly.
Slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.
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