Muscles worked
The EZ bar curl mainly trains your biceps, which bend your elbow. The brachialis, which lies underneath the biceps, works on every rep, and the brachioradialis in your forearm helps. Your forearm flexors hold the grip. The angled bar turns your palms slightly inwards compared with a straight bar. The difference for the muscles is small, and what many people notice most is that their wrists and elbows feel better. Most EZ bars have two places to grip, so use the same one every time.
Common mistakes
- Swinging your upper body. When the weight gets heavy, many people lean back to get the bar moving. Stand tall with braced abs and slightly bent knees, and lower the weight if your body will not stay still.
- Never straightening your arms. Reversing halfway down lets you handle more weight, but your biceps then only work through half the movement. Lower until your arms are straight, and choose a lighter weight if needed.
- Uneven hands. On an EZ bar it is easy to grip different bends on the left and right, which tilts the bar. Check your grip before you start.
Variations and alternatives
- The barbell curl uses a straight bar, if your wrists are happy with your palms facing fully up.
- The preacher curl is often done with an EZ bar, with your upper arms on a pad so your body cannot help.
- The dumbbell curl lets each arm work on its own.
- The band curl trains the same movement with a resistance band, for training at home.
Sets and reps
The EZ bar curl is an isolation exercise and is best suited to building muscle. Most people do 8 to 12 reps over 2 to 4 sets, and you can drop towards 6 reps with a heavier weight. Heavy sets of 3 to 5 reps rarely add anything, as your upper body starts to swing. As the last arm exercise of a session, 12 to 20 reps works well. Read more in the guide to sets and reps.
EZ bars vary in weight, so find out what yours weighs and log it the same way every time. Add reps first, and raise the weight once you reach the top of your range on every set with 1 to 2 reps in reserve. Even 2.5 kg is a noticeable jump for your biceps, so use the smallest step your gym has. That is progressive overload in practice.