BIP.

Exercise library · Biceps

Spider curl

Curl for the biceps with dumbbells.

How to do it

1 of 3

Chest on the bench, arms hanging

  1. Starting position

    Lie chest-down on an incline bench, hold a dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang straight down.

  2. The movement

    Bend your elbows and curl the dumbbells toward your shoulders, then lower them with control until your arms are almost straight.

Most common mistake

Don't lift your chest off the bench, keep your body supported and your upper arms pointing down.

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Muscle group
Biceps
Equipment
Dumbbells
Where
Home or gym
Logged as
Weight × reps

Muscles worked

The bench carries your upper body, so your biceps lift the dumbbells with no momentum from your back or legs, backed up by the brachialis and brachioradialis. Your upper arms hang vertically in front of you, where the biceps are less stretched than in the incline dumbbell curl, so the two are usually seen as opposites. Your elbows cannot drift forwards and let the dumbbells rest above them, so your biceps keep working right to the top.

Common mistakes

  • Lying too far down the bench. Your arms then rub against the pad and the dumbbells catch the frame. Shuffle up until your chest rests against the top of the backrest and your arms hang freely over the edge.
  • Dumbbells swinging at the bottom. Turn straight away and the hanging dumbbells start to sway, giving the next rep momentum. Pause briefly with your arms almost straight until they hang still.
  • Craning your neck. Lifting your head to watch the dumbbells or the mirror tenses your neck for no reason. Keep your head in line with your back and look at the floor just ahead of the bench.

Variations and alternatives

  • The incline dumbbell curl uses the same bench with your back against the pad and trains the biceps in a stretched position. Worth alternating with.
  • The preacher curl holds your upper arms still on a sloped pad and uses a bar, when a preacher bench is free.
  • The concentration curl braces one upper arm at a time against your thigh and needs just a dumbbell and an ordinary bench.

Sets and reps

Light dumbbells and slightly higher reps suit the spider curl best: 10 to 15 reps over two or three sets, ideally as your last arm exercise. You will find more ways to plan your sets in the guide to sets and reps. The bench holds you still, so you can go close to failure, with 0 to 2 reps in reserve, without your form falling apart.

Expect clearly lighter dumbbells than in a standing curl. Add one rep at a time until every set reaches 15, then go up a step in weight and start again near 10. That is progressive overload on a small scale.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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