Exercise description of the barbell wrist curl.  Learn about the barbell wrist curl with video and pictures.  Also learn how the barbell wrist curl can increase your sports performance.

Primary muscles worked:  Forearms

Synergist Muscles:  N/a

Mechanics:  Isolation

Equipment:  Barbell and Bench

How to perform the exercise:  To perform barbell wrist curls, the athlete must grab a barbell with an underhand grip, and kneel beside a bench. The athlete will lay their forearms across the bench so that the forearm lays flat, and the wrists hand over the edge of the bench. The athlete will allow the wrists to relax allowing the wrists to bend toward the floor. The athlete will begin the lift by trying to flex the wrists up towards the body. The athlete will stop bending at the wrists once the hands are higher than the forearms. After this position is reached, the athlete will relax the wrists back to the starting position. A great way to finish off this lift is by rolling the weight down to the fingertips by slowly opening up the hand, and then when its close to the end of the fingertips, roll the hands back up in to a fist. This should be done after completion of the desired number of repetitions of the standard barbell wrist curl.

Spotting the exercise:  The spotter for this exercise should be kneeling in front of the athlete on the opposite side of the bench. If the athlete begins to struggle with holding the weight and looks like they may drop the weight, the spotter should quickly grab the weight to keep it from falling. Also, if the athlete begins to struggle with the wrist curl motion, the spotter may apply upward force on the bar to assist the athlete with the lift.

Sport specific application: Wrist strength is integral to success in many sports. Any sport that requires gripping on a piece of equipment can benefit from barbell wrist curls. For instance, gripping a bat, hockey stick, grabbing rings in gymnastics, grabbing oars in rowing are just a few instances where improved grip strength can improve sport performance.