Palms-Up Barbell Wrist Curl
The Palms-Up Barbell Wrist Curl is an isolation exercise designed to strengthen the forearm flexors and improve grip power. By curling a barbell with an underhand grip while your forearms are supported, you target the muscles responsible for flexing the wrist and stabilizing the hand.
Grip strength is often a key indicator of central nervous system (CNS) recovery. Your AI coach monitors your performance in this exercise relative to your sleep quality and HRV; a sudden drop in grip endurance may signal systemic fatigue, prompting the app to auto-adjust your training volume to prevent overreaching. Additionally, if you have a history of wrist discomfort, the app can intelligently swap this for dumbbell variations that allow for a more natural joint angle.
Form Cues
- Rest your forearms completely flat against your thighs or a bench
- Allow the barbell to roll down to your fingertips at the bottom
- Curl the weight up by flexing your wrists as high as possible
- Squeeze your forearm muscles hard at the peak of the movement
- Control the weight slowly on the way down
- Don't lift your forearms off your legs to move the weight
- Don't use your biceps to help curl the bar
- Don't perform the movement with jerky or explosive momentum
- Don't cut the range of motion short
- Don't grip the bar so tightly that it cannot roll to the fingers
Common Mistakes
- Lifting forearms off the bench
- Using too much momentum
- Reducing range of motion
- Curling with the biceps
- Using a weight that is too heavy
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the wrist flexors located on the underside of your forearm, which are crucial for grip strength and wrist stability. It also engages the finger flexors when you allow the bar to roll down to your fingertips, providing complete development of the inner forearm muscles.
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