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Overview
Preacher curls are a great exercise for building massive and muscular biceps. Notice that the preacher bench helps to hold the arms forward and higher than they would be when standing. This works the biceps from an angle that adds greater stress at the beginning of the lift and thus focuses more strongly on the lower bicep. That’s great for building the type of biceps that can be seen bulging below the short sleeves of your favorite T-shirt. Use these along with standing barbell curls to build mass, especially for the beginners and intermediates in the gym.
Setup
The preacher bench will usually have some sort of rack below the bench which holds the bar when it’s not being used. Place the necessary amount of weight onto your curl bar. Locate a couple of clamps / collars and place them on the bar to hold your weights in place while the exercise is performed. Clamps are more necessary on the bicep exercises because the shorter bars are easiest to tip and lose your weights on.
Once your bar is ready, adjust the seat on the preacher bench. In some models, the arm rest itself may move while the seat stays still. Regardless of the model, the bench should be high enough so that corner of the bench is comfortable beneath your armpit. Take the curl bar into your hands and sit down.
Movement
Exhale as you use your forearm bicep muscles to lift the bar slowly upward to the fully raised position. Once at the top, squeeze for just a moment and hold. Then, slowly let the bar back down to the hanging position with your arms fully extended. Repeat this movement for the desired number of repetitions.
Tips From the Trainer
Like other biceps exercises, lowering the bar slowly to the extended position plays large part in building strength. By forcing your muscles to resist as the weight is slowly lowered, greater bicep mass and definition can be built. Lowering the bar slowly on the preacher curl and coming to a slow stop is especially important on the preacher curl because bouncing the weight at the bottom of the movement can cause serious injury.
Try experimenting with different widths on your grip to find out what’s best for you. Also, you can reverse your hands and take an overgrip to do reverse preacher curls. This exercise is similar to standing reverse curls and places considerably more stress on the forearm extensor muscles (which are on top of your arm when your palms are facing the floor).
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