Cable Preacher Curl
Also works: Forearms
A preacher curl fed by a low pulley instead of a bar. The pad fixes the upper arms at roughly 45 degrees so the shoulders cannot help, and the cable keeps pulling through the top of the rep, which is exactly where a barbell preacher curl goes almost weightless.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set a preacher bench about 60 cm in front of a low pulley with a straight bar attached, cable running under the bench towards you.
- Adjust the seat so the top edge of the pad sits under your armpits and your chest rests on it without you tiptoeing.
- Sit down, plant both upper arms flat on the pad, and have someone hand you the bar rather than twisting to reach it.
- Take a shoulder-width supinated grip and let the arms straighten until the cable is taut.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Inhale as the bar lowers, exhale as it comes up. Two seconds up, one at the top, three to four down. The eccentric is deliberately the longest phase on a movement loaded in the stretch.
Before you load it
- Never let the arms snap straight at the bottom under load. The preacher position leaves the elbow fully open with the biceps at its longest, and a fast uncontrolled eccentric there is the most common way lifters injure the distal biceps tendon.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start at roughly half what you curl standing, which for most people is 15-25 kg on the stack. The marker of a correct working weight is that you can hold the top for a second and still take four seconds to lower. Add one plate when every rep of every set clears that bar, and do not push past 15 reps here.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Take four seconds to reach the straight-arm position on every rep and cut the load until you can. A fast eccentric into a fully open elbow on a preacher pad is the classic distal biceps strain.
Press the triceps into the pad and pull your chest tight against the top edge. If they still creep, the seat is too low: raise it until your armpits sit on the pad edge.
Position the bench 50-70 cm out so the cable runs cleanly underneath it. A cable dragging on steel adds friction you cannot log and shreds the coating.
Warm up with two sets at half the working load through the full range first. If the stretched position never stops feeling wrong, use a standing cable curl instead of grinding at it.
Why bother
The preacher pad puts the shoulder into flexion, which shortens the long head of the biceps before you have lifted anything. That makes you weaker and makes the bottom of the range, with the elbow fully open, the hardest part of every rep. It is the most stretch-loaded curl available without lying on a bench.
Swapping the barbell for a cable fixes the other half of the problem. On a bar preacher the resistance vanishes as the forearms approach vertical; with the pulley below and behind the pad, the line of pull stays closer to perpendicular to the forearm through far more of the arc. You keep the loaded stretch and gain a top position that still costs something.
Where it fits
Second or third biceps movement of a session, 10-12 reps, after something you can load heavily. Do not open an arm day with it: the stretched bottom position under load wants warm elbows. Once or twice a week is plenty.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
Is the cable version better than a barbell preacher curl?
Through the top half of the rep, yes. A barbell preacher curl loses nearly all its resistance once the forearms pass vertical, so the squeeze at the top is theatre. The cable keeps pulling. The barbell still wins on convenience and on loading the bottom heavily, so use whichever you will actually do, but stop pretending the barbell top position does anything.
Why does my elbow hurt at the bottom?
Usually too much load arriving too fast at a fully extended elbow. Cut the weight by a third, take four seconds to lower, and stop just short of a locked elbow for a few weeks. If it persists, the pad angle does not suit your arm length; an incline dumbbell curl loads the stretch without pinning the elbow.
Do I need a partner to hand me the bar?
It helps, and the handoff is why many people skip this variation. Without one, set the bench close enough that you can take the bar with both hands and a straight arm from the seat, then settle your upper arms onto the pad afterwards. Never twist round to grab it one-handed under load.
Straight bar, EZ bar or a rope on the cable?
Straight bar if your wrists tolerate full supination, since holding the palms up is half of what the biceps does. The inner handles of an EZ bar if the wrist or the inside of the elbow objects, which costs you almost nothing here. Skip the rope: the pad already fixes your elbows, so the freedom to spread the hands buys nothing, and a rope is harder to control at the stretched bottom position where this variation is loaded hardest.