Reverse Plate Curls
Also works: Forearms
You pinch a weight plate at roughly eleven and one o'clock, palms facing down, and curl it from your hips to your chest. The plate has no handle, so your thumbs and fingers are working as hard as your arms — this is a forearm and grip movement that happens to flex the elbow.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Pick a plate with a smooth rim you can actually pinch — start with a 5 or 10 kg one, not a 20.
- Grip it at roughly eleven and one o'clock, fingers on the rough outer face and thumbs on the smooth inner face.
- Stand with feet shoulder-width, plate hanging at arms' length in front of your hips.
- Pull your shoulder blades back and down so the plate hangs clear of your thighs.
- Squeeze the plate hard before the first rep — the grip should be tight from the start, not tightening as you go.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale as the plate rises, inhale as it lowers. One second up, one second held at the top, two to three seconds down. Do not rush the lower — the plate gets harder to hold as the set goes on.
Before you load it
- Do this over a floor you do not mind marking, and keep your toes back. A dropped plate from hip height lands hard and nobody catches it.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
A 5 kg plate is a real starting point and a 10 kg one is already respectable for strict reps. Good looks like the plate staying dead level for all fifteen reps with no regripping. Progress in the smallest plate increment available, and only after you have hit the top of the rep range twice in a row.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Start at 5-10 kg. If you cannot hold the plate still for the full set without regripping, the set was a grip test, not a curl. Drop to the next size down.
Keep your elbows glued to your ribs and think of dragging the plate up your shirt. Every centimetre forward multiplies the load on the elbow.
Stand with your ribs down and glutes lightly squeezed. If the first rep needs a hip swing, start each rep from a dead stop with the plate already an inch clear of your legs.
Stay on the same plate style so the load is comparable week to week. Bumpers are thicker and change the grip demand entirely — log which type you used.
Why bother
Pronating the hands takes the biceps off its strongest line and hands the load to the brachioradialis and brachialis. Holding a bare plate adds a second demand on top: the plate wants to rotate out of your hands, so the thumb and the finger flexors have to clamp for the whole set. Most people fail on the grip before the arms are finished, and that is the point rather than a flaw.
The plate also sits further from your body than a bar does, because your hands are wrapped around its edge rather than closed on a 28 mm shaft. That extra couple of centimetres of moment arm makes a 10 kg plate feel considerably heavier at the mid-range than 10 kg on a barbell. Do not judge the load by the number stamped on the steel.
Where it fits
At the end of a pull day, as the last two or three sets of the session, when there is nothing left you need your grip for. Once or twice a week. Do not put it before deadlifts or rows — a fried grip will cost you far more on those than this movement gives back.
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
How do I stop the plate slipping out of my hands?
Chalk, a lighter plate, and a deliberate squeeze before the first rep rather than a grip that tightens mid-set. Also check which face you are gripping — the rough cast face gives far more friction than the painted or rubberised one, so orient the plate so your fingers land on it.
Is this better than a reverse barbell curl?
It is different, not better. The barbell lets you load the brachioradialis far heavier because the grip is secure. The plate caps the load at whatever your pinch can hold, which trains the grip well and the arm less. Use the barbell for the arms and the plate when grip is what you want.
How heavy should I be able to go?
Most people who train regularly can do strict sets of ten with a 10 kg plate; a 20 kg plate pinched at the rim for reps is genuinely strong and rare. If you are curling a 20 easily, check that you are not hooking your fingers through the plate's grip holes, which turns it into a handle.
Can I use it as my only forearm work?
Almost. It covers the brachioradialis and the pinch grip well. It does not train the wrist flexors through range or build crushing grip strength — add heavy holds or farmer's walks if you want those, and you can skip dedicated wrist curls entirely.