Standing Dumbbell Reverse Curl
Also works: Forearms
A two-dumbbell curl with the palms facing down throughout. Pronating the forearm puts the biceps at a mechanical disadvantage and hands the job to the brachialis and brachioradialis, so expect to use roughly 60% of your normal curl weight and to feel most of it on the outside of your forearm.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Take a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your thighs, then rotate them until the knuckles face forward.
- Pick dumbbells with a knurled or rubber handle if you have the choice — a slick chrome handle turns this into a grip test long before the brachialis is done.
- Pin your elbows lightly against your sides — the upper arms stay vertical for the whole set.
- Grip the handle towards the thumb side rather than dead centre, so the dumbbell does not tip backwards on you.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale up, inhale down, no breath holding. One second up, a one-second pause at the top, three seconds down — the slow lowering is where the brachialis picks up most of the work.
Before you load it
- If you get pain on the outside of the elbow, stop. Pronated curls load the same tendon as tennis elbow, and pushing through it turns a two-week irritation into a two-month one.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start at 6-8 kg per hand even if you curl 15 kg supinated — the brachioradialis is a much smaller engine. A good marker is holding a straight wrist through a 12th rep. Progress by reps first up to 15, then add the next dumbbell increment and drop back to 10; the jump between fixed dumbbells is a large relative step at these loads.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Drop to about 60% of your supinated curl weight and expect it. If you cannot keep the wrists straight for 12 reps, you are still too heavy.
Squeeze the handles hard and keep the knuckles in line with the forearm bones. A collapsed wrist is what turns this movement into a wrist-extensor strain.
Watch the backs of your hands on the last few reps. The moment they start turning inward, the biceps has bailed you out and the set has ended — rack the weights.
Stand with your back against a wall or a rack upright for a set. If your shoulders leave the surface, lighten the load until they do not.
Why bother
The biceps supinates as well as flexes, and it produces far less force when the forearm is already turned palm-down. Curl in that position and the brachialis — sitting underneath the biceps — and the brachioradialis along the top of the forearm take over. Building the brachialis pushes the biceps up from beneath, which is the one visible thing this movement does that a supinated curl does not.
Dumbbells rather than a bar matter here. A pronated grip on a straight bar locks both wrists into the same angle and is a reliable way to irritate the wrist extensors; two dumbbells let each hand find a fraction of rotation and drift apart naturally. Your grip and wrist extensors are the usual limiting factor, not the elbow flexors — which is exactly why direct forearm work often becomes unnecessary once this is in the program.
Where it fits
After your supinated curls, at the tail end of a pull session, for 2-3 sets of 10-15. Once a week is enough; the brachioradialis also takes a beating from every heavy deadlift and row grip. Do not lead an arm session with it — starting with pronated work will blunt the loads you can use on everything supinated afterwards.
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
Why is this so much weaker than a normal curl?
Because the biceps is a supinator, and holding the forearm pronated shortens its leverage badly. What is left is the brachialis and brachioradialis, which are smaller. A 40% drop from your supinated curl weight is normal and does not mean anything is wrong.
Reverse curl or hammer curl for forearms?
Hammer curls, with the neutral grip, let you use more weight and hit the brachioradialis hard. Reverse curls are lighter but load the wrist extensors far more, which is the group most people actually lack. Run hammers as your main brachialis builder and reverse curls as the lighter accessory afterwards.
Will this make my arms bigger?
Indirectly, yes. The brachialis lies underneath the biceps, so building it lifts the biceps and adds measurable width to the arm when viewed from the side. It will not do anything for the biceps itself — you still need supinated curling for that.
Dumbbells or an EZ bar for reverse curls?
EZ bar if your wrists tolerate it, because the angled grip relieves some of the strain and you can load it more precisely. Dumbbells if a straight or angled bar makes your wrists ache, since each hand can settle where it wants. Neither is more effective for the muscle; pick the one you can do without wrist pain.