Seated Close Grip Barbell Concentration Curl
In SetGrip: Barbell Concentration Curl (Seated Close Grip)
- Secondary muscles
- Forearms
- Body part
- Upper Arms
- Position
- Seated
- Laterality
- Bilateral (both sides together)
- Category
- Strength
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Bracing both upper arms against your inner thighs turns the concentration curl into a two-arm barbell movement, an unusual setup that fixes your elbows without a preacher bench. The close grip keeps the bar between your knees, and any completed rep comes from biceps alone rather than momentum.
How to do the Seated Close Grip Barbell Concentration Curl
- Sit on a bench with your feet flat on the floor and hold a barbell with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
- Rest your upper arms against your inner thighs, just above your knees, and let the barbell hang down in front of you.
- Keeping your upper arms stationary, exhale and curl the barbell up towards your shoulders, contracting your biceps.
- Hold the contracted position for a brief pause, then inhale and slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tip: Lower for three seconds and stop just short of locking out the elbow to keep the muscle under tension.
Muscles worked
Primary
Biceps · Arms
The biceps bend the elbow and turn the palm up, so they work hardest when the palms face up; hammer and reverse grips shift more of the work to the forearm muscles.
Secondary
- Forearms — The brachioradialis and forearm flexors take over on hammer and reverse curls and assist on every other variation.
Common mistakes
- Elbows drifting forward — as the elbows come up the front delt starts to lift the weight; pin the elbows to your sides and let only the forearm move.
- Swinging from the hips — a small rock backward on each rep means the weight is too heavy; drop it and curl from a dead stop.
- Cutting the bottom short — stopping with the elbow bent shortens the range where the biceps are stretched; lower until the arm is nearly straight.
- Wrists curling at the top — flexing the wrist toward you brings the forearm flexors in; keep the wrist neutral or slightly extended.
Where it fits in a workout
Curls go at the end of a pull session or arm day, after the rows and pulldowns that also load the biceps. Superset them with a triceps pushdown or extension.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
Without barbell
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
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More exercises
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.