Spider Curl

Muscles worked: Biceps.

How to do it

1. Start out by setting the bar on the part of the preacher bench that you would normally sit on.
2. Move to the front side of the preacher bench (the part where the arms usually lay) and position yourself to lay at a 45 degree slant with your torso and stomach pressed against the front side of the preacher bench.
3. Make sure that your feet (especially the toes) are well positioned on the floor and place your upper arms on top of the pad located on the inside part of the preacher bench.
4. Use your arms to grab the barbell with a supinated grip (palms facing up) at about shoulder width apart or slightly closer from each other.
5. Slowly begin to lift the barbell upwards and exhale.

Coaching cues

The two cues IronPack shows on this exercise's card mid-workout:

• Chest on an incline bench, arms hanging straight down
• Strict - the angle removes all the swing

Logging it

IronPack suggests working in the 10 to 15 rep range, progressing in 1 kg jumps when you own the top of the range. Records are tracked automatically at every rep count from 1 to 12. Check your estimated 1RM from any hard set.

Related exercises

• Chin-Up - back, biceps
• Barbell Curl - biceps
• Dumbbell Curl - biceps
• Hammer Curl - biceps, forearms

Photos and steps: free-exercise-db (public domain). Cues, muscle weighting and logging guidance are IronPack's own app data. Last generated 2026-07-17.