How many sets and reps of the cable spider curl should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Set the bench close enough to the stack for a straight pull, then work 3 sets of 12 reps at a stack weight that still lets you feel the stretch at the bottom, since the cable keeps some tension there that a dumbbell loses.

What can replace the cable spider curl if you don't have a cable machine?

The dumbbell spider curl uses the same incline-bench setup without a cable, or a regular cable curl works if no incline bench is available.

What is the cable spider curl good for, and when should you use the dumbbell version instead?

It keeps the biceps short head loaded even at the bottom of the range, where a dumbbell would go slack, which is good for building the inner and upper biceps. If your gym's low pulley can't be reached from an incline bench positioned close enough, the dumbbell version has no such setup constraint.

Intermediate

Cable Spider Curl

Lying chest-down on a steep incline bench lets your arms hang straight down and forward, which shortens the long head and shifts more work onto the short head for a strong peak contraction. Driving it with a cable keeps tension on at the bottom, where a hanging dumbbell goes slack, and all the way to the top. It is an excellent isolation move for building the inner biceps.

Equipment: Bench, Cables
Body part: Biceps
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Biceps Brachii Short Head
Browse by movement: Elbow Flexion

How to do it

1
Set an incline bench facing a low cable pulley with a straight or EZ handle.
2
Lie face-down with your chest on the pad and grip the handle with palms up.
3
Let your arms hang straight down and forward toward the pulley.
4
Curl the handle up toward your forehead, keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor.
5
Squeeze the biceps at the top, then lower slowly against the cable.
6
Keep your chest on the pad and avoid swinging your torso.

Tips

Keep your upper arms hanging vertically so the biceps do all the work.
Do not push into the pad to help lift; let your arms move the load.
Squeeze at the top where the cable tension peaks.

Variations

Common mistakes

The bench sits off-center from the pulley, so the cable pulls the arms slightly sideways instead of straight down toward the floor.
Too much distance between the bench and the stack angles the cable upward instead of straight, cutting tension right at the bottom stretch, which is the one place the cable is supposed to beat a dumbbell.
The elbows splay out to the sides as the weight gets heavy, losing the perpendicular arm position this variation depends on for isolating the biceps.
Curling the handle up toward the chin instead of the forehead shortens the range and skips the last, hardest part of the contraction.
Once the cable is doing a lot of the holding at the bottom, it's easy to forget to keep resisting on the way down and let the stack drop instead of lowering it.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the cable spider curl should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Set the bench close enough to the stack for a straight pull, then work 3 sets of 12 reps at a stack weight that still lets you feel the stretch at the bottom, since the cable keeps some tension there that a dumbbell loses.
What can replace the cable spider curl if you don't have a cable machine?: The dumbbell spider curl uses the same incline-bench setup without a cable, or a regular cable curl works if no incline bench is available.
What is the cable spider curl good for, and when should you use the dumbbell version instead?: It keeps the biceps short head loaded even at the bottom of the range, where a dumbbell would go slack, which is good for building the inner and upper biceps. If your gym's low pulley can't be reached from an incline bench positioned close enough, the dumbbell version has no such setup constraint.

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