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

This works well for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps at a moderate weight, since the locked-arm position rewards a strong squeeze more than heavy load. Chase a harder contraction at the top before adding weight.

What can replace the spider curl if you can't use an incline bench face-down?

A preacher curl or a concentration curl gives the same strict, arms-in-front curl with the upper arm braced, if getting face-down on the pad isn't practical.

What is the spider curl good for, and when is it not the right choice?

It's brutally strict biceps isolation for a fast pump and peak contraction, good near the end of an arm workout. It's a poor choice if you have shoulder discomfort in a forward-flexed position, since hanging the arms forward off a steep incline loads the front of the shoulder more than a flat curl does.

Intermediate

Spider Curl

Lying face down on an incline bench with your arms hanging straight down removes every scrap of momentum and puts the shoulders in flexion, which emphasizes the biceps short head and the peak-contraction end of the curl. It is brutally strict and delivers a fast pump. Use it as a focused isolation piece, not a heavy lift.

Equipment: Bench, Dumbbell
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 to about 45 degrees and lie face down with your chest on the pad.
2
Let your arms hang straight down holding a dumbbell in each hand, palms forward.
3
Keep your upper arms vertical and still as you curl the dumbbells up.
4
Squeeze the biceps hard at the top of the range.
5
Lower slowly until the arms are fully extended beneath you.
6
Exhale as you curl, inhale as you lower.

Tips

Keep your chest glued to the pad so the torso cannot help.
Let the arms hang truly vertical at the bottom for a clean stretch and strict path.
Focus on the squeeze at the top; this movement is made for peak contraction.

Variations

Common mistakes

The bench sits too low or too flat, so the dumbbells touch the floor before the arms are straight and the bottom of the range gets cut short.
Because you can't see your own arms clearly face-down, one arm often reaches the top slightly before the other and goes uncorrected for the whole set.
The face-down position makes breathing awkward, so people rush through reps just to get the set over with instead of pacing the squeeze and stretch.
The pad height doesn't match your torso length, so the elbows end up bent instead of straight at the bottom, cutting off the bottom of every rep.
Swinging the upper arms slightly at the shoulder once the dumbbells get heavy enough to challenge the biceps quietly turns a locked-arm curl into a loose one.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the spider curl should you do when you are new to the exercise?: This works well for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps at a moderate weight, since the locked-arm position rewards a strong squeeze more than heavy load. Chase a harder contraction at the top before adding weight.
What can replace the spider curl if you can't use an incline bench face-down?: A preacher curl or a concentration curl gives the same strict, arms-in-front curl with the upper arm braced, if getting face-down on the pad isn't practical.
What is the spider curl good for, and when is it not the right choice?: It's brutally strict biceps isolation for a fast pump and peak contraction, good near the end of an arm workout. It's a poor choice if you have shoulder discomfort in a forward-flexed position, since hanging the arms forward off a steep incline loads the front of the shoulder more than a flat curl does.

Related exercises

Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.

All Biceps exercises