Intermediate

Thick-Bar Reverse Curl

The overhand grip biases the wrist extensors and brachioradialis, and the thick bar adds a heavy static grip challenge on top. It builds the top-of-forearm mass that reverse curls are known for while training crush grip at the same time. Treat it as accessory work after your main pulling or curling lifts.

Equipment
Barbell
Body part
Forearms
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Elbow Flexion
Muscles worked
Target
Extensors, Extensor Carpi Ulnaris
Secondary
Brachioradialis
Tertiary
Biceps Brachii Long Head, Biceps Brachii Short Head

How to do it

  1. 1

    Fit Fat Gripz to a barbell or use a thick bar and take a shoulder-width overhand grip.

  2. 2

    Stand upright with the bar against your thighs and elbows tucked to your sides.

  3. 3

    Keeping the wrists firm and slightly extended, curl the bar up by bending the elbows.

  4. 4

    Stop when the forearms are roughly parallel to the floor, without flexing the wrists up.

  5. 5

    Lower slowly to full extension while keeping a tight grip on the fat bar.

  6. 6

    Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down.

Tips

  • Keep the knuckles pointed toward the ceiling to load the extensors.
  • Use light weight; reverse curls expose any grip or wrist weakness immediately.
  • Avoid letting the wrists collapse into flexion at the top.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The wrists curl upward into flexion right at the top of the rep, which hands the work from the extensors straight over to the flexors.
  • Stopping the curl well short of forearms-parallel because the thick bar makes the overhand grip feel unstable cuts the range the extensors need to work through.
  • The elbows flare away from the ribs as the weight goes up, turning a strict reverse curl into a shoulder-assisted heave.
  • Carrying over a normal reverse-curl weight straight to the thick bar overloads wrist extensors that fatigue far faster under the wider grip.
  • The bar gets lowered quickly to the bottom instead of slowly, skipping the eccentric phase where most of the forearm work actually happens.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the thick-bar reverse curl should you do when you are new to the exercise?
Start with 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps using a light weight, well under what you'd use for a standard reverse curl, since the combination of overhand grip and thick bar taxes the wrist extensors quickly. Progress by adding reps first and only add weight once your wrists stay firm through every rep.
What can I use instead of a thick bar for the reverse curl?
Fat Gripz clipped onto a normal barbell work the same way, or a set of thick-handled dumbbells done one arm at a time. Without any thickening tool, a regular-bar reverse curl still trains the extensors, just with less grip demand.
What does the thick-bar reverse curl train, and when is it not worth doing?
It targets the top-of-forearm extensors and static grip strength as accessory work after your main pulling or curling lifts, not as a primary mass builder. It's not worth prioritizing with wrist or elbow pain from other grip work, since this move loads the same structures again rather than giving them a break.

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