Does it matter where you lift hardest in a bicep curl?
Placing Greater Torque at Shorter or Longer Muscle Lengths? Effects of Cable vs. Barbell Preacher Curl Training on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy in Young Adults
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Two groups did preacher curls: one lifted hardest when arms were bent (cable), the other hardest when arms were straight (barbell). Both got stronger and bigger biceps, but only the barbell group got stronger when arms were almost straight.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 547 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Two groups did preacher curls: one lifted hardest when arms were bent (cable), the other hardest when arms were straight (barbell). Both got stronger and bigger biceps, but only the barbell group got stronger when arms were almost straight.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 547 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Nunes JP, Jacinto JL, Ribeiro AS, Mayhew JL, Nakamura M, Capel DMG, Santos LR, Santos L, Cyrino ES, Aguiar AF
Related Content
Claims (10)
When people who exercise recreationally train with their muscles stretched more during movements, they gain a bit more muscle size compared to training with varied muscle lengths, but both approaches lead to the same improvement in strength.
Performing different types of biceps curls, such as hammer curls or preacher curls, leads to different amounts of muscle growth and strength improvements depending on how the movement is performed.
When you do exercises that stretch your muscles more through a bigger movement—like doing full squats instead of tiny half-squats—you may build more muscle tissue than when you stay in a shorter, more restricted movement range.
If you do preacher curls with a barbell — where it’s hardest when your arm is almost straight — you’ll get stronger specifically at that position better than if you use a cable machine where it’s hardest when your arm is bent.
Men and women both gain the same amount of biceps size and strength from preacher curls — whether they use a cable or barbell — so the training works equally well for both sexes.