Machine Preacher Curl

How to perform the Machine Preacher Curl

1. Adjust the seat so the pad sits under your armpits and the axis of the machine lines up with your elbows.
2. Grip the handles with a supinated grip and rest the backs of the upper arms flat against the angled pad.
3. The fixed machine path locks the arm angle, which makes it easy to grind slow eccentrics and drop sets without stabilizing.
4. Curl the handles up by flexing the elbows while keeping the upper arms pressed into the pad.
5. Squeeze the peak contraction, then resist the lever on the way down rather than letting it slam back.
6. Stop just short of full elbow lockout at the bottom to protect the tendon under the machine load.

Suggested working range: 10–15 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Setting the seat wrong so the elbows do not line up with the machine pivot.
• •Lifting the upper arms off the pad to cheat with shoulder movement.
• •Slamming the lever into a hard bottom lockout instead of stopping short.
• •Letting the lever drop fast rather than resisting the eccentric.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in a related movement if equipment, recovery, or progression demands it.