Behind-the-back cable wrist curl
Exercise details
- Target muscles: Wrist Flexors
- Synergists: None
- Mechanics: Isolation
- Force: Pull
Starting position
- Attached a straight bar to a low cable pulley.
- Pick the bar up, stand close to but facing away from the pulley, and grasp the bar behind your back using a shoulder-width pronated (overhand) grip. The cable should be pulled taut.
- Open your hands a little and allow the bar to drop from inside your palms to into your fingers.
Execution
- Keeping your arms straight and still, exhale as you raise the bar by first clenching your fists so that the bar is raised into your palms and then flexing your wrists.
- Hold for a count of two.
- Inhale as you slowly reverse the movement and return the bar to the starting position, with the bar resting in your fingers.
- Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.
Comments and tips
- Keep your body and your arms straight. Only your wrists shoulder move.
- Most people perform the wrist curl by simply holding the bar in their palms and flexing their wrists. The technique described above is much more effective because it also incorporates clenching the fists.
- You can use the behind-the-back cable wrist curl to build mass in your forearms. However, as with all wrist-curling exercises, you should avoid using heavy weights. Your wrists are not designed to curl heavy weights. Effective forearm-building exercises that are safer on your wrists include the farmer’s walk, dead hang, and barbell reverse curl.
- See also the behind-the-back barbell wrist curl.
Behind-the-back cable wrist curl video
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a decent non-promotional video demonstration of the behind-the-back wrist curl. This is the best I could find.
