Exercise library

How to do the Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl

A beginner isolation exercise using dumbbell, working the biceps.

Primary musclesBiceps
Secondary musclesForearms
EquipmentDumbbell
LevelBeginner
TypeIsolation
ForcePull

Steps

  1. Sit down on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand being held at arms length. Tip: Keep the elbows close to the torso.This will be your starting position.
  2. While holding the upper arm stationary, curl the right weight forward while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. As you do so, rotate the hand so that the palm is facing up. Continue the movement until your biceps is fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a second as you squeeze the biceps. Tip: Only the forearms should move.
  3. Slowly begin to bring the dumbbell back to starting position as your breathe in.
  4. Repeat the movement with the left hand. This equals one repetition.
  5. Continue alternating in this manner for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the alternate incline dumbbell curl to a routine and your previous weight and reps sit beside every set, so the decision to add load is made by what is already on the screen rather than by memory. Exercise history and volume trends are one tap away, and logging works offline for the gyms where signal does not reach.

Because OneRep tracks food on the same timeline, a stall on this lift can be read against what you were actually eating that month — which is the difference between a programming problem and an eating one. More on that in tracking progressive overload without a spreadsheet.

Where the instructions come from

The steps above come from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. They are general guidance, not coaching for your body: if a movement hurts, stop and get someone qualified to look at it.