Steps
- To begin, set a weight that is comfortable on each side of the pulley machine. Note: Make sure that the amount of weight selected is the same on each side.
- Now adjust the height of the pulleys on each side and make sure that they are positioned at a height higher than that of your shoulders.
- Stand in the middle of both sides and use an underhand grip (palms facing towards the ceiling) to grab each handle. Your arms should be fully extended and parallel to the floor with your feet positioned shoulder width apart from each other. Your body should be evenly aligned the handles. This is the starting position.
- While exhaling, slowly squeeze the biceps on each side until your forearms and biceps touch.
- While inhaling, move your forearms back to the starting position. Note: Your entire body is stationary during this exercise except for the forearms.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions prescribed in your program.
Tracking it in OneRep
Add the overhead cable 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.