Exercise library

How to do the Standing One-Arm Dumbbell Curl Over Incline Bench

A beginner isolation exercise using dumbbell, working the biceps.

Primary musclesBiceps
Secondary musclesNone recorded
EquipmentDumbbell
LevelBeginner
TypeIsolation
ForcePull

Steps

  1. Stand on the back side of an incline bench as if you were going to be a spotter for someone. Have a dumbbell in one hand and rest it across the incline bench with a supinated (palms up) grip.
  2. Position your non lifting hand at the corner or side of the incline bench. The chest should be pressed against the top part of the incline and your feet should be pressed against the floor at a wide stance. This is the starting position.
  3. While holding the upper arm stationary, curl the dumbbell upward while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. Only the forearms should move. Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a second.
  4. Slowly begin to bring the dumbbells back to starting position as your breathe in.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
  6. Switch arms while performing this exercise.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the standing one-arm dumbbell curl over incline bench 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.