Band wrist curl

How to do the Band wrist curl

1. 1Anchor one end of the band under your foot or to a low fixed point.
2. 2Sit on a bench and rest your forearm along your thigh, palm facing up, with your wrist and hand hanging just past your knee.
3. 3Hold the free end of the band so there is light tension when your wrist is fully extended (knuckles dropped toward the floor).
4. 4Curl your wrist upward, raising your knuckles and squeezing the underside of your forearm at the top.
5. 5Pause briefly at the top of the contraction without lifting your forearm off your thigh.
6. 6Lower your hand under control until your wrist is fully extended again and you feel a stretch in the forearm.
7. 7Complete your reps, then switch to the other arm and repeat.

Form tips

• Keep your forearm pinned to your thigh so the movement comes only from your wrist, not your elbow or shoulder.
• Move slowly on the way down to use the band's tension through the full stretch, where the wrist flexors work hardest.
• Choke up or step wider on the band to add resistance, or give slack to reduce it, instead of swinging the weight.
• Keep a relaxed but secure grip on the band so you train the flexors rather than over-gripping with the fingers.

Common mistakes

• Lifting the forearm off the thigh to help raise the hand, which turns the curl into an arm movement and removes tension from the wrist flexors.
• Using too short a range of motion, which skips the stretched position where most forearm growth happens.
• Letting the band snap your hand down instead of lowering under control, which wastes the eccentric and can strain the wrist.
• Choosing tension so high that the wrist bends sideways, which stresses the joint and breaks clean flexion.

Frequently asked questions