Cable Drag Curl

Overview

Difficulty

Easy

Required equipment

• Cable pull station

Main muscles

• Biceps: Arm flexor
  (Musculus biceps brachii)
• Biceps: Upper arm muscle
  (brachialis muscle)
• Forearm: Brachioradialis
  (Musculus brachioradialis)

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Training plans

Cable Drag Curl is a suitable substitute for similar exercises in or as a supplement to various training plans.

Cable Drag Curl: Basics and alternatives

Involved main muscle groups:
Cable Drag Curl

Cable drag curls change the classic curl by keeping the bar close as your elbows move backward. You face a low pulley and hold a short bar with an underhand grip. Like Cable Curls, they train your elbow flexors, but the bar moves along your body instead of in a forward arc.

You can also do barbell drag curls. In the cable version, you face the station, so pay attention to the direction of the cable as well as the path of your hands.

Correct execution

The cable pulls forward while your elbows travel back. A steady stance lets you feel that arm path without leaning away from the machine to move the weight.

Stand close enough to guide the bar up near your torso, while leaving room for the cable and attachment to move freely. Let your elbows travel back as they bend. Keep your shoulders down naturally and your upper body upright without shrugging as you curl.

The bar doesn’t have to reach your neck. Simply stop at the highest point you can reach while the bar stays close and your body stays upright. With your elbows behind you, the top position may look lower than in a regular cable curl, and that’s normal. Use a light weight while you get used to this path.

Center your grip on the attachment so one hand doesn’t sit closer to the cable connection than the other. Leave room for the connector to pass in front of your thighs without catching on clothing. With a rotating attachment, let the bar settle into the grip before curling; don’t add a wrist twist as you curl.

Find your position with your arms down: close enough for the bar to stay near your body, with room for the cable. Standing farther away increases the cable’s forward pull. Keep your feet planted during the set and adjust the distance between sets.

Video tutorial

Step-by-step instructions

Fit a short bar to a low pulley and select a manageable weight.

Face the station and hold the bar with an underhand grip, keeping your hands approximately shoulder-width apart.

Stand upright with the bar near your thighs and the cable under light tension.

Bend your elbows while drawing them behind your torso, keeping the bar close as it rises.

Pause at the highest point you can reach without shrugging or leaning back.

Lower the bar close to your body, letting your elbows return beside you as your arms straighten.

Common mistakes

If your elbows move forward, the bar swings into the arc of a regular curl; if they flare out to the sides, the movement starts to look like an upright row. Practice with a lighter weight until the backward elbow path feels natural.

It’s tempting to press the bar into your abdomen for extra leverage, but then your body is doing part of the lifting. Keep the bar close, let your arms do the work and control the cable on the way down.

As you lower the bar, bring your elbows back to your sides so each rep starts from there. When you’ve finished curling, step toward the station to let the stack settle under control, then let go of the bar.