Training guide
A drag curl is a barbell curl in which the bar slides up the front of your body while your elbows travel back behind you, instead of swinging out in an arc. Stop at your lower chest without shrugging, slide the bar back down the same path, and do 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 with a weight lighter than your usual curl.
It moves the hard part of the curl towards the top and keeps your shoulders back. It's often sold as a long-head exercise; nobody has measured that, and curls with the arm behind the body built the same muscle as other curls in trials.
This guide shows the lift on the 3D figure, the dumbbell and cable versions, what it does and doesn't do for your biceps, your shoulder and elbow, and how many.
Hold a barbell underhand at shoulder width against your thighs. Curl it up while drawing your elbows back, so the bar slides up the front of your body, stop at your lower chest with your shoulders down, and slide it back down the same path.
Source 1
We found no study of it: the only journal mention is a workplace programme that listed a bent-over drag curl without measuring it. Every claim about it is reasoning or coaching opinion.
Source 2
A curl is hardest where your forearm is level with the floor. With your elbows travelling back, that point comes near the top of a drag curl and the bottom is easy. That's our reading of curl mechanics; nobody has measured it.
Cable curls with the shoulder pulled back as far as it goes grew the arm about as much as curls with the arm at the side, about 7 to 9% in 10 weeks in 24 men, and curls with the shoulder extended matched curls with it flexed in a second trial.
Coaching sites can't agree whether drag curls favour the long head or the short head, and putting the arm behind the body didn't raise biceps activity in two studies. Both heads work in every curl.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (its move page's dose, an editorial starting point), 60 to 90 seconds' rest, counted with your other curls towards about 10 hard sets a week for your biceps.
Source 11
StrengthLog stops the bar "once the weight reaches upper chest height with forearms parallel to the floor"; another coaching site explains that "To keep the barbell close to your body, you will have to pull your elbows backward." ExRx calls it an auxiliary exercise in which the effort stays high at the top of the range.
The same three elbow benders as every curl: the biceps, the brachialis underneath it and the brachioradialis in your forearm. The biceps is at most a weak shoulder raiser and stayed silent when the arm was pulled back in an old muscle activity study, so the muscles at the back of your shoulder move your elbows back.
It lengthens the biceps at the shoulder end, the long head especially, in stretching and curling studies. A longer muscle isn't the same as a harder-working one: the drag curl is light at the bottom, where the biceps is longest.
A controlled standing barbell curl, as the move page asks, and a shoulder that's comfortable with your arm behind your body.
How far your arm goes back varies, and with the elbow straight the biceps itself limits it. Wrists differ on a straight bar; an EZ bar or dumbbells are a matter of comfort. And arms respond to the same training very differently: from a 2% loss to a 59% gain in arm size in 585 adults.
Curl comparisons often use EMG (electromyography: electrodes measuring how hard a muscle works over a few reps), which shows effort in one session, not what a muscle builds over months.
Source 19
We found no muscle activity, imaging, strength or growth study of the drag curl. The notes below are about curls with the arm in different positions.
Source 2
In 24 untrained men, cable curls with the shoulder held near its maximum extension grew the elbow flexors about the same 7 to 9% as curls with the arm at the side over 10 weeks, and the men lifted more with the arm back. In 15 untrained men, curls with the shoulder extended grew the biceps 9% against 7% for preacher curls, a difference that wasn't significant. Low-load incline and preacher curls with blood-flow restriction also matched in 21 trained men over 3 weeks.
In 21 untrained adults over 12 weeks, incline curls grew the biceps itself a little more than preacher curls (22.1% against 18.9%), and preacher curls grew the brachialis and brachioradialis more, with the same total. We read only the abstract.
Source 21
In 63 young women, incline curls grew the upper arm a little more and preacher curls the lower arm; in another trial no region differed. No study has measured the long and short heads separately after any curl.
Incline curls drew the same biceps activity as standing curls in 22 men and in 15 adults, and Bayesian cable curls, with the arm pulled back by a cable, drew less than dumbbell curls in 11 trained men.
In 10 competitive bodybuilders, letting the arms drift forward about 30 degrees during a barbell curl raised front-shoulder (anterior deltoid) activity. In ACE's study of 16 people, the incline curl, with the arm behind the body, used less front shoulder than the barbell curl. So "drag curls take the front delts out" is plausible; nobody has measured a drag curl.
In 32 untrained adults, curls through the straight-arm half of the range grew the arm 8.9% in 5 weeks, against 3.4% for the bent-arm half. Straighten your arms at the bottom of every drag curl.
Source 26
In 35 young adults, a cable preacher curl that was hardest near the top built as much biceps as a barbell preacher curl hardest near the bottom (7% against 8%). A review notes the extra growth sometimes seen when muscles train at long lengths needs a real load in that stretched position, which a drag curl doesn't give.
In 25 untrained adults, swinging curls built as much muscle as strict ones over 8 weeks. A swing just defeats the point of the drag path.
Source 29
Steps and cues from our move page ("Think of dragging the bar up your shirt"; "Avoid: shrugging your shoulders to finish") and StrengthLog; the bracing, breathing and end of the set follow our bicep curl guide.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Drag curl
Untested. No study has measured either biceps head after a drag curl, or measured the heads separately after any curl. Coaching sites contradict each other, one saying the long head works more and another that the drag curl emphasises the short head, and both heads cross the shoulder.
Plausible: elbows drifting forward recruited the front shoulder in bodybuilders, and a drag curl keeps them back. Nobody has measured it.
Source 24
No study has measured or changed a biceps "peak"; our concentration curl guide covers the question and gives the same answer.
A dumbbell curl, 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15 with the last 0 to 2 reps short (our bicep curl guide); an EZ-bar or barbell curl, 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our bicep workout); then the drag curl, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (its move page's dose, an editorial starting point).
No 3D demo for these; the barbell demo shows the path.
The same steps on the angled grips; between a straight bar and an EZ bar the difference was "purely a matter of subjective comfort" in one study.
Source 17
A dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms forward; drag each one up the side of your body as your elbows go back (editorial).
Face a low pulley with a straight bar and keep it against your body as your elbows go back (editorial). Cables let you add weight in small steps, and cable and free-weight curls built similar muscle.
Source 27
The bar runs on a fixed vertical track, so it can't follow your body; we'd use a barbell (editorial).
The drag curl moves the hard part towards the top and keeps your elbows back; a regular curl is hardest halfway. Neither has been shown to build more muscle.
Source 5
All three put your arm behind your body. In an incline curl your arm hangs straight down from the bench, so it's hardest halfway up like a standing curl; in a Bayesian curl a cable behind you pulls your arm back; a drag curl is hardest near the top (our reading of the mechanics). In trials, arm-behind curls built the same total muscle as other curls.
Those put your arm in front and stop any swing; the drag curl puts it behind. Our preacher and spider curl guides cover them, and any of these is a fine second curl.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short: its move page's dose, an editorial starting point. We found no dose from any study, the NSCA, the ACSM or ACE; the arm-position trials used 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 12 twice a week, or 6 to 8 sets a week of 10 to 20 reps.
Most sets 1 to 3 reps short, the last 0 to 2, as our curl guides say. Going to failure adds little muscle, and people underestimate the reps they have left by about one.
60 to 90 seconds, as our plans give for curls.
Source 32
About 10 or more hard sets a week for your biceps, counting each set of rows, pulldowns or chin-ups as about half a set.
Reach 12 on every set, then the next weight, as our Zottman and spider curl guides do.
Start lighter than your usual barbell curl and let 2 or 3 reps in reserve set the weight: that's coaching practice, and on a cable with the arm held back people actually lifted more, so nobody knows the right fraction. Light and heavy curls both build the arm when sets are hard; in 201 untrained adults, sets of 20 to 30 grew the elbow flexors at least as much as sets of 8 to 12.
It turns into a normal curl with more front-shoulder work. Keep the bar on your body.
Source 24
Keep your shoulders down, as the move page cues.
Go lighter so the bar can slide up your body under control.
Straighten your arms on every rep.
Source 26
Draw your elbows back further, or go lighter.
If the front of your shoulder aches as your elbows go back, keep them by your sides in a standard curl for now. Pain at the front of the shoulder that's worse reaching backwards, such as putting on a seatbelt, is typical of biceps tendinitis; our biceps tendinitis guide brings arm-behind curls back last.
Source 37
We found no study linking curls with the arm behind the body to biceps tendon problems or tears of the labrum (the rim of the shoulder socket). In 6 cadavers, tension at the long head's anchor didn't rise with the elbow bent and the palm up, and long-head problems mostly come from a lifetime of activity and repeated overhead work.
Discomfort up to about 3 to 4 out of 10 is fine if it settles within an hour and your elbow is no worse the next morning; otherwise go lighter, not to nothing, as our elbow guides say.
A torn biceps tendon at the elbow happens in about 3 to 5 people per 100,000 a year, mostly men over 30, usually when a bent elbow is forced straight against a heavy load. In one video study most were deadlifts and 9% were curls.
If a straight bar hurts your wrists, use an EZ bar or dumbbells; our wrist pain when lifting guide has more.
Source 17
An incline dumbbell curl, 3 sets of 10 to 15, a preacher curl, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15, and hammer curls, 2 sets of 10 to 15 (our bicep workout); a cable curl, 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15 (our bicep curl guide's curl dose, editorial for this version); the wrist and forearm flow, 60 seconds to warm up (our bicep workout). None of these has a dose on its own move page.
The bicep workout's heavier curl can be a drag curl, at 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. The back and biceps, arm and shoulders and arms workouts all have curls a drag curl can join or replace.
A 30-minute biceps session: an EZ-bar curl, an incline curl, a preacher curl and hammer curls, about 10 hard sets, in the gym or with dumbbells.
30 minIntermediate6 movesA dumbbell, EZ curl barA 55-minute gym session for a split: a pulldown, the T-bar row, a seated cable row and a reverse fly for your back, then two curls for your biceps.
55 minIntermediate11 movesPull-up bar, A bandBiceps, triceps and forearms: curls, hammer curls, skull crushers, pushdowns, concentration curls and dips.
35 minBeginner7 movesA dumbbell, A bench or boxA 45-minute gym workout for shoulders and arms: overhead presses, lateral raises with face pulls, then two biceps and triceps pairs, with sets, reps and rest.
45 minIntermediate11 movesA band, A barbellStanding, preacher or hammer curls instead, as our biceps tendinitis guide suggests.
Lighter weights and slower lowering, as our pain at the front of the elbow guide sets out.
An EZ bar or dumbbells instead of a straight bar.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe: breathe out as you lift.
Source 43
After a recent shoulder dislocation, or shoulder or elbow surgery, follow your surgical team's limits first.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
Source 43
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
Source 51
Go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E for a pop at the front of the elbow during a lift, with bruising, a gap at the front of the elbow, weakness turning your palm up, or the biceps bunching up in your upper arm. Repair is ideally done within the first 2 to 3 weeks, so don't wait. In the US, go to urgent care or the emergency department.
A sudden, sharp pain in the upper arm, sometimes with a pop, can be a torn biceps tendon at the shoulder. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111, as the NHS advises for sudden or very bad shoulder pain or pain after an injury.
If your arm hurts when you exercise but the pain goes away when you rest, or you think you've torn a tendon. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
If elbow or arm pain hasn't gone after a few weeks, or shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
Very sore, swollen, tight muscles and dark urine after an unusually hard or high-rep session need medical help the same day: it could be rhabdomyolysis, as our elbow pain from pull-ups guide explains. Normal soreness peaks a day or two after a new exercise and fades.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
The NHS lists lifting heavy weights among the causes of a femoral hernia. After an inguinal hernia repair, avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe: breathe out as you lift.
Untested, and the heads have never been measured separately after any curl. Putting the arm behind the body didn't raise biceps activity, and both heads cross the shoulder.
Never tested directly. Curls with the arm behind the body built the same total arm muscle as curls with it at the side or in front. Pick the curls you like and do them well.
No study has measured or changed a peak. How your biceps bunches is mostly your anatomy, as our concentration curl guide explains.
We found no study linking them to shoulder problems. If the front of your shoulder aches as your elbows go back, keep them by your sides for now.
Hold a barbell underhand at shoulder width against your thighs. Curl it up while drawing your elbows back, keeping the bar touching your body, stop at your lower chest without shrugging, and slide it back down the same path.
The same three as any curl: the biceps, the brachialis underneath it and the brachioradialis in your forearm. The muscles at the back of your shoulder move your elbows back; the biceps doesn't help with that.
They work both heads; nobody has measured whether they favour one. Coaching sites disagree, and putting the arm behind the body didn't raise biceps activity in two studies.
Neither has been shown to build more muscle. In trials, curls with the arm behind the body built the same total arm muscle as curls with the arm at the side or in front. The drag curl moves the hard part of the lift towards the top.
Yes, if you like them: they're a sound curl that keeps your shoulders back and your elbows out of the way. They aren't a secret for the long head or the peak.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms forward, and drag each one up the side of your body as your elbows go back. Keep your shoulders down.
Yes: face a low pulley with a straight bar and keep the bar against your body as your elbows go back. Cables let you add weight in small steps.
A curl is hardest where your forearm is level with the floor. In a drag curl your elbows travel back, so your forearms reach level near the top and the bottom is easy. That's our reading of the mechanics; nobody has measured it.
Start lighter than your usual barbell curl and let 2 or 3 reps in reserve set the weight. Nobody has measured the right fraction, and light and heavy curls both build the arm when the sets are hard.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, with 60 to 90 seconds' rest. Count them with your other curls towards about 10 hard sets a week.
Keep your elbows by your sides in a standard curl for now. Pain at the front of the shoulder that's worse reaching backwards is typical of biceps tendinitis, and our biceps tendinitis guide brings arm-behind curls back last.
All three put your arm behind your body. An incline curl is hardest halfway up like a standing curl, a Bayesian curl pulls your arm back with a cable, and a drag curl is hardest near the top. In trials, arm-behind curls built the same total muscle as other curls.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
