Dépense estimée selon votre poids
Mouvement d'isolation · 3 s par répétition
| Répétitions | Dépense estimée |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0,23 kcal |
| 10 | 2,3 kcal |
| 20 | 4,6 kcal |
| 50 | 11,5 kcal |
| 100 | 23,0 kcal |
Estimation à partir des équivalents métaboliques (MET) du Compendium of Physical Activities. La charge, le tempo et la durée des repos font varier le résultat du simple au double : à lire comme un ordre de grandeur, pas comme une mesure.
The EZ bar curl, the bread and butter of arm training
The EZ bar is that zigzag bar sitting on every rack. Its bends put your hands in semi-supination, halfway between palms up and palms down. The biceps works exactly like it does with a straight bar. Your wrists, on the other hand, get off far easier.
The EZ bar curl lets you load heavier than dumbbells and track your strength in kilos, set after set. You'll see it sold as an EZ curl bar, a cambered bar or simply a curl bar. It's the first purchase people make when they build a home gym, before the bench even.
A standard EZ bar weighs 6 to 10 kg empty depending on its length. Count it in your total load, or your training numbers will be off from the very first session.
Which muscles does the EZ curl work?
The movement isolates elbow flexion. Three muscles share the job, in proportions that shift with your grip.
- Biceps brachii: the prime mover, especially in supination.
- Brachialis: sits under the biceps, pushes it up and adds thickness to the arm.
- Brachioradialis: the forearm, very active with a pronated grip.
Your shoulders and upper body are anchors, not engines. Shoulders creeping forward to get the bar up? The load is too heavy. The triceps does nothing here: you'll need another exercise for it.
Technique: how to do the EZ bar biceps curl
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees soft. Grab the bar on the angled sections, palms facing up and slightly inward. Arms straight, the bar resting against your thighs at the bottom.
Curl up by bending your elbows, no jerking, over 1 to 2 seconds. Elbows pinned to your sides and fixed: they shouldn't drift forward or flare out. Hold a short squeeze at the top, then lower over 3 seconds to full extension.
In the gym, the most common mistake isn't the weight: it's the range of motion. Arms that never straighten at the bottom means a third of the work lost on every rep.
Close grip or wide grip
Hands near the middle, the close grip lengthens the stroke of the long head. Hands on the outer sections, the wide grip hits the short head and the brachialis harder. Alternate from session to session instead of hunting for the best one: both earn their place.
Keeping your wrists happy
If it pulls, slide your hands one notch outward. Also check that your wrist stays in line with your forearm, never bent back. That's where the real injury risk sits on this exercise.
EZ bar or straight bar: which one?
The question comes up with every arm program. Here's what the bar actually changes.
| Criterion | EZ bar | Straight bar |
|---|---|---|
| Wrist comfort | High | Low |
| Full supination | Partial | Complete |
| Maximum load | High | High |
| Empty weight | 6 to 10 kg | 10 to 20 kg |
| Space in a home gym | Little | A lot |
Simple verdict. Sensitive wrists: take the cambered bar. If you want maximum tension on the biceps and your joints can handle it, stick with the straight one. Plenty of people alternate both within the same cycle, and honestly, that's the best of both worlds.
Reverse EZ bar curl: the pronated version
The reverse curl is done with palms facing the floor. The biceps loses its role as prime mover, the brachialis and forearms take over. Arms stuck at the same width? This is the exercise to add.
Cut the load by 30 to 40% compared to the regular curl: pronated, the grip is mechanically weaker. Elbows locked at your sides, no swinging. Three sets of 12 at the end of the session is plenty.
The variations that round out the movement
The standing curl stays the foundation. Other angles exist, and each one changes the length the muscle works at.
- Preacher curl: made famous by Larry Scott, it parks your elbows on an angled pad and kills any cheating.
- Spider curl: chest against the back of an incline bench, arms hanging free, maximum tension at the top.
- Seated curl: useful for cutting out help from your legs once fatigue sets in.
To stretch the long head further, add some incline dumbbell curls at the end of your session. The pair works very well inside the same week.
Loads, sets and where it fits in your training
Put the EZ bar curl after your rows and pulldowns, never before: pre-fatigued biceps cap what you can do for your back. Plan on 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, with 90 seconds of rest.
Progress in small steps. Adding 1 kg per side every two weeks is already a solid pace on an isolation exercise. And if the last rep turns into a swing, drop the weight: better to lose a plate than to lose your technique.
A well-built session never rests on a single movement. Our training programs by goal handle volume and frequency for you, and the video library shows every position in detail.