Cable Curl
biceps
What moves the load, and what it costs
3.5MET
Biceps is the prime mover, with the forearms assisting. Constant tension is what a cable adds over free weights, and the biceps respond well to it because a free-weight curl loses tension at the top.
Cue: Stand a step back from a low pulley so the cable stays under tension at the bottom of every rep.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·FILED UNDER WEIGHTS, 8–15 REPS·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files cable curl under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 3.5, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so cable curl is filed under Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance.
- Take the category's MET value — 3.5. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 3.5 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Cable Curl: 3.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal/min
स्रोत·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| BicepsBiceps brachii and brachialis | Prime mover | कोपर वाकवतो, आणि (फक्त biceps brachii) तळहात वरच्या दिशेने फिरवतो. तो खांद्यावरूनही जातो, त्यामुळेच इनक्लाइन कर्ल आणि प्रीचर कर्ल वेगळे जाणवतात. |
| ForearmsWrist flexors, extensors and brachioradialis | Synergist / stabiliser | Flex and extend the wrist, rotate the forearm, and grip. Grip failure is what ends most heavy pulling sets before the target muscle is done. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
केबल मशीन. प्रत्येक रेप पहिल्या रेपसारखाच दिसला पाहिजे. तो पहिल्यासारखा दिसेनासा झाला त्या क्षणी सेट संपला.
PATTERN · ISOLATION
- Hold the handle with the elbows tucked close to your ribs and the shoulders down.
- Brace the trunk so the lower back cannot arch as the weight rises.
- Stand a step back from a low pulley so the cable stays under tension at the bottom of every rep.
- Bend the elbows and curl up, keeping the upper arms still — the elbow is a hinge, and the shoulder should stay out of it.
- Squeeze at the top without letting the elbows drift forward.
- Lower all the way to straight arms, slower than you lifted.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Swinging the weight up with the back.
It is the most common error in any gym. If the lower back extends to start the rep, the biceps are not the limiting factor — the ego is.
Elbows drifting forward at the top.
That turns the last third of the curl into a front raise and removes tension from the biceps exactly where they were about to be shortest.
Cutting the bottom of the range.
Straighten the arms fully. The stretched position is where a curl earns its keep.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Nothing on this site regresses it further: this is already near the entry point of its pattern. Take load off, shorten the range, or slow the tempo — in that order.
Progress — the next demand
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a single-joint movement does its best work in moderate to high reps — very low reps load the joint before the muscle.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–4 | 6–10 | 2 मिनिटे | Single-joint work responds poorly to very low reps — the joint gets the load before the muscle does. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 10–15 | 60–90 sec | This is where isolation work earns its place: cheap volume for one muscle, little systemic fatigue. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–3 | 15–25 | 30–45 sec | High reps here are genuinely useful — the load is small enough that form survives the fatigue. |
| First month | 2 | 12–15 | 60 sec | Light. Isolation work is for adding volume later, not for building a base. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance — 3.5 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 3.5 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the cable curl work?
Cable Curl is a single-joint isolation movement in which the biceps is the prime mover, assisted by the forearms. Bends the elbow, and (biceps brachii only) turns the palm upwards. It also crosses the shoulder, which is why the incline curl feels different from the preacher curl.
Is the cable curl good for beginners?
होय. तांत्रिक अवघडपणासाठी या साइटवर याला 5 पैकी 1 गुण आहेत — प्रशिक्षकाशिवाय एकाच सत्रात शिकता येण्यासारखे. सर्वात कमी योग्य वजनाने आणि 12–15 च्या दोन किंवा तीन सेटने सुरुवात करा.
What can I do instead of the cable curl at home?
The dumbbell curl is the nearest home-friendly version. Where a bodyweight substitute does not exist, progress by slowing the tempo and using single-limb versions instead of adding load.
How many sets and reps of the cable curl should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 10–15 with 60–90 sec rest. For strength, 3–4 sets of 6–10 with 2 min rest. In your first month, 2 sets of 12–15, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the cable curl burn fat from the biceps?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the biceps builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
स्रोत·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
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