Barbell Cheat Curl

Setup

1. 01Stand with feet shoulder width apart holding a barbell with an underhand, shoulder-width grip.
2. 02Choose a load about 10 to 20 percent heavier than your strict curl.
3. 03Brace the trunk and soften the knees slightly.

Execution

1. 01Use a small, controlled hip drive to start the bar moving.
2. 02Curl the bar to shoulder height, letting the momentum carry it through the sticking point.
3. 03Lower the bar strictly and slowly, taking 3 to 4 seconds on the way down.
4. 04Reset the body position before each rep.

Checkpoints

• -The cheat is a small hip pop, not a full-body swing.
• -Eccentric is always strict and slow — that is the point of the exercise.
• -Lower back stays neutral; the lean comes from the hips, not the spine.
• -Elbows return to the sides at the top rather than flaring high.

Common mistakes

• -Turning the rep into a reverse-grip front raise with a wild swing.
• -Dropping the bar down instead of controlling the eccentric.
• -Hyperextending the lower back to heave the weight.
• -Using it as the only curl instead of a strict-curl supplement.