Drag curl

Drag curls are a bicep exercise highlighted for their effectiveness in building bicep mass and providing a distinctive muscle contraction pattern. Here's how they work:

• Execution: Unlike traditional barbell curls where the bar moves away from the body during the curl, in a drag curl, the barbell stays close and "drags" up along the body. The movement involves pulling the elbows back while lifting the bar, creating a unique angle at the top where the bicep is lengthened but also simultaneously shortens at the bottom.
• Benefits: Drag curls force the shoulders to stay retracted, reducing the likelihood of common form errors such as shoulder roll or engagement of the anterior deltoids. Because of this, it also helps in maintaining a proper posture during the exercise. It is particularly useful for beginners to ensure correct form and for advanced practitioners to target the biceps effectively.
• Variation and Difficulty: This exercise is hard to cheat on and induces a deep muscle burn, which is beneficial for muscle development.

This exercise is recommended for its approach to facilitate proper form while effectively targeting the biceps, making it suitable even for beginners and useful as a teaching tool for trainers 1.