How to do the Dumbbell Finger Curls

Muscles worked

Step-by-step

1. Sit on a bench and rest your forearms on your thighs with your wrists just past your knees, holding a dumbbell in each hand with a loose, open grip.
2. Let the dumbbells roll down to your fingertips under control, fully extending your fingers until you feel a deep stretch in the forearm flexors.
3. Curl your fingers back up first, gripping the dumbbell tightly back into your palm, then complete the movement by flexing at the wrist.
4. Lower slowly back to the fingertip position on every rep, resisting the weight on the way down rather than dropping it.

Common mistakes

• Rushing through the lowering phase and letting the dumbbell drop instead of controlling it, which eliminates the eccentric stimulus where much of the strength adaptation occurs, so slow each descent to a deliberate two to three second count.
• Using dumbbells that are too heavy, which forces the fingers to stay closed and turns the exercise into a basic wrist curl, so select a weight light enough to allow full finger extension on every single rep.
• Allowing the forearms to lift off the thighs during the curl, which recruits the upper arm and reduces isolation, so keep your forearms pinned flat against your legs throughout the entire set.

Sets & reps by goal

Rest: 60–90 sec between sets.

More Forearms exercises

Barbell Wrist Reverse Curl (VERSION 2)Barbell Reverse CurlBarbell Reverse Preacher CurlBarbell Reverse Wrist CurlBarbell Standing Reverse Grip CurlBarbell Wrist Curl (VERSION 2)