Arms · Dumbbell
Seated Wrist Curl
How to do the seated wrist curl, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Curl
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Sit on a bench with your forearms resting on your thighs, palms up. Curl the dumbbells up using only your wrists, then lower.
- 1Sit with your forearms resting on your thighs or a bench, palms up, and curl the weight with just your wrists, feeling your forearm flexors work
- 2Hold the peak contraction briefly before lowering slowly
- 3Keep your forearms still and allow only your wrists to move through the range
Common mistakes
- Don't use your elbows or shoulders to lift the weight
- Avoid gripping too tightly and creating unnecessary tension in your forearms
- Don't rush the reps; slow, controlled motion is key for forearm development
Muscles worked
The seated wrist curl mainly works the forearms.
- ForearmsPrimary
Seated Wrist Curl strength standards
See how your seated wrist curl ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.
Bronzee1RM5 lb
Silvere1RM12.5 lb
Golde1RM20 lb
Platinume1RM30 lb
Diamonde1RM45 lb
Champione1RM60 lb
Find your rank
Enter your best set. We estimate your 1RM and match it to a tier.
Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.
Kovo programs the seated wrist curl for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More forearms exercises
- How to do the wrist curl
- How to do the conans wheel
- How to do the farmers walk
- How to do the forearm extensor stretch
- How to do the forearm flexor stretch
- How to do the medicine ball hussafel carry
Last reviewed April 2026.