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Exercise

Bayesian curl: muscles worked and how to do it

The Bayesian curl trains your biceps. You stand facing away from a low cable with your arm behind your body, so each rep starts with the biceps stretched, a position most curls never reach.

It became popular online as a way to train the biceps at long muscle lengths. It is a simple cable curl with a different starting point, and a good addition to a regular curl.

At a glance

Main muscles
Movement
Curl
Equipment
Cable machine
Type
Isolation (one joint)

How to do a Bayesian curl

  1. Set a cable pulley at the lowest position with a single handle.
  2. Hold the handle in one hand and step forward, facing away from the machine, until your arm is pulled slightly behind your body.
  3. Take a split stance for balance, with the foot on the working arm’s side behind. Stand tall, palm facing forward.
  4. Curl the handle up and forward by bending your elbow, keeping your upper arm where it is, slightly behind you.
  5. Squeeze at the top, then lower slowly until your arm is straight and you feel the stretch in your biceps. Finish your reps, then switch arms.

Cues that help

  • "Elbow stays back": the upper arm stays slightly behind your body for the whole rep.
  • "Chest up, shoulder back": don’t let the shoulder roll forward to help.
  • "Own the stretch": the bottom is the point of the exercise, so lower slowly.
  • "Only the forearm moves": no leaning forward to lift the weight.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbow drift forward as you curl, which turns it into a normal cable curl.
  • Standing too close to the machine, so there is no stretch at the bottom.
  • Too heavy: you lean forward and swing the handle up.
  • Rushing the lowering and losing the stretch.

Does training the stretch build more biceps?

The idea behind the Bayesian curl is that training a muscle at long lengths helps it grow. Studies on other muscles, such as the triceps and the quads, point that way. For the Bayesian curl itself, we could not find a training study that measured it, so any extra growth is a reasonable bet rather than a measured result.

Either way, it is a good biceps exercise that is easy on the elbows. Pair it with a curl that loads the top of the movement, such as a preacher curl.

Sets, reps and weight

  • For muscle: 2 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps per arm.
  • Rest about 1 minute between arms or sets.
  • Use a weight you can lower in 2 to 3 seconds on every rep.

Variations and alternatives

  • Incline dumbbell curl: the same stretched start, lying back on an incline bench.
  • Dumbbell curl: the standard curl, easy to load and progress.
  • Preacher curl: the opposite end of the range, with the arm in front of you.
  • Hammer curl: more work for the forearms.

Tracking your Bayesian curls

PushBeyond logs the weight and reps of each set and charts the history of the exercise. Its muscle map counts the Bayesian curl for your biceps.

Updated

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What muscles does the Bayesian curl work?

The biceps, starting from a stretched position with the arm behind the body.

Why is it called a Bayesian curl?

It is named after Bayesian Bodybuilding, the coaching business of Menno Henselmans, who popularised it. The name says nothing about the movement itself.

Is the Bayesian curl better than a regular curl?

It trains the biceps in a position regular curls don’t reach. We know of no study showing that it builds more muscle, so use it alongside a regular curl rather than instead of one.

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