The Barbell Drag Curl is a intermediate-friendly barbell strength exercise that targets the biceps. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesBiceps
Secondary muscles—
EquipmentBarbell
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Barbell Drag Curl
Stand tall holding a barbell with an underhand grip at shoulder width and arms fully extended.
Brace your core and pin your shoulders down and back to lock the upper body in place.
Pull the bar straight up the front of your torso by driving your elbows back behind you.
Stop the bar at the upper chest with elbows tucked back, feeling a strong biceps contraction.
Lower the bar slowly down the front of the body, keeping it in contact with the torso.
Finish with arms fully extended and elbows reset under the shoulders before the next rep.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Targets the long head of the biceps for thicker peak development.
Builds top-end biceps contraction strength missed by standard curls.
Reinforces strict form by removing front-shoulder cheating.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Letting the elbows drift forward like a regular curl, which removes the long-head bias.
Using too much weight, which forces the body to swing and breaks the dragging path of the bar.
Cutting the bottom range short and not fully straightening the arms between reps.
Rounding the shoulders forward to chase the bar up, which loads the front delts instead.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Barbell Drag Curl, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
