Cable Wrist Curl

Muscles worked by the Cable Wrist Curl

Primary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor Muscles

Also called: wrist flexors, flexor carpi, forearm flexors, inner forearm.

Equipment

Cable Machine

Also called: cable pulley, functional trainer, cable crossover, cable column, cable station, pulley machine.

How to do the Cable Wrist Curl

1. Attach a short straight bar to a low cable pulley and sit on a flat bench facing the pulley, feet flat on the floor.
2. Take the bar with an underhand grip, palms facing up, hands about shoulder-width apart.
3. Rest your forearms on your thighs so that your wrists and hands reach just past your knees.
4. Let the cable pull your wrists down until you feel a stretch in your forearms.
5. Curl the bar up by flexing your wrists, keeping your forearms on your thighs.
6. Lower the bar under control and repeat for the planned repetitions.

Form tips

• Move only at the wrists; keep your forearms pressed against your thighs.
• Perform the reps slowly to avoid straining your wrists.
• Pause briefly at the top of each rep for a stronger contraction.

At a glance

Cable Wrist Curl in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Wrist Roller
• Barbell Wrist Curl
• Bilateral Dumbbell Wrist Curl
• Dumbbell Wrist Curl
• EZ-Bar Wrist Curl
• Kettlebell Wrist Curl
• Kneeling Wrist Stretch
• Plate Pinch

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "cable-wrist-curl",
  "name_en": "Cable Wrist Curl",
  "name_de": "Kabelzug Handgelenks-Curl",
  "name_es": "Curl de Muñeca con Cable",
  "description_en": "An isolation exercise for the forearm flexors: seated on a flat bench with your forearms resting on your thighs, you hold a short bar attached to a low cable pulley in front of you and curl it up by flexing your wrists. The thighs keep the forearms still, so only the wrists move.",
  "description_de": "Eine Isolationsübung für die Unterarmbeuger: Du sitzt auf einer Flachbank, die Unterarme liegen auf den Oberschenkeln, und hältst eine kurze Stange am unteren Kabelzug vor dir, die du durch Beugen der Handgelenke nach oben curlst. Die Oberschenkel halten die Unterarme ruhig, sodass sich nur die Handgelenke bewegen.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de aislamiento para los flexores del antebrazo: sentado en un banco plano con los antebrazos apoyados en los muslos, sujetas una barra corta enganchada a una polea baja delante de ti y la subes flexionando las muñecas. Los muslos mantienen quietos los antebrazos, de modo que solo se mueven las muñecas.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "cable",
  "body_part": "lower_arms",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "wrist-curl",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Attach a short straight bar to a low cable pulley and sit on a flat bench facing the pulley, feet flat on the floor.",
    "Take the bar with an underhand grip, palms facing up, hands about shoulder-width apart.",
    "Rest your forearms on your thighs so that your wrists and hands reach just past your knees.",
    "Let the cable pull your wrists down until you feel a stretch in your forearms.",
    "Curl the bar up by flexing your wrists, keeping your forearms on your thighs.",
    "Lower the bar under control and repeat for the planned repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Befestige eine kurze gerade Stange am unteren Kabelzug und setze dich mit Blick zur Rolle auf eine Flachbank, die Füße flach auf dem Boden.",
    "Greife die Stange im Untergriff, die Handflächen zeigen nach oben, die Hände etwa schulterbreit.",
    "Lege die Unterarme so auf die Oberschenkel, dass Handgelenke und Hände knapp über die Knie hinausragen.",
    "Lass die Handgelenke vom Kabel nach unten ziehen, bis du eine Dehnung in den Unterarmen spürst.",
    "Curle die Stange durch Beugen der Handgelenke nach oben und lass die Unterarme dabei auf den Oberschenkeln.",
    "Senke die Stange kontrolliert ab und wiederhole für die geplante Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Engancha una barra recta corta a una polea baja y siéntate en un banco plano mirando hacia la polea, con los pies apoyados en el suelo.",
    "Agarra la barra en supinación, con las palmas hacia arriba y las manos más o menos a la anchura de los hombros.",
    "Apoya los antebrazos en los muslos de forma que las muñecas y las manos sobresalgan justo por delante de las rodillas.",
    "Deja que el cable lleve las muñecas hacia abajo hasta notar un estiramiento en los antebrazos.",
    "Sube la barra flexionando las muñecas, manteniendo los antebrazos sobre los muslos.",
    "Baja la barra con control y repite el número de repeticiones previsto."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Move only at the wrists; keep your forearms pressed against your thighs.",
    "Perform the reps slowly to avoid straining your wrists.",
    "Pause briefly at the top of each rep for a stronger contraction."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Bewege nur die Handgelenke; drücke die Unterarme fest gegen die Oberschenkel.",
    "Führe die Wiederholungen langsam aus, um die Handgelenke nicht zu überlasten.",
    "Halte oben in jeder Wiederholung kurz inne, um die Kontraktion zu verstärken."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mueve solo las muñecas; mantén los antebrazos presionados contra los muslos.",
    "Haz las repeticiones despacio para no sobrecargar las muñecas.",
    "Haz una breve pausa arriba en cada repetición para una contracción más fuerte."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/cable-wrist-curl-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/cable-wrist-curl-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "cable-wrist-curl");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.