EZ bar exercises: how to use an EZ curl bar

The EZ bar (short for "easy curl bar") is a short barbell with W-shaped bends along its length, and EZ bar exercises are almost entirely arm and shoulder isolation moves — curls, extensions and preacher curls. The angled grips let your wrists sit in a more natural, slightly rotated position than a straight bar, which is why lifters with wrist or elbow discomfort often reach for it first. On this site, the free 3D coach demonstrates the EZ-bar curl, preacher curl and skull crusher so you can match your grip and range to the model rep.

How to use an EZ curl bar

Grip the bar at one of the angled bends — a closer grip on the inner bend emphasizes the outer head of the biceps, while a wider grip on the outer bend emphasizes the inner head, but the difference is small and either works for general training. A standard EZ bar weighs around 6.5–8 kg (14–18 lb), lighter than a full Olympic barbell, so account for that when loading small plates for a target total.

Safety and setup

Keep elbows tucked at your sides during curls rather than swinging them forward, and control the lowering phase — most of the value in an isolation lift like this comes from the slow, controlled negative. On the skull crusher, lower the bar toward the forehead or just behind it, not straight down onto the face, and use a lighter weight than you'd guess since the triceps are a smaller muscle group than the chest or back. If you feel any sharp pain in the elbow joint itself rather than muscle fatigue in the upper arm, stop the set, drop the weight, and check your grip width and elbow position before continuing.

Best EZ bar exercises

The EZ-bar curl is the standard biceps builder and generally feels easier on the wrists than a straight-bar barbell curl. The preacher curl uses the same bar braced against a preacher bench to remove momentum and isolate the biceps fully. The reverse curl (palms down) shifts emphasis to the forearms and brachialis. For triceps, the skull crusher is the classic EZ-bar move, working well because the bent grip keeps the wrists comfortable through a long lowering range.

Sample arm workout with an EZ bar

How to program EZ-bar exercises

As isolation moves, EZ-bar exercises fit best at the end of an upper-body or arm-focused session, after the bigger compound lifts like presses and rows are done — see compound vs isolation exercises for why the order matters. Use 3–4 sets of 8–15 reps with 45–75 seconds rest, and progress by adding small increments of weight once you can hit the top of the rep range across all sets. For 21s (a classic EZ-bar curl finisher: 7 bottom-half reps, 7 top-half reps, 7 full reps), keep the weight lighter than your normal curl weight since the technique adds volume, not load.

EZ bar exercises for beginners

If you're new to the EZ bar, start with the empty bar or a light plate on each side and focus on keeping your elbows still through the whole set — the most common beginner mistake is swinging the torso to heave the bar up, which shifts work away from the biceps and onto the lower back. Once the movement feels controlled at a light weight, add small increments (1.25–2.5 kg per side) rather than jumping straight to a heavier load, and film your set from the side occasionally to check that your upper arm stays vertical throughout the curl.

Where the EZ bar fits into your training

The EZ bar is a supplement to a bigger plan rather than the center of one — pair it with pressing and pulling work from barbell or dumbbell exercises for a complete session, and check the biceps and triceps hubs for more variations if you don't have one available. The plan builder can slot arm isolation work into a full weekly plan for you, and the one-rep max calculator helps you set sensible percentage-based targets as your curl and skull crusher numbers improve over the following weeks.