Drag curls primarily target the long head of the biceps, the outer portion of the muscle that contributes most to the “peak” or height of your bicep when flexed. They do this by pulling your elbows behind your body during the curl, which changes how the biceps are stretched and shortened compared to a standard curl.
Why the Long Head Gets More Work
Your biceps has two heads. The short head sits on the inner side of your upper arm, closer to your chest. The long head runs along the outer side and originates at the top of your shoulder socket, at a bony point called the supraglenoid tubercle. Because the long head crosses both the shoulder and elbow joints, its level of activation depends on your shoulder position.
In a standard curl, your elbows stay pinned at your sides or even drift slightly forward. This shortens the long head at the shoulder, reducing the tension it can produce. During a drag curl, you deliberately drive your elbows backward as you raise the bar. This keeps the long head in a lengthened position at the shoulder while it contracts to flex the elbow, forcing it to work harder throughout the rep. The short head still contributes, but the mechanical advantage shifts toward the long head.
How Drag Curls Compare to Standard Curls
Drag curls involve less total muscle activation than standard barbell or EZ-bar curls. A study published in PeerJ measured electrical activity in the biceps and the forearm muscle that assists with curling (the brachioradialis) across three curl variations. The EZ-bar curl produced roughly 11% more biceps activation than the dumbbell curl, and both produced significantly more overall activity than movements with a restricted bar path. The forearm muscle showed an even larger gap, with the EZ-bar curl generating substantially higher activation during the lifting phase.
This doesn’t mean drag curls are inferior. It means they serve a different purpose. Standard curls are better for maximizing total biceps workload. Drag curls sacrifice some of that total activation to shift a greater proportion of the work onto the long head specifically. If your biceps look flat from the side or you want more peak, that trade-off is worth making for a portion of your arm training.
Proper Drag Curl Technique
Stand holding a barbell or EZ-bar with an underhand grip at arm’s length. Instead of curling the bar in an arc away from your body, drag it straight up your torso. The bar should lightly graze your shirt the entire way up. You accomplish this by driving your elbows backward as you curl, not by leaning back.
Continue curling until your arms are fully flexed and the bar reaches roughly chest or neck height. You won’t get as high as a standard curl because the restricted bar path limits your range of motion. On the way down, reverse the movement: let your elbows come forward and then down, keeping the bar close to your body the entire time. The weight you use will be noticeably lighter than your normal curl, often 50 to 60% of what you’d use for a standard barbell curl. That’s expected and not a sign you’re doing something wrong.
Shoulder Considerations
The long head tendon runs through a narrow groove at the front of your shoulder before attaching inside the joint. Heavy or repetitive curling can irritate this tendon, causing it to swell and create pressure in the shoulder. In some cases, the tendon can even shift in and out of its groove during the movement, leading to tendinitis or contributing to impingement symptoms.
Drag curls place the shoulder in a slightly extended position, which increases stretch on the long head tendon. For most people this is fine and even beneficial for building that area. But if you have existing shoulder issues, rotator cuff weakness, or a history of labral problems, the added tension on the long head tendon could aggravate things. Start light, pay attention to any pinching or clicking at the front of your shoulder, and build volume gradually.
Programming Drag Curls Effectively
Drag curls work best as an accessory movement rather than your main biceps exercise. Because the range of motion is shorter and the total muscle activation is lower, they don’t generate enough overall stimulus to be your only curl variation. Use them alongside a standard curl (barbell, dumbbell, or cable) to cover both heads thoroughly.
A practical approach is 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps, focusing on a slow, controlled tempo. Rushing through drag curls defeats the purpose. The limited range of motion means each rep is shorter, so you need deliberate control to keep tension on the long head rather than letting momentum take over. Squeezing at the top for a one-second pause can help you feel the contraction on the outer bicep where you want it.
Cables work well for drag curls too. Attaching a straight bar to a low pulley and performing the same elbow-back motion provides constant tension throughout the rep, which partially compensates for the shorter range of motion. Smith machine drag curls are another option, since the fixed bar path naturally keeps the weight close to your body.