5 Best EZ Curl Bar Chest Exercises You’re Not Doing

In order to work out your chest with an EZ curl bar, all you need is the bar and a bench. You can create a complete workout and target the upper, lower, and middle portions of the chest by performing bench press variations in the flat, incline, and decline positions. with both overhand grips and underhand grip. The EZ Curl bar pullover is another incredible chest exercise that stretches and activates the entire pectoral muscle for a phenomenal chest workout.

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Can You Work Your Chest with an EZ Curl Bar?

Despite what the name suggests, the EZ curl bar isn’t just for curls. It can provide an excellent chest workout if used properly. This versatile piece of gym equipment can be used for almost all exercises where you would typically use a full-sized barbell, So, with a bit of practice and knowledge, you can workout your chest with an EZ curl bar.

You can use an EZ curl bar to perform a fantastic chest workout.
EZ curl bars can be used for many types of exercises that target both the lower and upper body.
A typical EZ curl bar weighs 18–22 pounds before additional weight has been loaded on.

A standard, high-quality EZ curl bar weighs 14–22 pounds before you add additional weight. Keep this in mind when tracking your progress and the weight you lift during your chest workout. If you transition from the EZ curl bar to a 45-pound barbell, your strength and lifting experience in all the EZ curl chest exercises will carry over.

The 5-Exercise EZ Curl Chest Workout

So, you don’t have a full-size barbell but you want to build your chest muscles? Don’t worry, your trusty EZ curl bar can help you build strength, lean muscle, and competency in exercises you can later perform with dumbbells or a large barbell. Here are the best chest exercises with the EZ curl.

Bench Press

Let’s begin with an old classic—the flat bench press. It can be performed with an EZ curl bar and deliver great results. Here’s how:

Safely rack the EZ curl bar above the bench and load it with the desired weight.
Lay with your back on the bench. Retract your shoulders back and down.
Plant your feet firmly on the ground on either side of the bench.
Grip the EZ curl bar at the point where the outer wings of the ‘W’ curve slant upwards.
Unrack the EZ curl bar and lower it slowly down until it touches your chest just above the point where your pectoral muscle ends and your abdomen begins.
Push the bar up and away from your body in a controlled motion.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.

The same mechanics and form that apply to the standard bench press with a barbell or dumbells can easily be translated to the EZ curl bar. Just make sure to use proper form by maintaining straight wrists throughout the lift and pushing the bar up symmetrically on each side. Poor form and unnecessary stress can cause common upper back injuries.

EZ Curl Pullovers

Pullovers are an often-forgotten and essential workout that works perfectly with an EZ curl bar. This exercise stretches your chest muscles, keeping them under tension throughout both the upwards and downwards motion of the bar. This in turn activates the entire pectoral muscle. To perform it:

Lay flat on the bench with your shoulders retracted and feet planted on the floor.
Grip the EZ curl bar at the first bend in the bar. Your arms should be about shoulder-width apart.
Bend your arms. The bend should be slightly less than 90 degrees. In the starting position, the bar will be a few inches above your chest, as if you were partway through a close-grip bench press.
Without changing the bend in your arms, rotate your shoulders to move the bar backward, over your head as far as you can go without straining your shoulders or touching the bar to the ground behind you.
Bring the bar back to the starting position, pulling it back over your head to the starting position.
The bend in your arm should not change throughout the exercise. This causes you to use your chest muscles to control both the backward and forward motion of the bar.

This exercise is a great muscle builder but it’s often skipped because it can be difficult to perform as a full-sized barbell exercise. Work the pullover into your EZ curl chest workout because it is so perfectly suited for the equipment.

Close Grip Bench

The close-grip bench is another workout that is better suited for the EZ curl bar than a full-sized barbell. While the close-grip bench press is known for working your triceps, it also targets your chest in ways the regular bench press doesn’t. The close-grip bench is much better at targeting the upper half of the pectoral muscles than your standard bench press. The best way to do it is:

Lay on the bench in standard bench press position with the bar safely racked.
Grip the EZ curl bar at the first bend in the bar. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart.
Unrack the bar and lower it to your chest, at the point just above where the pectoral meets the abdomen.
Focus on lowering the bar in a controlled manner. Keep your arms close on either side of your body. Do not flare your elbows outward.
Push the bar up. Extend your arms but do not lock your elbows.
Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

You may feel the burn in your tricep muscles, and a little in your shoulders, as you perform this exercise, but you’ll definitely feel it in your chest as well. Close grip bench is an EZ curl bar essential that no chest workout is complete without. You can also increase the grip variations of this exercise by using a super curl bar.

Incline/Decline Bench

Remember the flat bench press at the start of this list? It’s a great chest workout because it works a large portion of the pectoral muscles, but you can use variations to target specific areas of your chest. This will help you build strength and muscle evenly with the EZ curl bar.

Perform your EZ curl bench press with the bench inclined 30 degrees upward to target the upper half of the pectoral muscle.
Decline the bench so that your head is lower than your feet. The best angle is 15–30 degrees downward. Performing EZ curl bench press in this position focuses on the lower chest.

By performing the EZ curl bench press at slightly different angles you can build several areas of your chest. If you feel like the upper half of your chest is lagging, make sure to add an incline bench to your routine. If the lower portion of your chest lacks strength and definition, focus on the decline bench.

Reverse Grip Bench

Do you really want to build your upper chest muscle? Try the reverse grip when you’re benching the EZ curl bar. It may take some time to get used to this grip, so load the bar more lightly than usual. Then, perform this exercise:

Begin in classic bench press form with the bar racked, feet planted on the floor, and shoulders retracted.
Grip the bar in a “curl” position, with your palms facing towards your head, not your feet.
Unrack the bar and lower slowly, as you would with a standard bench press.
Push the bar up off your chest, controlling the upward movement. Do not bounce the bar off your chest.
Perform with a wide grip, or try it with a close grip for an intense upper-chest workout.

It may seem silly to perform the bench press with this grip, but simply by reversing the way your hands face, you target your upper chest muscles 30% more. Do you know what else focuses on your upper chest? That’s right, the close-grip bench. Combine the two for a reverse-close-grip bench press that will give your upper chest a monumental workout.