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Plate Curl
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The plate curl works the wrist, individual fingers, and thumb. To perform this exercise, stand a plate up on its edge. Grasp the plate over the top, with the finger tips spread on the flat back of the plate (not in the hole) and the thumb hooked over the rim of the plate. Position the body as if setting up for a bicep curl. While keeping the wrist straight, curl the plate to the shoulder and back down. Avoid swinging the weight as this will remove much of the stress from the hands and wrists.
Resist the tempation to swing the weight up.
The jump in difficulty between plate sizes is very large, so progression in the plate curl is typically achieved by affixing additional small weights to the plate until the wrist gets strong enough to move up to the next level. A couple of pony clamps or c clamps work well for this. Moving the added weight further out on the edge of the plate will make the exercise harder.
Due to the stress placed on the wrists, it makes sense to gradually work up the weight on this exercise. Starting with a 10lb plate, make the first target 2 10lb plates clamped together. Try to progress to a 25lb plate for reps. Plate curling a 35lb plate is attainable, but will prove to be a very challenging goal for most.
