OK guys, I did a search and could not find the correct way to do the following exercise: EZ Bar Spider Curls. Any help is appreciated.
JRR: The problem is that this is an exercise described almost exclusively by the instruments used! (Go figure!) A spider bench is one that you can lay stomach-down on (prone) and will usually have two supports from the sides that you can “rest” your triceps on; (it makes the Spider Bench look sort of like a cross). Of course, the E-Z BAR is the lifting bar that looks like a “Z” and in theory allows different degrees of stress on the arm depending on where along the angles the bar is held. So, lie face down on the Spider, someone hands you a loaded EZ-Curl Bar; you preform curls. ADVANTAGE? It is supposed to be one of those exercises that takes the biceps “out” of the movement, leading to greater, underlying brachioradialis development.(A biceps “peaking” exercise is the theory, as the brachioradialis "pushes up on " the biceps).
I’ve done these before. I dont know if this is the right way, but this is how I did it. I layed with my chest down on an incline bench, so my hands hang down perpendicular to the floor. Then grab the weight and do curls with it. It’s cool because your biceps are working throughout the whole rep, and you can’t rest at the top of the movement like you can with standing curls.
I’m not quite sure what the “cross” thing Mufasa said is all about. But as far as I know, a spider curl is when your upper arm is hanging perpendicular to the ground and against a bench so the elbows can’t move back, further stimulating the biceps. I guess you could do it just laying on a bench your elbow would move, and there is a difference, my gym has an apparatus to do it.
If I remember correctly in the old muscle media there was an article on the ABCDE program where the author recommended spider curls. From what I remember the article described an easy way to do them. Simply takea regular preacher curl bench and turn the pad around so your arms have to rest on the flat side of the pad. Then simply lean over so your body is paralell to the ground and go to town.
The Spider Bench is an actual bench made “specifically” for Spider Curls. Is it " neccesary?" No…there are a million ways we can manipulate benches, devices, weights etc. to get similar effects.
Thanks guys.
I’ve used the exact exercise that Kelly described for a while now and like it particularly well. In addition, I was reading about doing barbell curls with your upper back against the wall or a support, your feet about 18 inches in front of you and your arms behind your body, so when you curl the weight up it’s brushing against your torso the whole time.
Agree with Kelly and Timbo but do you stand up or kneel on the seat - I find that I cant get it to work on a movable preacher with as little as 65 pounds.
i finish my bis with this exercise alot. you use a preacher bench (usually the stand up one)and basically do it ‘backwards’, that is your triceps are resting on the side that is perpendicular to the ground rather than the sloped ‘preacher’ side. hope this helps.
-D
Dre, bro, I tend to kneel on with one knee on the bench and one foot flat on the ground. Don’t know why really, just most comfortable. It’s a great exercise, if done thru the full range.