Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…
[quote]pachell wrote:
Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…[/quote]
Ive never seen anyone build big arms with curls as their main tool.
I have however seen guys with a good base from heavy back work, start curling with some serious poundages on a seperate day from back day and make huge gains.
I feel its premature to dismiss curls completely, sure the biceps are wimpy little muscles, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect them.
In power lifting the biceps are pretty much useless and I still train them with preachers and dumbbell work.
Why neglect any part of your body ? its not like your NOT going to recover from the curls in time for next weeks back day, thats just nonsense.
[quote]Westclock wrote:
pachell wrote:
Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…
Ive never seen anyone build big arms with curls as their main tool.
I have however seen guys with a good base from heavy back work, start curling with some serious poundages on a seperate day from back day and make huge gains.
I feel its premature to dismiss curls completely, sure the biceps are wimpy little muscles, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect them.
In power lifting the biceps are pretty much useless and I still train them with preachers and dumbbell work.
Why neglect any part of your body ? its not like your NOT going to recover from the curls in time for next weeks back day, thats just nonsense. [/quote]
Out of curiosity, do you guys ever train bis with the goal to keep them injury free when deadlifting with a mixed grip?
[quote]pachell wrote:
Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…[/quote]
You suck!
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Westclock wrote:
pachell wrote:
Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…
Ive never seen anyone build big arms with curls as their main tool.
I have however seen guys with a good base from heavy back work, start curling with some serious poundages on a seperate day from back day and make huge gains.
I feel its premature to dismiss curls completely, sure the biceps are wimpy little muscles, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect them.
In power lifting the biceps are pretty much useless and I still train them with preachers and dumbbell work.
Why neglect any part of your body ? its not like your NOT going to recover from the curls in time for next weeks back day, thats just nonsense.
Out of curiosity, do you guys ever train bis with the goal to keep them injury free when deadlifting with a mixed grip?[/quote]
There are alot of bicep tears from deads from what Ive heard, but I have never actually met anyone who has had it happen to them.
Rows are a little closer to the strain in dead lifting, so if you do heavy rows your biceps should be good to go for deads
That said, I cant claim to be a very experienced power lifter, I trained for sports, then I trained like a bodybuilder, then I moved to power lifting. Everything I know is from reading online, or talking with the old dog power lifters at the gym.
I have decent strength, but thats not because Im experienced or particularly knowledgeable, its fair to say Im an enthusiastic beginner.
It would be somewhat irresponsible for me to comment on anything I don’t have personal experience with.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Westclock wrote:
pachell wrote:
Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…
Ive never seen anyone build big arms with curls as their main tool.
I have however seen guys with a good base from heavy back work, start curling with some serious poundages on a seperate day from back day and make huge gains.
I feel its premature to dismiss curls completely, sure the biceps are wimpy little muscles, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect them.
In power lifting the biceps are pretty much useless and I still train them with preachers and dumbbell work.
Why neglect any part of your body ? its not like your NOT going to recover from the curls in time for next weeks back day, thats just nonsense.
Out of curiosity, do you guys ever train bis with the goal to keep them injury free when deadlifting with a mixed grip?[/quote]
There are alot of bicep tears from deads from what Ive heard, but I have never actually met anyone who has had it happen to them.
Rows are a little closer to the strain in dead lifting, so if you do heavy rows your biceps should be good to go for deads
That said, I cant claim to be a very experienced power lifter, I trained for sports, then I trained like a bodybuilder, then I moved to power lifting. Everything I know is from either reading online, or talking with the old dog powerlifters at the gym.
I have decent strength, but thats not because Im experienced or particularly knowledgeable.
It would be somewhat irresponsible for me to comment on anything I don’t have personal experience with without a little disclaimer.
[quote]Westclock wrote:
pachell wrote:
Curls suck: bicep curls, leg curls, curly hair, Curly from The Three Stooges, etc.
Every once in a while on back days I’ll throw ‘em in at the very end, my arms are usually exhausted – just killin’ time…
Ive never seen anyone build big arms with curls as their main tool.
I have however seen guys with a good base from heavy back work, start curling with some serious poundages on a seperate day from back day and make huge gains.
[/quote]
That was the point I was making 
One of those lucky bastards who doesn’t need much direct arm work, if only my chest responded that well – can’t have it all…
does anyone else experience abnormal pain in the forearms while doing any variety of curls? i just suck it up cuz it goes away a few seconds after i finish a set…
is this normal or is it something i should pay some attention to?
its normal, if you just started doing them.
My favorite type of curls are spider curls with an E-Z bar.They really isolate the biceps and forearms and bring the front delts out of the equation.I do 10 sets of 10 reps on back days, after all the rowing, chinning, and pulling.really feel a difference since i changed from regular standing curls to spider curls.
[quote]abcstorz wrote:
does anyone else experience abnormal pain in the forearms while doing any variety of curls? i just suck it up cuz it goes away a few seconds after i finish a set…
is this normal or is it something i should pay some attention to?[/quote]
I actually was a bit overzealous for a while and was close grip preacher curling with 140 pounds.
I think its safe to say I have very strong forearms, I can pull 455 without chalk, that said, I felt this horrible hot pain in my left forearm at the end of the set.
Im not sure if it was a tendon in the wrist or a pulled muscle, but the pain was horrible when I tried to close the first with force.
Took atleast a week for my grip to recover, had to use a strap, which was embarrassing for me, Ive made fun of people for depending on straps in the past, so they got a few shots in at my expense.
yeah i never really trained biceps before because when i was first starting out i wanted to do squats and deadlift variations and whatnot, i did everything except for beach work lol
i did just start doing them a few weeks ago, i have one more work out on saturday and then i start my last week of this phase.
glad to know its normal for startin out
i think ill throw in zottman curls and spider curls into my next program, thx
I actually was a bit overzealous for a while and was close grip preacher curling with 140 pounds.
I think its safe to say I have very strong forearms, I can pull 455 without chalk, that said, I felt this horrible hot pain in my left forearm at the end of the set.
Im not sure if it was a tendon in the wrist or a pulled muscle, but the pain was horrible when I tried to close the first with force.
Took atleast a week for my grip to recover, had to use a strap, which was embarrassing for me, Ive made fun of people for depending on straps in the past, so they got a few shots in at my expense.[/quote]
the pain i get sounds nothing like yours thank goodness lol
ill keep at 'em and hopefully my forearms will quit the bitchin soon
If you feel the pain getting worse, then just say fuck curls.
Dont strain it and take yourself out of the game for a week.
A little pain is normal, just to keep the wrists in line takes some force.
But you have to learn good pain from bad pain.
Good pain is dull and means your working hard enough.
Bad pain is hot and tingly, and means your fucked.
If they still hurt after you finish your workout, get some ice on them, RICE works.
Certain types of curls strain the wrists more than others. The EZ curl bar can help if you have serious issues with the wrist pain using a flat bar. Also hammer curls keep the wrists much more neutral and same with pinwheel curls.
I get a bit of dull pain when flatbar curling but I just deal with it and it goes away as soon as I set the bar down so I don’t think too much of it.
I wish i could curl at the moment. I’ve injured my left bicep tendon, i think, and its agony to even curl 10kgs in each arm.
[quote]Westclock wrote:
If you feel the pain getting worse, then just say fuck curls.
Dont strain it and take yourself out of the game for a week.
A little pain is normal, just to keep the wrists in line takes some force.
But you have to learn good pain from bad pain.
Good pain is dull and means your working hard enough.
Bad pain is hot and tingly, and means your fucked.
If they still hurt after you finish your workout, get some ice on them, RICE works.
[/quote]
Eh, since when is pain during curls normal ?
You guys are doing something wrong…
E-Z curls (normal grip-width), Alternating DB Curls, Incline-Offset Curls and machine-curls… maybe preachers if you like 'em… That’s pretty much what all I ever did for for biceps… No close-grip work or any of that stuff, except maybe on the curl-machine and even then there are some intricacies to regard, like not extending completely and all that kinda crap…
Pinwheel Curls, Hammer Curls(alternating), Reverse-EZ Curls… I need some of those in order to keep my forearms fine during curls.
(and I pull more than you… and for reps, too. I’m just mentioning this because of forearm strength… Despite Pulling and Rowing, I still need to do direct forearm/brachioradialis and brachialis work…
[quote]josh86 wrote:
Certain types of curls strain the wrists more than others. The EZ curl bar can help if you have serious issues with the wrist pain using a flat bar. Also hammer curls keep the wrists much more neutral and same with pinwheel curls.
I get a bit of dull pain when flatbar curling but I just deal with it and it goes away as soon as I set the bar down so I don’t think too much of it.[/quote]
Why not do alternating DB curls (the old-fashioned way where you rotate from a hammer to normal grip) ?
I stopped using the standard bar after 2 sessions or so… It’s not worth the trouble (then again, my wrists may be less flexible than yours…) But consider that you would probably like to avoid injury further down the road…
When your body gives you a warning sign, why ignore it?
(And I’m not saying that you will necessarily get injured, but seriously… Few Pro’s these days do straight-bar curls…)