Bicep curls; do you...?

I only look in the mirror to make sure my elbow is not moving too

what's the verdict on using heavy weight + a bit more body movement out of the bottom? I currently BB curl 5x a week, 3 times heavier, 2x light with sets of 21s. Probably doing too much of it.

bozodos said:

what's the verdict on using heavy weight + a bit more body movement out of the bottom? I currently BB curl 5x a week, 3 times heavier, 2x light with sets of 21s. Probably doing too much of it.

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Are you showing progression?

To answer your first question, which is a good one, I believe the some body movement is good, especially getting past the sticking point.
The trick is to really slow the negative portion down and to not rest at the top.

Cheating reps...
Even more movement can be used, after failure, by using that momentum to get the weight up and even more slowly lowering it.

You see a lot of people spend too much time not working hard enough with this exercise by resting at the top and at the bottom of the movement where there is minimal resistance, and not controlling the negative which IMO is the most productive part of any exercise , maximum resistance being at the so-called sticking point.

I don't rest at the top, I do the reps at a natural feeling rate - progression is there, but fairly slow compared to the big lifts. 2.5kg every couple of weeks. Currently at 47.5kg 3x8 (inc straight bar). Naturally I've read polar opposite opinions on loading and rep ranges. I don't do any other direct arm work currently apart from lying tricep extensions with an EZ-Curl bar.

Interesting comment about controlling the negative.

Hey where in the gym should you practice barbel curls, apart from the squat rack i mean.

I tried slowing down the eccentric for ages, did nothing for me. Did less reps and got weaker.

I do eccentric slowly on chins though, feel like my biceps are under so much strain. Don't want to rebound / tear something... doing them now, feels scary.

Headley said:

Hey where in the gym should you practice barbel curls, apart from the squat rack i mean.

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can you even squat outside the squat rack?

I mean a straight curl bar the size of an ez curl bar, and I do them a step back from the curl rack.

Neddysmith said:

can you even squat outside the squat rack?

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