TIP 11

tip of the month archive

TIP # 11

Here's your 'tip' . . . never use an 'E-Z Curl' bar for training your biceps.

See you next time!

OK, I suppose I should explain that 'E-Z Curl' bar thing.

Whenever you do curls, your wrists should be supinated, (turned out), as far as possible. If you use an E-Z bar, it pronates, (turns in), your wrists. With the wrists turned in, you can't completely contract the biceps.

Let's illustrate this point with a little experiment:

Contract your right bicep, or "make a muscle", as they say. Put the fingertips of your left hand on the top of your right bicep. Now, turn your right wrist so you are looking at the back of your right hand. Your bicep went slack, didn't it? Now, rotate you wrist the other way . . . so your little finger is the closest part of your hand to your face.

Ahhhhh . . . bicep gets REAL hard. That's a fully contracted bicep!

The E-Z bar, places your hands and wrists in a position that makes it impossible to fully contract your biceps . . . a semi-pronated position. Not too efficient for building muscle, is it? Therefore, a straight bar is just the ticket for doing curls. The key is, that you need to squeeze that straight bar like it's your little brother's neck right after he used your favorite shirt to clean the spokes of his bike!

	Squeezing the bar like this, is always a good idea because it will enhance grip strength as well as forearm development, but for curls, it is even more imperative that you squeeze.

	If you let your grip loosen up, you'll pronate your hands . . . then, you might as well be using the E-Z bar!

I guess the name "E-Z Curl" bar should've been a tip-off. You never want to make an exercise easier . . . you want to make it harder. That's to say, make the target muscle work harder.

We do have an E-Z bar at The Dungeon. We just don't use it for training biceps. It's great for tricep work . . . but that's a whole other column!

Until next time . . . train hard, but train smart!

- Poppa