Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I received an email several days ago from a
reader who wondered why I consider barbell
curls to be a basic, compound exercise.
He said they are an isolation exercise, and
seemed to think that they aren't worth
doing.
And you run into many people who think the
same thing.
For example, I spoke at a seminar several
years ago. One of the attendees was a gym
owner who told me that if someone at his
gym does curls, he "throws them right out
the door."
I both agree and disagree with that way of
thinking.
On the one hand, doing a workout that is two
hours of curls and nothing else is ridiculous --
but it's fairly common.
And bunny-style isolation curls are about as
useful an exercise as lifting a small bag of
marshmallows for 10 reps at 10/10/10
speed.
But heavy barbell curls are another kind of
animal.
A very big, very ferocious kind of animal.
My best in the STRICT barbell curl -- using an
industrial strength, heavy duty easy curl bar --
was 185 for five reps.
And let me repeat -- these were STRICT
curls.
Not cheat curls -- not swing curls -- not
reverse grip power cleans -- but strict
curls.
You better believe that this involved all of
the muscles in the entire body from head
to toe -- NOT because it was a cheat curl,
but because it was a strict curl with a heavy
barbell, and I had to lock the entire body
and hold everything in position while I
curled the bar.
When you do a heavy strict curl, you try to
lift the weight with a combination of arm,
shoulder and chest power -- even though
your forearms are the only part of your
body that is moving.
That makes heavy curls an important
assistance exercise for the bench press --
and a great exercise for football lineman,
wrestlers, and those who train in judo,
jujitsu or other grappling arts.
A football lineman doesn't make pancakes
on the griddle. He makes them with heavy
curls (along with heavy leg and back work).
Ditto for a wrestler, and trust me, I know
what I'm talking about here. I knocked
several opponents unconscious with hard
throws when I was in high school.
Anyhow, I hope that clears things up.
Bunny curls -- isolation exercise -- and
not worth doing.
Heavy, strict curls -- a basic, compound
exercise -- and well worth doing.
As always, thanks for reading and have a
great day. If you train today, make it a
good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. My Dinosaur Arm Training course will
teach you how to build some seriously
strong and powerful arms -- and it also
includes a complete, total body workout:
Hard Copy
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_armtraining.html
PDF
See the links for our PDF courses at
our products page -- right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses -- and
links to all of my Dinosaur Training e-books
on Kindle -- are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Thinking without
acting is as bad as acting without thinking."
-- Brooks Kubik
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