T Nation

Bodybuilding: Curls, Curls, Curls

Bodybuilding
#1


C’mon, you know you loves curls. All kinds. Every kind. Every kid and frat boy and secretary and baker and fireman and banker and housewife and truck driver and … automatically thinks of a guy curling a weight as the iconic ‘bodybuilding exercise’.

How the Hell else are you really gonna build those biceps? Yeah, yeah, someone is gonna say “hammer grip pull ups” or “rows”. Fine, go start a thread about people with the biggest biceps who don’t curl.

Show me thread with people with the biggest biceps that haven’t curled and I’ll show you a really short thread.

So what if they’re just tiny muscles-- they’re there for a reason, and not just to look awesome (although big biceps DO look awesome).

As King Leonidas said: "THIS.IS.THE.BODYBUILDING.FORUM!!!

Let’s talk, discuss, analyze, demonstrate, and hell, even brag about curls. Post curls, curling, biceps, hammers, preachers, incline, reverse, upside-down, whatever.

If you don’t like the curl, feel free not to post.

The King Leonidas said:"THIS.IS.THE.CURL.THREAD!!!

So, here it is-- The Curl Thread.

#2

Big, iconic dudes, uh, curling:

#3

Gotta curl, Literally, I’ll be back to discuss after the workout.

#4

Chris Bennett with some freaky biceps curls:

#5

Shit yeah, I was watching a video of Chris Bennett a few days ago, he has mother fucking huge biceps. That pic of Lee Priest in the other thread reminded me of him.

Anyway, I have no idea how to contribute to this thread, just post tons of videos of people curling? lol

#6

[quote]babaganoosh wrote:

Anyway, I have no idea how to contribute to this thread, just post tons of videos of people curling? lol[/quote]

If you got 'em, post 'em. Discuss them. What works (doesn’t work) for you?

#7

Big Nasty Curls:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_92LYNhrYY0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGU9OLW7k7Y

#8

Pinwheel curls, I love these. They pump up my arms like nothing else. They even hit my traps a little bit too.

#9

[quote]SteelyD wrote:

[quote]babaganoosh wrote:

Anyway, I have no idea how to contribute to this thread, just post tons of videos of people curling? lol[/quote]

If you got 'em, post 'em. Discuss them. What works (doesn’t work) for you?[/quote]

Nothing you can’t just find on youtube, might post some for you tomorrow though. What works for me? Hmm… well I will say that I used to stick mostly to reverse curls and hammer curls, and ended up with the “flat arms” look. So a few months ago, I started doing a lot more curls that focused on using a supinated grip - tend to start at the bottom with a hammer grip and during the ascent transition to a supinated grip - end result is my arms have a lot more shape now.

Tend to prefer standing curls, as I can incorporate enough swing as is needed towards to end, just for that little bit extra, or if I want to do some negatives etc, but I did seated for a while. DBs preferred due to quicker progression than using a bar… not really a fan of preachers and the likes, cable curls are pretty awesome, but only with a EZ bar attachment and I maxed out the stack at my last gym with an EZ attachment pretty quickly, so I have not done these in a loong long time, mostly because I’m really not a fan of straight bar curl variations. Since I have come down to a 4 way split, I have not got a day for biceps anymore, so I don’t really do that much:

EZ Curls (sometimes)
Standing Alternating DB Curls
Hammer curls and/or reverse curls

Don’t know if anyone remembers, but in that Shawn Ray Muscle Camp video on MD some dude was explaining a way to do curls, i.e. curl your wrist a little towards you and don’t come all the way up, did anyone else try this? I did, but didn’t really like it/feel it any better personally.

#10

[quote]BJack wrote:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGqr4CJWs3E[/video]
Pinwheel curls, I love these. They pump up my arms like nothing else. They even hit my traps a little bit too.[/quote]

Your video isn’t showing for me, anyway, I think I’m gonna give this movement another shot. I didn’t really give it a chance when I tried it before.

#11

[quote]babaganoosh wrote:

[quote]BJack wrote:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGqr4CJWs3E[/video]
Pinwheel curls, I love these. They pump up my arms like nothing else. They even hit my traps a little bit too.[/quote]

Really? Man, I tried these and it very little for me, except make me look cooler in the mirror because it makes you look a little bigger. Maybe I’m doing them wrong.[/quote]

Hmm…the video I posted doesn’t seem to be working, but yeah, I don’t see how they couldn’t be awesome. Maybe you’re doing them too strict, when I go a little heavier with slightly looser form, I feel them better.

#12

[quote]BJack wrote:

[quote]babaganoosh wrote:

[quote]BJack wrote:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGqr4CJWs3E[/video]
Pinwheel curls, I love these. They pump up my arms like nothing else. They even hit my traps a little bit too.[/quote]

Really? Man, I tried these and it very little for me, except make me look cooler in the mirror because it makes you look a little bigger. Maybe I’m doing them wrong.[/quote]

Hmm…the video I posted doesn’t seem to be working, but yeah, I don’t see how they couldn’t be awesome. Maybe you’re doing them too strict, when I go a little heavier with slightly looser form, I feel them better.[/quote]

Video is working now; seen it before actually. Could be I’m being a bit too strict, but I am not exactly a strict-form type of guy. Anyway, I will give them a shot at the end of tomorrows workout (doing bis anyway).

#13

All I ever do for biceps is either straight bar/alternating DB curls, incline curls ( 45 degree bench ) and preacher curls. Concentration curls and different cable /machine variations have never been as effective for me compared to free weights. I basically hit arms twice a week, using different load/rep parameters each time. I am currently using 8x3 or 6x4 one day, and then hitting the arms again 5 days later with 3x8/10 parameters.

#14

Here was todays workout.

Alt Db, worked up to 85 x 6, not my best but still ok. I’ll rotate this with straight bar curls.
Drag curls, worked up to 135 x 6, got the idea from Bug, felt very good.
Arnold Concentration curls, hands in a hammer curl position, 85 x 8.

Good workout, typically do barbell curls. I think heavy curls with a litte looser form tend to be staples if you want big biceps, concentration curls have always been my finisher. Not much more to say, I do straight bar curl much more often than Alt. DB, just was in the mood for it today, I’ve been working up to sets with 185, the heavier the better as long as your not heaving, a little swing is necessary for the heavy weights.

#15

SteelyD for President!!!

#16

Love preacher variants however have not done these since getting some elbow issues.

Can’t do straight bar without pain so stick to DBs, EZ and cable work.

#17

Good idea for a thread Steely.

Here’s Skip La Cour working his biceps:

Since someone mentioned Lee:

#18

<3 For me, Pinwheels > Any other curl movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FgHowJTt9E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bp4_VHf134

#19

Not necessarily a bodybuilder, nor does he have the biggest arms proportionate to his size, but still pretty damn impressive. Here’s Magnus Samuelsson curling 140kg (around 300 lbs) for 4 reps (skip to about 0:37 for the BB curls):

Who says that curls aren’t functional? :wink:

#20

Genetically I was dealt abnormally puny forearms(tiny wrists/small forearms). Yet hammer curls/pinwheel curls and these reverse forearm curls have helped pack some meat on the,. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf3k-EmaCGc