This photo of me doing a one-arm curl facedown on an incline bench appears in Old Man, Young Muscle on page 16…
Since the new ebook came out, I’ve been asked a few times if that is an ideal biceps exercise. After all, it’s in the ebook.
Well, it’s not too bad, but I rarely use it. Here’s why…
One of the key factors for an ideal exercise is correct resistance curve. That means the exercise should be hardest near the stretch position and easiest at contraction…
The standing dumbbell curl qualifies, as the resistance tails off at the top; however, if you keep your elbows pinned to your sides, the hardest part is right in the middle, where your forearm is horizontal to the ground…
That strength curve is not quite right, which is why I allow my upper arms to move forward somewhat as I start each rep—to compensate for that and adjust the strength curve…
Now in a previous newsletter I mentioned that standing dumbbell curls cause pain in my damaged right shoulder. That’s why I usually choose one-arm concentration curls as my ideal lead-off exercise…
Ah ha, isn’t that exactly like the exercise pictured above? Not quite.
Like the standing dumbbell curl, the hardest part of the rep on concentration curls is the middle, when the forearm is horizontal to the ground…
So again, on concentration curls I allow my upper arm to move somewhat to compensate. But I can’t do that with my chest pinned to an incline bench—at least not without flipping off the bench
Which is another reason I don’t do them: My wife could film me flipping to the floor, put it on YouTube, make loads of cash, and leave me…
So while I’d give the concentration curl an 8 or 9 on the ideal-exercise scale, the one-arm facedown incline curl gets a 7.
It’s not bad, as you are discouraging bi-lateral deficit by using only one arm at a time, and you get a pretty good range of motion. It’s just that the resistance curve is a bit off—too hard in the middle and at the top where fiber activation is least.
For my complete workouts, ideal move for each muscle, exercise start/finish photos and details on building muscle fast and efficiently, see, Old Man, Young Muscle.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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