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Other/Mixed Curls: A Big Waste of Time?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
watchnerd said:
Just had my wife measure my arms in a neutral (not pumped) state -- no curls during yesterday's workout, and the pull ups were half volume.

So my "walking around" everyday left upper arm measurement size is:

40 cm

Which is pretty "meh", IMHO.

I'll give the 8-10 sets of curls 7 more weeks to do something.

If I don't gain at least 0.64 cm in that time, I'll have to re-evaluate life priorities.
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Saw this when I was looking up WTH is a pelican curl.

 
Not directly related but close enough maybe - finally figured out the best way to hit biceps using my iso board. About 4 sessions in with these and can tell the difference in how my shirts fit.

Not for the squeamish, these are extremely uncomfortable. Additional stretch can be applied by driving the knees up, contact just below the elbow, folded towel to cushion and help prevent slipping off.

 
watchnerd said:
At this point in my lifting career, I have a decent sense of what drives better hypertrophy for me, and aside from sheer volume, I get more response from heavier stretch-mediated resistance training than I do from metabolite and pump work.

As a result, my biceps seem to grow more when I do more pull ups / rows / pulls / ring work than I ever get from bicep curls, whether barbells, dumbbells, or whatever.

And while stretch-focused curls (incline, preacher) are a little better, they still seem to be less effective as the compounds as they're just not as heavy.

For the time it takes me to do 4-5 sets of bicep curls, and the impact on systemic fatigue, I could do 1 more set of a compound pulling exercise. Maybe 2.

Other than a little minimal curl work for elbow health in snatches, I have no functional need for bigger biceps. It's purely beach work.

Is it time to just chuck the curls in the waste basket?
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I am finding the same exact thing. After a good day of rows or even Swings I find my arms seem altogether thicker. I think curls are just ware and tear. YES chuck them.
 
Kev said:
Fatgripz on all pulling moves will beef up the whole arm. Obviously train your pulls without them but I’d do additional sets with the fatgripz.
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I was doing Fatgripz for curls to thicken my forearms. It works. But then tendonitis so I quit.
 
Whelp, I didn't break 16", but I guess at 15.75" I can still qualify for this:

11m7hhlws7u81.jpg
 
Pete L said:
There's some irony in the naming; Klein means small in German.
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Now I'm a decade out of German class... And whenever I spoke German in Germany people responded in English... Except for the one lady who just laughed hysterically when I used the word tschuss.

But isn't klein the masculine form? So it is small manly bell?
 
silveraw said:
Now I'm a decade out of German class... And whenever I spoke German in Germany people responded in English... Except for the one lady who just laughed hysterically when I used the word tschuss.

But isn't klein the masculine form? So it is small manly bell?
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:)
To be honest I don't speak German despite working for a German company.
The company owner is called Mr Klein and I've always likened it some Reservoir Dogs-esque movie villain.
 
Throwing down. These hybrid metric/tonic (“Miller MTs”) are particularly tough when it comes to curls.

The “Fifteen Inch Arm Club…?” never heard of it. And who the heck is this Hugh Jackman fella I keep reading about? ;)

 
North Coast Miller said:
And who the heck is this Hugh Jackman fella I keep reading about? ;)

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Hugh Jackman?

The Rock is the new superhero arm hotness:

Rock's "Ultimate" 3D Superhero Arm Workout​

Here's a full workout that will get you big arms like Black Adam:

  • Rope pushdowns (4 sets of 20)
  • Dumbbell skull crushers (4 sets of 12)
  • Dual cable pushdowns (4 sets of 10)
  • Barbell curls (4 sets of 20)
  • Dumbbell concentration curls (4 sets of 12)
  • Tri-set: incline dumbbell curls, incline hammer curls, EZ bar spider curls (4 sets of 8 each)
www.sportskeeda.com

The Rock's "Ultimate" 3D Superhero Arm Workout For Black Adam

To prepare for the role of Black Adam in DC's, Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock packed on more muscle than ever before.
www.sportskeeda.com www.sportskeeda.com
 
This may sound ridiculous, but my forearms and biceps get sore when I'm doing explosive work (probably a form problem) so I started doing banded curls in a Q+D 10/2 and 5/4 format as explosively as I could (with other exercises for conditioning), and my bi's were doing quite well.
 
North Coast Miller said:
Not directly related but close enough maybe - finally figured out the best way to hit biceps using my iso board. About 4 sessions in with these and can tell the difference in how my shirts fit.

Not for the squeamish, these are extremely uncomfortable. Additional stretch can be applied by driving the knees up, contact just below the elbow, folded towel to cushion and help prevent slipping off.

Click to expand...


Looking at this again.

We've basically got a load that is immovable.

Couldn't I get the same effect by putting a barbell in the rack, loading it with waaay more than I can curl (e.g. 2 plates per side), and trying to curl it?
 
watchnerd said:
Looking at this again.

We've basically got a load that is immovable.

Couldn't I get the same effect by putting a barbell in the rack, loading it with waaay more than I can curl (e.g. 2 plates per side), and trying to curl it?
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Yes and no. In the case of bicep (every movement really) is that you need to get a stretch on the muscle.

For muscle groups that are at fairly long length at rest it can be challenging to make this happen. Something like the Arnold bicep blaster, preacher curl, or a padded board across the hips you can lean back into, will help with this.

That last bit of stretch makes a big difference. That said, if you were to do a 15-20 sec MVC iso hold (even with a bit of bend) and follow it immediately with a dozen reps using your 50% 1RM load, you’ll get a whopper of a pump and a dose of hi-tension/max strength at the same whack.
 
North Coast Miller said:
Yes and no. In the case of bicep (every movement really) is that you need to get a stretch on the muscle.

For muscle groups that are at fairly long length at rest it can be challenging to make this happen. Something like the Arnold bicep blaster, preacher curl, or a padded board across the hips you can lean back into, will help with this.

That last bit of stretch makes a big difference. That said, if you were to do a 15-20 sec MVC iso hold (even with a bit of bend) and follow it immediately with a dozen reps using your 50% 1RM load, you’ll get a whopper of a pump and a dose of hi-tension/max strength at the same whack.
Click to expand...

I think I could find a way to use my adjustable bench as a make-shift preacher curl set up
 
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