Barbell Curl: The Way to Bigger Arms + Bonus Workout

Biceps are a beautiful thing to behold, but do you know why they are called biceps? Hint: It’s not because you have two arms that are made for a barbell curl.Your biceps muscles are made up of two different heads, hence the prefix bi. The heads begin at different anatomical locations near your shoulder, but converge at a common tendon that crosses at your elbow joint. To build those beautiful biceps, you must work both heads. You can change the emphasis placed on either head by changing up your exercise form, such as a wide or narrow grip width on the barbell or changing the bar.Here are a few common ways to execute barbell curls:

Narrow Grip Curls:

Close or narrow grip barbell curls target the long, outer head of your biceps. This is typically the grip most men use because it builds the biceps peak. Using a grip that is about hip width or slightly closer. Your hands will be about 12 inches apart on the bar.

Wide-Grip Barbell Curls:

Wide-grip barbell curls emphasize the inner portion of your biceps. Hold the bar approximately 6 inches wider than your should width. Your wrists will be slightly turned outward.

EZ Curl Bar:

Change your equipment to EZ-bar curls to make life “EZier” on your wrists. EZ bar curls have the same function as the above grips as far as hand placement and emphasis are concerned, but you do relieve stress on your wrists. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="http://www.americangrit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/barbell-curl.mp4"][/video]

How To Do a Barbell Curl:

1. Stand upright while holding a barbell at a shoulder-width grip using an underhand grip. Keep your elbows close to your torso.
2. Keep your upper arms stationary as you curl the weights upward. Only your forearms should move. Contract your biceps as you breathe out.
3. Continue upward until your biceps are fully contracted and are at shoulder height. Pause and squeeze your bicep hard at the top of the motion.
4. Slowly begin to lower the bar back to starting position. Allow your arms to reach full extension before beginning your next repetition.

Trainer Tips:

Don’t cheat this exercise. There are two ways to really cheat yourself out of serious bicep gains:

• One is to lean backwards.
• The second is by using momentum during the curl.

Leaning back allows you to use your back to lift the weight. Swinging the weight allows momentum to force the lift instead of allowing your biceps to do the work. Both methods of cheating will cheat you out of your gains. Do them properly even if that means you drop the weight.

Sample Exercise Plan:

• Barbell Curls 3 sets of 10-12
• Single Dumbbell Wrist Extension 1 sets of 12
• Triceps Pushdowns 1 set 10-12

• Hammer Curls 3 sets of 12-15
• Single Dumbbell Wrist Extension 1 sets of 12
• Triceps Pushdowns 1 set 10-12

• Incline Inner Biceps Curls 3 sets of 10-12
• Single Dumbbell Wrist Extension 1 sets of 12
• Triceps Pushdowns 1 set 10-12

• Wide Grip Standing Curls 3 sets of 10-12
• Single Dumbbell Wrist Extension 1 sets of 12
• Triceps Pushdowns 1 set 10-12