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Best for Excercise for Bicep?
- Thread starter Synpax
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Tatyana
Elite Mentor
Vince Gironda's Body Drag Curl - Old School
(Cut and Paste)
If you've ever read any of Vince Gironda's courses you may
remember his "barbell body drag curl" movement. I never
gave this much thought until I tried it one day out of
boredom. To my surprise, and Vince's credit, it is truly an
outstanding movement for the biceps. It also takes the
pressure off the deltoids entirely. Last and certainly not
least, you'll get a killer pump from the puppies!
The Technique
You'll be using a light barbell. Don't worry your muscles have
no idea how much weight is on the bar. Men, start with the
45lb bar (or lighter if you haven't been training long). Ladies,
find a 25lb straight bar.
Begin the movement in a normal curl stance: bar at your
thighs with your grip about shoulder-width. During this
exercise you'll bend slightly at the waist, unlike normal
barbell curls.
Now, here's where it gets tricky. Instead of curling the weight
up in an arch away from the body, as in a normal curl, DRAG
the barbell up, keeping your elbows back at all times. Keep
the bar in contact with your body throughout the curl. You'll
drag the bar up to about mid-chest level (or a little higher if
you can) and control it back down to your thighs. Concentrate
on flexing your biceps the entire time.
After about 4-5 reps you'll really feel this in the belly of your
bicep and you won't feel it in your delts. Just feel your way
around the movement and you'll find the groove that suits
you best. Standard barbell curls didn't do much for my biceps,
but my front delts grew like crazy! Now my biceps are
growing. Give this movement a shot.
A Variation
Vince actually performed this with a reverse grip. To me this
works the brachialis more than the belly of the bicep. (The
brachialis is the muscle that runs between the bicep and tricep
on the outside of the arm). However, increasing the size of the
brachialis will definitely make your arm larger, so give this
movement a place in your routine. The only difference in form
is that you grip the bar with your hands facing toward you
rather than away from you when the bar is in the starting
position. This movement works great performed body-drag
fashion or traditionally, arching the bar away from the body.
Concentrate by focusing on the side of the arm rather than
the forearms to contract and lift the bar.
Video of the man himself
http://www.natural-body-building-tips.com/video/girondacurl/gironda_body_drag_curl.html
(Cut and Paste)
If you've ever read any of Vince Gironda's courses you may
remember his "barbell body drag curl" movement. I never
gave this much thought until I tried it one day out of
boredom. To my surprise, and Vince's credit, it is truly an
outstanding movement for the biceps. It also takes the
pressure off the deltoids entirely. Last and certainly not
least, you'll get a killer pump from the puppies!
The Technique
You'll be using a light barbell. Don't worry your muscles have
no idea how much weight is on the bar. Men, start with the
45lb bar (or lighter if you haven't been training long). Ladies,
find a 25lb straight bar.
Begin the movement in a normal curl stance: bar at your
thighs with your grip about shoulder-width. During this
exercise you'll bend slightly at the waist, unlike normal
barbell curls.
Now, here's where it gets tricky. Instead of curling the weight
up in an arch away from the body, as in a normal curl, DRAG
the barbell up, keeping your elbows back at all times. Keep
the bar in contact with your body throughout the curl. You'll
drag the bar up to about mid-chest level (or a little higher if
you can) and control it back down to your thighs. Concentrate
on flexing your biceps the entire time.
After about 4-5 reps you'll really feel this in the belly of your
bicep and you won't feel it in your delts. Just feel your way
around the movement and you'll find the groove that suits
you best. Standard barbell curls didn't do much for my biceps,
but my front delts grew like crazy! Now my biceps are
growing. Give this movement a shot.
A Variation
Vince actually performed this with a reverse grip. To me this
works the brachialis more than the belly of the bicep. (The
brachialis is the muscle that runs between the bicep and tricep
on the outside of the arm). However, increasing the size of the
brachialis will definitely make your arm larger, so give this
movement a place in your routine. The only difference in form
is that you grip the bar with your hands facing toward you
rather than away from you when the bar is in the starting
position. This movement works great performed body-drag
fashion or traditionally, arching the bar away from the body.
Concentrate by focusing on the side of the arm rather than
the forearms to contract and lift the bar.
Video of the man himself
http://www.natural-body-building-tips.com/video/girondacurl/gironda_body_drag_curl.html
Clearly I don't...and neither does Mark Rippetoe since he shares the exact same opinion in his books....and obviously these researchers from Oklahoma State University are morons as well:Synpax said:
http://www.muscleblitz.com/building_your_biceps.htm
You can simply google "Straight bar versus EZ Bar" and you'll get so much feedback about the straight bar being the superior bicep movement that you could read for weeks.
Get some facts before calling someone else out....
tat how does squating help your arms, I squat pretty heavy, and I squeeze the shit out of the bar I just don't really understand massively how it helps your biceps in general.
not saying you're wrong in anyway, that would be absurd looking at your signature and avatar, just saying I'm curious.
not saying you're wrong in anyway, that would be absurd looking at your signature and avatar, just saying I'm curious.
Tatyana
Elite Mentor
FriendlyCanadian said:
It is related to both the neuroendocrine system.
The nervous system (besides our brain) is actually quite evolutionary conserved, it is quite primitive. For example, if you have injured one leg or arm, but continue to train the other, you still get stimulation from the central nervous system to the arm or leg that is not being trained (obviously not to the same extent).
The same applies to stimulation of the largest muscle group in the body, when that get stimulated the entire body gets 'worked', and squats are really almost a full body movement.
With the endocrine system, one of the known triggers for growth hormone release is intense exercise, and the most intense exercises are squats and deadlifts.
Old school bodybuilders knew this to be true, intuitively, that you will never fully develop your upper body unless you develop your lower body.
Too many lads focus on chest, arms and shoulders IMHO, and would get far better results by going back to basics.
Really, you don't even have to train arms separately, especially if you are just starting out. They get worked when you go back to basics with all the compounds.
Ya, I like to stick to heavy squats, deads, rows and presses. All the other stuff is baby shit. Ill directly train my arms, once and a while. Ill get in different moods, and go on and off with them. Although, ill will regularly train heavy triceps, not for size though, but for power.
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