What's up Champ! I'm Vince Del Monte of MassMechanics.com In this video we're going
to look at the truth about barbell bicep curls. We're going to find out are they
our friend or foe.
So here's the deal. You guys are thinking too much like bodybuilders.
Alright. You guys are thinking inner grip for the inner head wider grip for the outer head.
Guys that's all BS. Here's the truth. You need to be focusing on what's called the path of the joint when
you're in the gym. Alright. So you need to stop looking at exercises in terms of
what they're doing to you and start asking yourself how does my joint want
to move. What should my joint be doing? What should my joint be doing? What
should my joint be doing? What should my joint not be doing? What should my joint
not be doing? What should my joint not be doing? Those are the questions you should
be asking. This video should have been entitled the truth about the elbow joint
not the truth about barbell curls because when we understand the truth
about the elbow joint and how it wants to move that solves all debates and puts
you in the best position to build bigger arms. So let's look at this really simply.
In this video I'm going to start demonstrating the way most people do
curls. When you're doing a barbell curl can you break the bar so that you can
move through the path of the joint? No. That's a steal 45 pound bar. You're not
going to break that bar so because the bar is stronger than you, your elbows
have to work around it alright and this is the biggest problem with attaching
yourself to barbells. You have to work around the barbell as opposed to the
barbell working around you. Alright. So it's like you trying to fit into a bad
relationship with a girl you were never meant to date and you were never meant
to get into a relationship with. If you look at these exercises it's kind of like
picking a partner. A marriage spouse. You can start quickly seeing... shoot I'm not
matched up for everything out there just like you're not matched up for every
exercise in the gym. Alright so the important part of the video here is to
know how to check your active and available range of motion to see if you
even qualify to do a barbell curl. Alright. So how do we do that? It's very
simple. So what we're going to do is close our eyes so we can visualize this
and not force anything and we're going to start with external rotation of the
shoulder and we're going to start to rotate rotate rotate
until we start to feel some resistance and then we're going to stop there. If you look at
my active and available range of motion I don't even have I don't have bad
external rotation at the shoulder but I don't have supination on the forearm. I'm
not even at a hundred and eighty degrees. So for me to attach myself to the bar I
can't even get there without weight. So if I now attach myself to the bar what's
the bar going to do to me? It's going to force me into this position. Is that
smart? Well let's see what happens. So I've been told you've got to do
barbell curls for big arms. So I say okay. I'm not going to think about what I have
available. I'm just going to do the exercise. So because this is my active
and available range of motion look at my wrists. So right now I don't even have
what I need to do this exercise effectively which is radial deviation at
the wrist. I need to have supination at the elbow. I have to be in this range to
work the path of the joint. But because I don't even have that, now I've got ulnar
deviation at the wrist so I'm curling the bar like this and my elbows have to
move in and out to keep the bar in a straight line because the bar is
dictating the path. So now I'm trashing my wrist. I'm trashing my elbows. For what.
For what. So if we look at this I have to force external rotation at my shoulders.
I have to force the rotation down to my elbows. I have to now try and get some radial
deviation at the wrist if I even can, and then I have to start contracting
against the bar. Most people aren't even thinking about this and this is why they
bang up their wrists and their elbows. Now if you can get into this position safely,
and comfortably, where it's not a forced relationship,
then by all means. I've got no problem with the exercise. The question is are
you qualified to do the exercise? Can you get into this position and maintain this
position so that you can maintain the tension on your biceps? Now I can right
now becuase weight is very very light but that's going to limit my progress.
See what I'm saying. So we've got to match up these exercises properly so we can load
them properly. When you're doing barbell curls I'll be
honest. Most people would be best off just not doing them. Yes I know Ronnie
did them, I know Dorian did them, yes I know Arnold did
them, but those guys also have beat up wrists. They have beat up elbows. They've got
beat up shoulders. So you can't take the good without the bad alright. You got
to ask yourself is it worth doing some of these movements that may be causing
me more harm. Some of you guys might be
laughing at this. Yo're just like but everybody does barbell curls Vince. I'm
not saying you can't fit into the movement but you have to ask yourself
are there better movements in the gym that can give you just as much
hypertrophy. I will tell you straight up front there's no extra benefits of doing
the barbell curl from a hypertrophy standpoint, versus an exercise that
allows you to work through the path of the joint. There's no extra benefit to
the barbell curl guys. There's nothing special about the barbell curl. It's all
about your ability to produce tension, fatigue, stress, damage within the muscle.
That's what's going to determine whether your muscles grow or not. Not the
exercise you're doing. If you're ready to embrace this approach of building muscle
smarter and not just harder, then check out MassMechanics.com There's a link
up there. It'll take you to a page where you'll learn about my philosophy about building
muscle with baby weights. Alright. You'll learn how to execute
your movement safely. You'll learn cues that very few people are teaching that
will help you get more from less. Alright. Thank you so much for watching
guys. I will see you guys next time. Let me know what other videos you want to
cover in this truth about series in the comment section below. Share this video
with a friend who would benefit from learning how to train smarter not just
harder. Maybe somebody is beating up their body. He needs to learn how to
optimize their movement. Alright. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time and
your attention. I'll see you guys next time.