- Anywhere I can get a pair of dumbbells
I can do my preacher curl.
So I think that versatility makes it extra interesting
especially if we really, really want jacked arms.
There's nothing bad about curling every day, right?
- Nothing wrong with that.
(upbeat music)
- The preacher curl is one
of the most legendary exercises to train your biceps.
It is also one of the exercises that is impossible
to do bilaterally if you're at home.
There is now a solution to that though.
It is something called the Preacher Pad.
Now the preacher pad is going to solve the problem
or attempt to solve the problem of preacher curls at home
by creating a way that you can just do them naturally
where you don't need a bench
and you don't need anything else.
It's gonna function in a variety of situations
and it's gonna save a lot of space for your home gym
if it works right
but we're gonna take it through its paces now.
I'm Ebenzer Samuel
the fitness director here at Men's Health.
In each episode of MH Strong,
I'll be joined by a fitness expert
and we will unbox, test and rate the latest
and greatest fitness gear to determine
if it is indeed MH Strong.
- So let's go over a few basics.
We have vinyl on the outside
and high density foam on the inside.
It's harder than a mattress, but it's very soft.
- And it should be soft, right?
If we set up on a preacher bench
we're gonna wanna set up in a nice, comfortable position.
And we're attempting to replicate that at home
with the Preacher Pad, it's meant to be used in two ways.
One, we can just sit in a chair or on this bench like I am
and we can kind of get
into the standard preacher curl position and do it.
The other way it's meant to be used
is on say a bench or a chair, or even a plyo box.
We put the Preacher Pad on there
then we can set it behind the Preacher Pad,
get a little more length with our spine.
So it's a simple device that has two use cases
that fills a gap in our training
and fills a very specific gap.
Now we're gonna talk about what we like
and what we don't like.
- What I like about it is more of a space saver.
You don't need to take up floor space
with your usual preacher curl machine.
You could sit this right in your lap and curl,
as you see fit.
- Again, this is a home device
and you can find different ways to use it in the home.
I could do preacher curls on my couch
while watching an episode of Game of Thrones
or something on Disney Plus
because it's that easy and I can take it anywhere.
So it's super mobile.
Anywhere I can get a pair of dumbbells
I can do my preacher curl.
So I think that versatility makes it extra interesting
especially if we really, really want jacked arms.
There's nothing bad about curling every day, right?
- Nothing wrong with that.
- There are some really
really good things about the Preacher Pad.
The fact we can take it anywhere
and the fact that we can get more out of the preacher curl
as long as we're willing to put ourselves
in the correct body position
and we let the device get us in that position.
- For me, a negative is stability.
That's something you have to think about
and as you're putting it on and you have to worry about
if you're stable, I don't wanna worry about that.
When you try to simplify something
you're also sacrificing something at the same time.
If you have the machine you just turn your settings
and then you're right there.
- Exactly when you talk about sacrifice
I think one thing that instantly jumps out at me
is that you're sacrificing spinal positioning,
potentially especially if we use it in the initial way
that they tell us we can use it
suddenly I feel very hunched over
and I feel my lower back grounding.
I think if you use it in the secondary way
that they suggest which is putting it on a bench
or on a chair or on a plyo box and setting up behind that
we can preserve a little bit of that positioning
but I do worry a little bit
about using it in the traditional sense.
It is not the way that I would wanna do preacher curls
with a lot of load.
Even just setting up with a pair of 20 pound dumbbells.
I feel like I have to find a way to hold the pad down
while I grab the other dumbbell.
And it just doesn't feel natural.
It feels a little bit clunky to me.
- Let's talk about who this is really for.
I believe this is for somebody
who really cares about biceps.
This is just for a one dimensional piece of equipment.
- It's really critical I think to understand
that it really is only for that one exercise.
It's for bilateral preacher curl.
So if you want to get your upper arm away from your torso
and you don't wanna do spider curls
and you really really have to do it as a preacher curl,
then it's for you.
I think the thing people have to think about
with the preacher curl in general is if you're fine
to do single arm, preacher curls,
then look to a bench maybe instead,
because any incline bench
you can just do your single arm preacher curls.
So it's for one exact person.
If you wanna do bilateral preacher curls at home
you're covered with this
and you can take this anywhere in your house
and get your bilateral preacher curls done.
So now the MH Strong rating,
how does this fit in for the average person
just looking to train?
I'm gonna give this a five.
I think it's a really, really good device that fills a gap.
And I like that about it, but it's also limiting.
It's not the kind of device that you have
to have in your home gym
because it's only filling exactly one motion.
So if you wanna hit that motion
it's great, but there's not much more to it.
- My MH Strong rating is a two
because of the fact that it's only for one exercise
and one exercise only and only for bilateral,
it's not really good for unilateral.
I would say just a two because of that.
- What do you guys think of this device?
Would you buy it?
Let us know in the comments.