What's up, guys?
Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.com.
The dumbbell curl.
Check out this version of the dumbbell curl.
Does it look familiar to you?
Because if you're doing your dumbbell curls like this, I promise you, there's more that
you could be getting from them.
You see, I'm not trying to bash the dumbbell curl.
I like the exercise.
As a matter of fact, I like it a hell of a lot more than, say, a concentration curl because
it's athletic.
You're on your feet.
But there are some things that are wrong with it.
Here's what I don't like.
First of all, look what's going on with the non-working arm.
If you're doing it in this fashion, at one time one arm is resting.
We want to eliminate that.
The second thing is: the level of core activation when doing your dumbbell curls this way.
I can promise you, I can get you to get more out of your curls if you do it a different
way.
Finally, I can hide a muscular imbalance, and a strength imbalance – this version
of the curl – that I cannot, with what I'm going to propose to you.
So we can fix that by just changing how we move the dumbbells.
If we move the dumbbells at the same time, as opposed to one at a time, all these issues
get fixed.
We might have even overlooked this, not realizing the benefits here.
If I move the dumbbells together there is no resting moment.
The tension is on the bicep from the beginning to the end, and both biceps at the same time.
If you know about the benefits of metabolic training we want to make sure that we're accumulating
as many metabolites in the muscle at one time.
You don’t want to let them escape.
That one, little brief period of rest that you're getting on the alternating version
is enough to sacrifice the main benefits of the exercise.
The next thing we can take care of is the amount of core activation.
Remember, I promised you more?
You're going to get more by moving the dumbbells together because it's really simple if you
think about it.
If you're moving just one dumbbell at a time – in this case, 30lbs for me – all I have
to do is control, and prevent 30lbs of momentum from pushing me backward.
As I lift that thing up I control, and prevent that.
So my core has to contract, and pull me back this way.
But when we do them together, that weight just doubled.
I now have to control 60lbs that want to push me back.
Now my core has to be activated that much more to prevent that.
Remember, you never separate the core from any of the exercises that you do.
We don’t do that at all, in any of our programs.
You want to bring the core into what you do and maximize what it does at every opportunity.
Finally, the last thing we can fix here are those muscle imbalances that you're likely
creating, and feeding into by doing one arm at a time.
If, for instance, your right arm is weaker than your left arm, when you come up you might
see one of two things happen.
Either one, you have to cheat more to get it up, or number two, you're moving at a much
slower pace.
You wouldn't be able to tell the pace that arm was moving relative to the other unless
the other one was moving with it.
So when we can move both dumbbells together we have to work on making sure that they move
at the same pace.
We can instantly overcome any of the imbalances that we might have – the strength and power
imbalances – that would not show themselves in an alternating version, that are going
to force you to see them in a double armed version.
Now, there is one other alternative that you can try, and it's the simultaneous alternating
curl.
So we're going to do them in alternating fashion, but we want to move the dumbbells together,
as you see me doing here.
The benefits here are very, very similar.
If we're talking about the rest period there is no rest, yet again.
Both arms are working.
One eccentrically, one concentrically, but they're both working at the same time, and
none get a chance to just hang out.
The second thing is: the imbalances.
Again, we have to move these dumbbells at the same speed, and we have to cross through
midline at the same time.
So we're controlling, and eliminating the imbalances that are fed into doing them one
arm at a time while resting.
But, when we look at the core we still have the same idea here.
While we're still moving two dumbbells we' aren't necessarily having to move the weight
of 60, and prevent the weight of 60 from pushing us backward.
So you compromise a little bit there, but either way, I like either one of these versions
better than the regular standing dumbbell alternating curl.
So guys, I want you to check this out, and I want you to try this for yourself because
you're going to feel it right from the very first rep.
If you've found the video helpful make sure you leave your comments and thumbs up below.
Let me know what else you want me to cover and I'll do my best to do that for you.
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All right, guys.
I'll be back here again soon.
See you.