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Overview
Concentration curls build the bicep muscles in a slightly different way than is possible by doing upright barbell curls. By leaning over the bar during the curl, gravity pulls the weight with full force at the peak of each contraction. Because maximum pull is at the peak of the movement, this isolation exercise is best for raising the height of your bicep and carving out definition. Secondary stress is placed on the forearm flexor muscles.
Setup
Place the necessary amount of weight onto your curl bar. Locate a couple of clamps / collars and place them on the bar to hold your weights in place while the exercise is performed. Once your bar is ready, take the bar in your hands with a grip approximately as wide as your shoulders. Take a firm stance with your feet and let your arms hang down so that the bar is hanging in front of your upper thigh. Bend your knees slightly and lean over the bar until your upper body is parallel with the floor.
Movement
Exhale as you use your forearm bicep muscles to lift the bar slowly upward toward the forehead and bring the bar as high as possible. Once at the top, squeeze for just a moment and hold. Then, slowly let the bar back down to the hanging position with your arms fully extended.
Tips From the Trainer
Letting the bar down slowly is a great way to build strength. In fact, this is where a good amount of the gains for this workout come into play. By forcing your muscles to resist as the weight is slowly lowered, greater bicep mass and definition can be built.
Try experimenting with different widths on your grip to find out what’s best for you. You may find that you get the best pump with a wider grip, or maybe shoulder width will work fine for your arms. Also, reverse your grip to shift the focus of the workout more to your forearms.
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