Question on the bicep curl?!


Question: Question on the bicep curl!?
when performing a bicep curl people say that the elbow must stay next to the body, without moving it, during the whole range of motion (the lifting and lowering of the dumbell)!. My question is!.!.!.does the elbow have to stay absolutley still and next to the body during the lifting and lowering or can it move up a bit so that the weight can go higher!?Www@Answer-Health@Com


Answers:
When doing curls you should try to keep your elbow stable!. The weight should only reach about your collarbone with proper technique!. The reason is when you move your elbows you are actually no longer isolating the bicep and are bringing in your shoulders to help in the movement!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

It's a two part question so I'll give the answer in 2 parts!.

Firstly, no, you do not HAVE to keep your elbows absolutely still during the curl!. However, it is generally advisable to!. The reason is that whenever you shift the elbow position, other muscles are brought into play and this will take the stress off the biceps, which is not a good thing since you want the entire focus to be on your biceps!. This is why the preacher curl is, in my own opinion, one of the best, if not the best, bicep exercise to do!. Because of the way a preacher bench is designed, it eliminates all elbow movement!. That puts the stress directly on the biceps!. Larry Scott, the first ever Mr!. Olympia, designed this piece of equipment and he claims that it is this exercise that helped build his incredible biceps!. As a trainer, I don't doubt this!.

That said, it brings me to my next point!. If you're doing regular curls and not preacher curls, it is generally OK to shift the elbows up little to get the weight up!. This technique is known as "cheating" and while it may have negative connotations, it is a technique that is actually used frequently by many professional bodybuilders!. However, this technique should be used only when reaching the point of muscular failure!. Don't cheat on every rep!. You're just short changing yourself!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

your elbow joint has to stay still so that you are only using your biceps to lift with!. If you move your shoulder or other muscles, you are reducing the weight actually lifted by the biceps during the curl!. Sometimes you see people using their whole body to complete a curl, throwing the weight with their body!. This doesn't help build the biceps any more than using a lighter weight that you can totally lift with a fixed elbow!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

Good question!.

To create a larger mass for hte bicep, start the curl from slightly bent and curl until you reach about 45 degrees!. You shouldn't move your elbows up to go farther!. Remember to keep your wrists straight too!.

The reason people say to keep the elbow still is because once it moves forward or up, the weight shifts causing the back and shoulders to get invovled in the curl!. This then casues the curl to be easier on the biceps, which you don't want!.

Hope this helps!.Www@Answer-Health@Com





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories