![]() We’re all clear on that? Potential misunderstandings prevented? Cool. For this reason, I highly recommend that everyone trying to build muscle (with the possible exception of beginners) put a smaller, secondary focus on direct arm isolation work like triceps extensions and biceps curls. However, as I also mentioned in that same triceps guide, compounds alone will not produce the best results possible in terms of building muscular arms. Which do you recommend and why?ĪNSWER: Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, let me start this answer off with what I like to call a quick “misunderstanding-preventer.”Īs I mentioned in my triceps guide a couple of weeks ago, the majority of your biceps/triceps growth will come as a result of getting stronger at compound exercises like various chest presses, shoulder presses, rows and pull-ups/lat pull-downs, which is why this type of stuff should always get your primary focus. See also the reply below concerning brachioradialis vs biceps recruitment, which is a fair point.QUESTION: Do you think it’s better to do biceps curls using the EZ curl bar or the regular straight bar? I’ve heard people say the straight bar hits your biceps a lot better but the EZ curl bar is safer for your wrists and elbows. I'll also mention that I pointed this out to Mark himself on his forum, and his only response, as I recall, was that he didn't really give a shit about arm exercises, anyways.Įdit: softened tone. It would be reasonable to suggest that the biceps are being under-recruited in a reverse curl compared to a curl. ![]() reverse curls, which have an obvious difference in strength despite otherwise identical leverage and range of motion. What does this imply about the total amount of muscle mass being used for the lift? If the biceps were somehow being under-recruited based on the wrist position inherent in an EZ Bar curl, don't you think the difference in strength would be obvious? Example: curls vs. My guess is "no." If you don't believe me, test this out for yourself. Are you actually stronger in a barbell curl compared to an EZ bar curl? Want to know a pretty easy way to compare the amount of muscle mass used in two different lifts that have the exact same range of motion and leverage? Compare your strength (how much you can lift for a given number of reps) in those exercises.Īs it turns out, we can make this comparison in barbell and EZ bar curls, since the leverage and range of motion are identical. Which, in this case, is elbow flexion, so yes, the biceps brachii are a prime mover. Force demands determine this, assuming the muscle in question is a prime mover in the action. However, this small difference in contraction (more supination at the top) probably has no practical bearing on the degree of recruitment of the biceps' component muscle fibers. Mark undoubtedly knows this, but seems to be using a Jones-esque argument.Īs such, yes, an EZ curl bar lacks some degree of supination, and yes, this would normally be accomplished by the biceps brachii. This is not the case, maximum recruitment tends to happen in the midrange of a muscle's length and is based solely on force demands. A lot of people apparently still believe this, including many examples in this very thread. This is not how recruitment actually works.Īrthur Jones was under the impression that maximum recruitment of a muscle's motor units was only truly possible in the position of full contraction, and designed his Nautilus machines (along with other concepts like variable resistance) with this idea in mind. "the biceps can't reach peak contraction at the top of a curl," and this is supposed to mean that the muscle fibers making up the biceps are somehow not being fully recruited, and thus stimulated to adapt/grow. You'll notice most of the replies in this read conflate "contraction" with "recruitment." I.e. The idea that an EZ curl bar is somehow inferior to the straight bar for biceps curls seems very questionable to me, and as far as I can tell originates with Mike Mentzer, who in turn probably got it from Arthur Jones.
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