Thread: STANDING BB CURLS vs. PREACHER CURLS

I think it has to do with hand placement... Im assuming that you use a cambered bar on the preacher.

I use both, alternating on the preacher bench

I agree with premier....its really the straight bar versus the ez-curl...and the grip with each bar.

My wrists are in an ackward position when I do the flat olympic bar. I use the EZ bar while standing and love it.

I read somewhere the straight BB is actually better...I foget why

Preachers suck IMO

Originally Posted by Arnie's left nu

I read somewhere the straight BB is actually better...I foget why

Preachers suck IMO

Thats what I was saying.. It has to do with the hand placement. Maybe someone who knows physio will chime in.

To elaborate on why I think preachers suck, it is b/c the tension on the last half of the lift is almost non-existant. So youre TUT is very low.
Maybe decent if your sticking point, is the bottom 1/3 of your bicep curl....IDK

Originally Posted by PreMier

Thats what I was saying.. It has to do with the hand placement. Maybe someone who knows physio will chime in.

Damn SF....if only you werent a phony, you could be helping us right now

They both have their place. Do em both in rotation, I say. I think of barbell curls are a better massbuilder because there is amore of a range of motion and you can typically handle heavier weights.

Originally Posted by Arnie's left nu

Damn SF....if only you werent a phony, you could be helping us right now

I find that I use preacher as a mass builder and then I usually use standing flatbar curls as a way to fail my muscles at the end of my workout. Get a good spot with you and work your muscle till complete failure... mm mmm burn!

Originally Posted by PreMier

Thats what I was saying.. It has to do with the hand placement. Maybe someone who knows physio will chime in.

I think it's the fact that with a straight bar, it allows for the grip to be fully supinated and you get the best flex at the top of the movement. With a preacher (and an ez-curl) the grip/wrist is not fully supinated at the top of the movement.

I use both and they are both good.You should try using both.

have u heard of a munual curl... im sure you all have, but if u dont.. get someone to help you with it..
while doing preacher curls get someone to pushdown on the bar while you are curling it...then that person tries to push down the bar while you put resistance on it on the way down trying to make it harder for them to push it down..
its a very simple concept.. have a friend help you but make sure they arent too brutal durign the exercise.. tell them not to use to much pressure.. the excersis is very difficult, but effective if done right.

Here's an idea. Turn 180 degrees on that preacher pad. Butt the back of your arms up against the back of the pad so that your arms hang straight down. Voila, a preacher curl with a full range of motion. This is also known as a spider curl.

I love spider curls! It's almost impossible to cheat on that exersice

nice look out.. ill have to try it!

Spider Curls Rock!! I Alternate Spiders One Workout, And Then Regular Preachers On The Next. Works Great.

If only I had a straight bar that wasn't 7' long...

I think the EZ curl bar is easier than the straight because it gives you more leverage, after all, it's named "EZ" for a reason.

I Have Tried Both The Straight And Ez Curl Barl. For Me Doing A Preacher Or Spider Curl With The Straight Bar Is Akward, I'll Stick With The Ez.

the EZ curl bar is called that for a reason. The angle it allows you to place your hands in allows not only the biceps brachii and brachiallis to work to a full capaticty but also recruits the brachioradillis since you are inbetween a pronated and supinated position (just shy of neutral). The BB places the barchioradiallis in a less effective position to apply force placign most of the work on the other two muscles.

The reason the precher bench is hard is because it locks your shoulder into flexion. the biceps brachii aids in shoulder flexion. Locking the joint in this position creates a shortening of that muscle which will keep it from applying force and placing more stress on the other two.

Originally Posted by Arnie's left nu

Damn SF....if only you werent a phony, you could be helping us right now

what about p-funk.

Preacher curls for me. i ljust love the way they feel and they have really helped my biceps. big improvements since i incorporated them into my training. i like to them first or second in my biceps routine. standing barbell curls are nice too and i sometimes put them as the second exercise when i do preachers first. it will usually just depend on what i did last week. but preachers are my favourite when it comes to building mass.