Jason Da Bodiful

Why is it that whenever I tried standing barbell curls, I was able to lift 60 lbs for it, but for Preachers Curls, the best I can attempt is 44 lbs (only a few lousy reps)? I know Preachers are harder, but why is the difference so huge? Is it just me or something to do with my elbow joints?

FAngel

Tell you what drop the preacher curls and just do 2 sets of barbell curls

Scotty the Body

Preacher curls target muscle is the Brachalis, while BB curls target muscle used is the Biceps Brachii.

The Biceps Brachii muscle has two heads and is a larger muscle than the Brachalis so that's why you can't do as much weight with the preacher.

I should add that both movements use both muscles (Brachii and Brachalis) plus other muscles, you can't isolate one or the other but you will use one more than the other.

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Just another day in the gutter

Mule

Try doing the preacher ones with the cable, and do them super slow. Damn what a burn good for a change of pace!

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Im an Iron Addict!

ALBOB

Are you sure? I thought the two different heads were targeted differently because of hand position, ie. supinated, like a hammer curl or not, like with a barbell curl. I didn't think just laying your arm over a pad would target a different head of the muscle.



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Life is hard so quit whining and go out there and be alive.

Scotty the Body

Yeah, I'm sure, hehehe, well almost anyway.
I think the reason is because of the elevated elbows on the preacher.
Also the fact that it is almost imposible to cheat on the preacher (unless you bounce the weight off the pad).


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Just another day in the gutter

crankytexan

Also make sure the preacher bench is wedge as tight as possible under your arm pits. This will help you in keeping your shoulders out of the workout.

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Everyday is a good day, when you are not six feet under.

TheSupremeBeing

Scotty, stop trying to make yourself feel smart, it ain't working

The difference is like 2% based on EMG tests which may or may not mean anything, and are surely not an accurate means in predicting growth. The problem with targeting different heads of muscles is in the way they are innervated, the nervous system sends electrical currents through motor units to make a muscle contract, and these motor units are connected to one central nerve which spans across the whole muscle. Since motor units fire based on the all-or-none law, when the muscle contracts it all contracts.

Jason: The reason can be summed up in one sentence: Standing curls train the biceps with more favorable mechanics (which is actually bad from a muscle bulding standpoint), and also trains the biceps in their strongest range of motion (based on maximum cross-bridge formation).

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[i]Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.

<FONT COLOR="#000002" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[Edited 2 times, lastly by TheSupremeBeing on 07-28-2001 at 06:57 PM]</font>

Mule

Ok well give us an answer with out it being out of a book!

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Im an Iron Addict!

TheSupremeBeing

Edit by Scott
<FONT COLOR="Red">Ok, ok, play nice guys, Cackerot, you supply the technical info, Mule, you supply the comic relief. </FONT c>


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Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.

<FONT COLOR="#000002" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[Edited 1 time by Scotty the Body on 07-28-2001 at 09:08 AM]</font>

Charger

Heres my simple attempt to answer this one. Most liklely you are cheating and involving your shoulder muscles when doing standing BB Curls, you can't cheat with the preacher curls.
Next time you do BB Curls, see if your elbows are coming forward as you raise the bar.

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Can't never did nothin,(Dedicated to my father)

TheSupremeBeing

nice editing skills you have there.
<FONT COLOR="Green">Glad you like. </FONT c>
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Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.

<FONT COLOR="#000002" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[Edited 1 time by Scotty the Body on 07-28-2001 at 11:21 AM]</font>

SKINSFAN

Would one of those "Arm Blaster" gadgets be the same as a preacher curl? I was recently givin one as a gift but haven't used it yet 1 more day and my week off will be over. Can't wait to get back at it !!

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GO SKINS !!!

Charger

Help me here, are you talking about the gadget that you use to lock your elbows back? The angle would be different but it would take your shoulders out of the equation.

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Can't never did nothin,(Dedicated to my father)

Robboe

Sound advice...



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