Barbell or dumbbell

[Randy]

I never implied that normal "failure" workout means that it is easy to do a few more reps with the weaker arm. The key is that after doing as many as you can, hence the name "until failure", you add a waiting period (such as 30 seconds) to get just a couple more reps in on that weak arm.

I clearly understand what your describing, but that never worked for me. I had to do a few more reps on my weaker arm in order for my strength to even out.

But I have seen a variety of methods that work for some, but not for others. This is why it is so beneficial to have the variety of options that exist. If one method doesn't work, try another that does


<That is just me>

Originally posted by Monolith
If your normal "failure" workout means its that easy to "do a few more reps with the weaker arm", then youve got some inherently flawed techniques to begin with imo.

And if youre doing the same number of reps on each arm using the proper intensity, your strength will even out. Doing 10 reps on the right arm with 50lbs may only take half as much intensity as 10 reps with 50lbs on the left arm. Youre still working the left arm harder to do the same work as the right arm.

It worked for me, anyway.

 

[Pressalot]

The fastest way to even things out is to work out the weaker arm alone, but if you use a fairly wide barbell grip and fairly heavy weight, I wonder if one arm would really be able to signifigantly help the other.

Hey, someone should invent a stress indicator for barbells to show how much of the weight is being lifted by each hand. If the bar is bent more on one side, the indicator would let you know that you need to use your other arm more. That would address my concern about the difficulty in using the same arm movement with dumbells and it would prevent favoring one arm with a barbell. Maybe it could be built into a glove.

 

[Randy]

Just leave the collars loose on the barbell. If the bar is bent more on one side, then the weight plates will fall off on your foot. It won't take long for you to realize that you should keep the bar straight.

Now seriously speaking, they do have one device that I'm sure you've seen. Not sure what the proper name is, but it prevents you from cheating while doing curls. You place a strap around your neck. The strap holds a conformed piece of metal so that it hangs in front of you. When you grab the barbell, your triceps fit against the metal curvature. Your elbows just below the metal form. This Helps prevent you from coming down and going back to far with your arms;thereby using your back and body to lift.
I guess it may help keep your arm movement straight too. At least to a point. I guess you may call this an anti-cheat curl strap.

Now if your questioning whether one arm could significantly help the other, then in my opionion you shouldn't be using barbells. You should work the weak arm with a dumbell so you can even out the strength so both arms are equal. (such as you indicated in your first sentence).

Originally posted by Pressalot
The fastest way to even things out is to work out the weaker arm alone, but if you use a fairly wide barbell grip and fairly heavy weight, I wonder if one arm would really be able to signifigantly help the other.

Hey, someone should invent a stress indicator for barbells to show how much of the weight is being lifted by each hand. If the bar is bent more on one side, the indicator would let you know that you need to use your other arm more. That would address my concern about the difficulty in using the same arm movement with dumbells and it would prevent favoring one arm with a barbell. Maybe it could be built into a glove.

 

[Pressalot]

We're talking about different kinds of straight. I think people here were saying that even though a barbell is straight ("not tilted" or "level" might be better terms), one arm could be lifting more. I figure the way to determine whether one arm is lifting more is to see if the bar is bent (as in curved) more by one hand than the other.

I think a better way to deal with this would be to build a dual dumbell machine (separate weights for each arm) with arms that could only move at the same time. Any such thing?