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Is the Preacher Curl worth doing?
- Thread starter Nick+
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It also can depends on your hand placement with a straight bar. A lot of folks take too narrow of a grip and put undo strain on their wrists.
dougnukem said:
The 'preacher {45°}pad' is narrower than my shoulder width. so I'm forced to do the exercise hands closer together. Any standing curl: I'll hold bar (straight or EZ) shoulder width.
Thats interesting, I wonder how much more strain could be caused by the hand being closer together.........
regarding preacher curls, be sure to stay tight at the top of the movement rather than easing the tension.
i prefer an ez curl bar on the preacher curl station because the movement feels more natural.
the reason for your tendons being sore is because when you did normal standing curls, you probably failed to bring the weight all the way down to the bottom position where you bicep should be totally taught and (as the sticky says) you should be able to flex your tricep. i have no science to back up this reasoning but i noticed the same thing when i first began working out back in the day. when you really think about it though, the portion of a preacher curl where your arm is working hardest against gravity is the lower part of the lift - halfway through the lift, you just pull the weight back, rather than continue to bring it up. thats why i still prefer strait bar curls with my elbows pull slightly back. if you have trouble with your torso moving, put your back against the wall, or get a bicep blaster.
a lot of people fail to recognize that free weights have their weakness as well... they only work against gravity.
the reason for your tendons being sore is because when you did normal standing curls, you probably failed to bring the weight all the way down to the bottom position where you bicep should be totally taught and (as the sticky says) you should be able to flex your tricep. i have no science to back up this reasoning but i noticed the same thing when i first began working out back in the day. when you really think about it though, the portion of a preacher curl where your arm is working hardest against gravity is the lower part of the lift - halfway through the lift, you just pull the weight back, rather than continue to bring it up. thats why i still prefer strait bar curls with my elbows pull slightly back. if you have trouble with your torso moving, put your back against the wall, or get a bicep blaster.
a lot of people fail to recognize that free weights have their weakness as well... they only work against gravity.
The reason you find preacher curls hard to do is two-fold: muscles are designed to exert the most force when the moment arm is naturally the longest and because the force curve is altered from your standard curl variations.
Basically, the biceps exert the most force when your elbow is at a 90 degree angle because naturally that is where it will encounter the most resistance. When you put your elbows on an angled pad, you now encounter the most resistance at a more obtuse angle.
Also, because the force curve is altered in this manner, you are not very neurologically efficient at following this pattern compared to a plethora of other curl variations. Your strength will probably get a little burst initially and then taper off as your adapt.
Basically, the biceps exert the most force when your elbow is at a 90 degree angle because naturally that is where it will encounter the most resistance. When you put your elbows on an angled pad, you now encounter the most resistance at a more obtuse angle.
Also, because the force curve is altered in this manner, you are not very neurologically efficient at following this pattern compared to a plethora of other curl variations. Your strength will probably get a little burst initially and then taper off as your adapt.
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I have only tried them a couple times. I was kicked out of church for it though. dOh! bad jokE. ctrl+z ctrl+z!!
If done properly then preachers curls are fantastic.
I do DB preacher curls, Barbell standing curls, then hammer curls
2 sets each
2 sets each
As everyone else is saying preachers rock. I love preachers and highly recommend you build them into your workouts. They do tend to show the weak spots in your bi's as you've already noticed. If the pain is in the sides of your bi's close to the elbow go very easy and light till that pain backs off or you will tear your bicep like I did ... it really sucks. Sat me out for eight frickin months before I healed up well enough to lift heavily again.
Anyways enjoy the preachers mayn.
Anyways enjoy the preachers mayn.
BoneCrusher said:
After the last workout my biceps near the elbow were very sore for about three days . And that's after using sod all weight {17kgs/37lbs x 5reps + 15kgs/33lbs x 10 + 8 reps}. I'll go easy on the weight after hearing about tears .......
I'm quite accomplished at doing my back in(every couple of months) , don't want to start wrecking the biceps too.........
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Preachers are great. The reason that you can only use so little weight is that they're a single-joint exercise (isolation) and you can't use any body English to work it up.
As for you're bicep hurting close to the elbow, yes, like PWGriffin said, it's likely the tendon. What little I've read about suggests that improper preacher curls can cause damage to the tendon. Just make sure that you warm up first and that you use muscle to bring the weight down and not gravity. As always, don't let your ego decide how much weight to lift.
The soreness that I experienced went away after a while. Just give it some time.
As for you're bicep hurting close to the elbow, yes, like PWGriffin said, it's likely the tendon. What little I've read about suggests that improper preacher curls can cause damage to the tendon. Just make sure that you warm up first and that you use muscle to bring the weight down and not gravity. As always, don't let your ego decide how much weight to lift.
The soreness that I experienced went away after a while. Just give it some time.
