Dr. Yessis
EXECUTION
- Assume a seated position on the preacher curl bench . Lean slightly forward from the hips and place your arms over the angled arm support of the preacher bench. Hold a pair of dumbbells in the hands with a supinated (palms upward) grip.
- Full extend the arms but do not allow them to hyperextend. Maintain slight tension in the biceps in the bottom position.
- Inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as you curl the dumbbells upward as far as possible. Be sure to maintain contact on the support platform with the arms at all times.
- Execute at a moderate rate of speed and be sure to keep the arms in contact with the support platform. Exhale as you lower the dumbbells under control until your arms are once again fully extended. Pause momentarily and then repeat.
WORKOUT TIPS
Be sure to keep the arms in contact with the support pad at all times for maximum stability. When using very heavy weights, be sure that your feet are flat on the floor and that you contract your rectors to hold your upper body stable.
Breath holding during the exertion also increases trunk stability which allows you to lift heavier weights more safely and with greater force.
On the exhalation be sure that you do not completely relax the muscles. Maintain some tension to control the dumbbells back to the bottom position at which time you should not completely relax the muscle to prevent hyperextension of the elbow. Keep some tension on the muscles in the bottom position.
Be sure that the incline surface against which your arms rest is well padded so that when you execute the curl, the elbow will not be compressed against the surface. This will help to prevent elbow injury.
Curl both arms at the same time for greater efficiency. You can also do one arm at a time, but very often, espeically when handling heavy weights, you often must twist the body to curl the weight up which can place you in an unfavorable position more prone to injury during the exercise.
Be sure that you do not completely relax the muscles as you reach the end position. If you do there is a tendency to hyperextend the elbows which can be injurious because of the dislocating action at the action. This is especially true if the support surface is relatively short and only extends slightly beyond the elbow. For variety, some bodybuilders prefer doing the exercise facing the other way. This is usually done in a standing position, and the arms hang more vertically with less support surface against the upper arm. The elbow is usually free to move. In this instance there is greater susceptibility to elbow joint hyperextension which must be avoided at all costs.
Be sure to keep your elbows pointed straight down so that the arms remain shoulder width apart at all times. If you point the elbows in or out it can injure the elbow joint when you do the curling action, especially if heavy weights are used.
Be sure to use the supinated grip throughout the execution. A neutral grip can also be used but only if the support surface is relatively short to allow for dumbbell clearance. On a typical bench the dumbbell plate will hit the surface which negates the use of the neutral grip.
MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED
The biceps brachaii, the brachialis and brachial radialis and the pronated teres are actively engaged in this exercise. The biceps brachaii is the largest of the muscles, and it has two heads with an action at the shoulder as well as the elbow joint. The brachialis is located under the biceps close to the elbow joint. The brachial radialis is located high on the forearm and creates the rounded contour on the thumbside of the forearm. The pronated teres lies obliquely across the elbow in front and is partly covered by the brachial radialis.
MUSCLE/JOINT ACTIONS
Elbow joint flexion in which the forearm moves towards the upper arm is the only action in this exercise. The biceps and brachialis play the major role, and the teres minor, which assists in elbow flexion, also neutralizes the pull of the biceps to help maintain the supinated grip throughout execution.
SPORTS USES
The preacher bench curl is an important exercise for maximum isolation of the biceps and other elbow joint flexors. Keeping the elbow against the support pad eliminates any involvement of the shoulder joint to raise the weights. Thus it is most important for body builders and athletes who require strong elbow flexors in their sport. This includes athletes who are involved in climbing, raising the body onto (word?) apparatus, such as the high bar rings and parallel bars, and when grabbing or when pulling an opponent as is often seen in wrestling, football and the martial arts. Elbow flexion and involvement of the muscles are also important when executing downstrokes in sports such as tennis and racquetball, grabbing and pulling down rebounds in basketball, shooting and lacrosse and hockey and in other sports that require pulling of the hand inward.