{"id":4963,"date":"2014-05-14T18:34:55","date_gmt":"2015-06-06T17:28:41","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-06-19T07:34:15","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T14:34:15","slug":"jim-stoppani-bicep-curls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elitefitness.com\/articles\/jim-stoppani-bicep-curls\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Stoppani’s Seated Barbell Curls – the Best Overall Mass Builder for the Biceps"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Dr. Jim Stoppani PhD, shares with us his thoughts on the best way to achieve bicep growth by performing the seated bicep curl. We also have his video below that shows him doing the exercise.<\/p>\n

At JimStoppani.com, you get Jim's advice on workout programs that you can view, follow, and save while watching video demonstrations of Jim himself showing you on how to tweak and perform every exercise correctly. And you can download each of his workouts and exercises right to your iPhone or iPod touch. While other personal trainers and fitness gurus charge hundreds per session, Jim has developed this affordable system that brings all of his information together in one place so that you can make the most profound muscular development ever possible.<\/p>\n

Be sure to read the following article on Seated Bicep Curls below. And be sure to stop by the EF Forums to discuss Seated Bicep Curls<\/a> with Jim Stoppani.<\/p>\n

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Seated Bicep Curls<\/strong>
\nby Dr. Jim Stoppani PhD<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no debating the fact that barbell curls are the best overall mass builder for the biceps. Yet many guys find that when they do the standard barbell curl standing, they feel it more in the forearms and less in the biceps.<\/p>\n

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And consequently their biceps growth is limited. This is really not all that surprising once you consider that when you perform a typical biceps curl standing the first half of the movement (from straight arm to arm bent about 90\u00ba) primarily involves the brachialis (muscle underneath the biceps) and the brachioradialis (forearm muscle on the thumb side of the arm). The biceps doesn\u2019t really kick in and take over the curl until the elbow is close to 90\u00ba. This first half of the ROM (range of motion) of the biceps curl is the weakest due to the fact that the biceps haven\u2019t fully kicked in yet to assist the brachialis and brachioradialis. Therefore, when you do a full ROM curl starting with your arms fully extended in the bottom position, you are limited to a weight that you can perform through the weakest portion of the ROM. This limits the amount of stress that you can place on the biceps, and can limit your biceps growth.<\/p>\n

The seated barbell curl is an exercise that can help you maximize the stress placed on the biceps and therefore biceps growth.<\/p>\n

To do the seated barbell curl, sit on a short-back bench or on the end of a flat bench, with your feet planted firmly on the floor while you rest a straight bar or EZ-bar on the top of your thighs. Hold the bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip and curl it toward your shoulders, stopping where you normally would for a standard barbell curl. Hold this position and contract your biceps as hard as possible then slowly lower the bar back to your thighs and repeat for reps. This exercise basically removes the weakest portion of the curl by starting the exercise in the strongest portion of the curl, with the arms bent. This allows you to use more weight than you can normally handle on the standing barbell curl (about 20-30% more) and places more overload on the muscle fibers you are trying to target \u2013 the biceps. It also turns the barbell curl into an even greater isolation exercise, by minimizing the involvement of the brachialis and brachioradialis from the curl to better emphasize the biceps.<\/p>\n