I do them exactly like but I am new to this so that may be a good reason not to do them
For me they give a good pump & its very hard to cheat. The pressure is equal all thru the movement & they can be real grinders leaving me with a stressed Eric head. I usually do them right at the end.

Thinking about it these would be very good for targetting specific areas such as just the top half of the ROM to concentrate on contraction.

You could probably use a rope to and get some twist in or just hammers.

Alex wrote:Thinking about it these would be very good for targetting specific areas such as just the top half of the ROM to concentrate on contraction.
You could probably use a rope to and get some twist in or just hammers.

That's a good application, could also be applied on the first half of ROM too.

Cables allow you to - in essence - alter the direction of gravity, which opens up all sorts of imaginative applications.

Ive been trying these as Toney Freeman suggests in a squat position with elbows on knees .

It took a little practice as its easy to lose balance and fall forwards but the stress was right on the bicep which gets totally isolated
Its similar Id guess to a cable preacher . You can also cheat a little on the last reps by leaning back slightly

Def recommended

Is strict form reSTRICTing my gains? I don't use strict form because I don't think I can get much overload on the bi's that way, would you call me a cheat if I tried to move the bar out of it's weakest (extended range) without absolute perfection in form? Or have you tried that and think Strict form is more useful?

Canuck PT wrote:Is strict form reSTRICTing my gains? I don't use strict form because I don't think I can get much overload on the bi's that way, would you call me a cheat if I tried to move the bar out of it's weakest (extended range) without absolute perfection in form? Or have you tried that and think Strict form is more useful?

For BB work cheat curls are a great tool for mass building and in my opinion cannot be beated. Add in the more "strict" movements to compliment but I'd always use a cheat curl in my routine.

I think you should keep to form as much as possible. Cheat only on the last couple if you have to. Otherwise the first 1/4 / 1/3 rom is neglected by the biceps so how do ever expect that part of the movement to improve in strength?

I think full 100% ROM can be a little misleading and misguided for overall mass building. I'd rather keep full tension on a muscle group and sacrifice some ROM rather than there be any relaxation period in the movement. The brief description below is a good example for Biceps. Not locking out joints with Press movements (exception of Triceps) is another.

For Biceps it's about overloading the muscle with excessive weight right at the sweet spot which is a few inches below parallel.

If you get the cheat correctly then you'll place this excess load directly onto the sweet spot and then through the contraction of the curl and you will put on good Bicep mass.

You can use the isolation for full Bicep ROM and shaping but the above method is I think no. 1 for Bicep mass.

It's also worth noting that probably the first 1/3 of ROM with Biceps is vitually all in the Forearm anyway.

Alex wrote:It's also worth noting that probably the first 1/3 of ROM with Biceps is vitually all in the Forearm anyway.

depends what biceps exercise you are doing.

And it all depends if your goal is to be big or look big by being defined. I've managed to attain the latter. I don't give a feck is some dude has 2 inch bigger guns than me as more often than not he's got 2" of fat surrounding them

health4ni wrote:

Alex wrote:It's also worth noting that probably the first 1/3 of ROM with Biceps is vitually all in the Forearm anyway.

depends what biceps exercise you are doing.

And it all depends if your goal is to be big or look big by being defined. I've managed to attain the latter. I don't give a feck is some dude has 2 inch bigger guns than me as more often than not he's got 2" of fat surrounding them

You can't flex fat, but you need some mass.

Generally, unless you are very fat, most mens arms do not caary much in the way of fat. Alex's gunz are a good 17"+ with no fat to speak of.

When training arms, I believe that cables curls should always be used and/or preachers for full rnage of motion, plus partials. I also advocate heavy dumbell curls which for the last rep or two will incorporate some cheating.

Ultra strict in addition to cheats works very well. (I got big gunzzz as well!)

health4ni wrote:

Alex wrote:It's also worth noting that probably the first 1/3 of ROM with Biceps is vitually all in the Forearm anyway.

depends what biceps exercise you are doing.

And it all depends if your goal is to be big or look big by being defined. I've managed to attain the latter. I don't give a feck is some dude has 2 inch bigger guns than me as more often than not he's got 2" of fat surrounding them

I hear what you're saying but why settle for one or the other when applying both cheat and full ROM techniques can give you both.

I wouls also agrue that definition is more based on diet rather how/what (an) exercise is performed.

My arms are far from massive but i do like to think my bicep peaks are looking good at the min, my personal findings are you cant beat the basics, alternating dumbell curls, incline hammer curls followed by concentration curls and done.

I think i have rather large arms and i would say heavy dumbells are what contributed to their mass most. Mind you i cant do straight bar curls (or rows) anyway due to the lack of mobility in my wrists.

simon m wrote:You can't flex fat, but you need some mass.

everyone has a biceps muscle on their arm. And when it contracts it moves, and so to does the fat. When you measure someone's upper arm size the muscle, fat etc all get measured.

simon m wrote:Generally, unless you are very fat, most mens arms do not carry much in the way of fat. Alex's gunz are a good 17"+ with no fat to speak of

the anterior side of the upper arm, biceps side, often contains little fat; sure. But the posterior side contains more. Everyone looks at the biceps and the peak, but what makes an impressive arm is the whole package; and that is only whole when there's a feck off big triceps muscle there. AND it's defined. Cos then you can tell when the Triceps ends and the Biceps starts etc

I used cable curls on Sunday and tried Simons lactic acid training on them - the doms are horrendous !!

Alex ,

If you use cables you have continuous tension and no single sweet spot . Im finding this much better and getting a massive pump and doms .