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Build Mass in Your Arms and Forearms With Reverse E-Z Bar Curls |
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Written by Stephen E. Alway, PhD, FACSM
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Monday, 23 April 2007 |
A great upper arm is more than just an accumulation of multiple barbell curls. Such a limited view results in a relatively large arm, but one that often has the appearance of a pile of clay that's been tossed against the platform of a humerus bone. A great arm is multidimensional. It's thick, high, wide and symmetrical when viewed from all angles, with valleys and peaks rising and falling with the grace of a typhoon painting a beach. The lateral side of the biceps is often a weak area for many bodybuilders. This is not usually from lack of biceps training, but rather from not taking advantage of the underlying brachialis muscle.
Structure and Function
One of the "tricks" used by successful bodybuilders is that the arm mass and biceps peak can be greatly magnified by increasing the thickness of the brachialis muscle that lives just deep to the biceps muscle. Even when your biceps have reached what appears to be their absolute maximum, you can still pack a bit more mass on your arms by adding thickness to the almost invisible brachialis muscle. Brachialis thickness will add a serious stack of muscle just below the biceps. This mound will literally jump out from the lateral side of arm above the long head of your biceps the moment you hit a rear double biceps pose.
The brachialis muscle attaches directly to the humerus bone of the upper arm about two-thirds of the way from the elbow to the shoulder. Unlike the biceps brachii, the brachialis muscle does not cross the shoulder; it crosses the elbow joint along with the biceps. The brachialis muscle attaches to the ulna bone, which forms a hinge joint with the humerus bone at the elbow. The ulna is the bone that lies closer to the little finger side of the forearm. The brachialis is a very strong muscle and contributes as much as 60-70 percent of total forearm flexion strength.
In contrast, the weaker contributor to elbow flexion, namely the biceps brachii muscle, attaches to the radius bone. The radius (most lateral forearm bone) forms a combination rotational-pivot joint and hinge joint at the elbow. The biceps only becomes an effective forearm flexor when the hands are supinated (palms turned forward or toward the ceiling during a curl). This is because supination rotates the radius bone, which tightens the biceps. In contrast, the biceps brachii is a very poor elbow flexor when the hands are pronated because this rotates the radius so it sits on top of the ulna and this position slackens the biceps muscles. Thus, the reverse curl with hands pronated is the perfect exercise to stress the brachialis muscle and minimize mechanical contributions by the biceps.
A straight barbell can be a little tough on the wrists, especially as you grow stronger, larger and thicker. In fact, heavy reverse curls with anything less than a shoulder-width grip will bend the wrists laterally (away from the center of the body) and pinch the tendons and ligaments running through the wrist to the hand. If this is done enough times with enough resistance, the wrist pain can become unbearable, and this pain will extend to benches, pulldowns and anything forcing you to grip the bar. Thus, after you have gained some degree of muscle mass and strength, it's usually a good idea to use the E-Z (cambered) curl bar for most of your barbell exercises. The E-Z bar actually moves the hands in a slightly semi-pronated position rather than a complete pronated position, and this makes the exercise slightly more favorable for mechanical activation of the biceps brachii and the brachioradialis muscle of the forearm. This means some of the mechanical loading is reduced from the brachialis relative to a straight bar, but this is a small price to pay, relative to the potential wrist injuries from repeated heavy straight bar curls.
Reverse Curls with E-Z Curl Bar
1. Stand in front of a mirror with an E-Z curl bar loaded with enough weight so that you can barely grind out eight repetitions. Use a bar with a good knurl to allow you to keep a tight grip on it. Smooth bars or worn knurls are semi-suicidal, and you risk loosing your grip on the bar and having it crash down on your feet.
2. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Take a firm grip on the bent part of the E-Z bar with your palms in the pronated (facing floor) position. Lift the bar from the floor and stand up straight. In the standing position, your palms should be facing down and to the rear of your body.
3. Flex your elbow joints so that your forearms and the back of your hands move toward your face. Keep your elbows close to your rib cage; your upper arms should remain perpendicular to the floor as you begin to curl the weight. However, palms should be facing downward. Your arm should be tightly placed to the ribcage, but it's acceptable to allow your arm to move forward on the last couple of reps.
4. Move relatively slowly, especially at the beginning of the lift. The bar should move upward from its starting position to a fully flexed position in about three seconds. The brachialis muscle will be doing most of the work, assisted somewhat by the brachioradialis of the forearm, and slightly by both heads of the biceps brachii. Doing the exercise relatively slowly is important because recent research has shown that the brachialis is preferentially recruited with slow, as compared to fast, contractions.
5. Although the E-Z reverse curl does significantly reduce the potential for wrist trauma, especially when using heavy weights, the partially pronated hand position of the E-Z curl slightly unloads the brachialis relative to reverse curls on a straight bar. Still, you can dramatically retrieve any lost brachialis activation by isometrically squeezing the upper arm muscles for three seconds with your arm in the flexed position. This contraction will, of course, not be limited to the brachialis because both heads of the biceps will be activated and they will scream loudly as they are contracted. However, because your hands are mostly pronated throughout the exercise, the brachialis- already the most fatigued- will scream loudest.
6. Slowly lower your hands until the elbow joint is just short of a full extension, and then begin the movement upward again. It's important to control the lowering of the weight so it takes about four seconds to fully stretch the brachialis during the decent of the bar. Pause for no more than a second (less is better), then start the next repetition upward. Try to keep the tempo with a controlled three-second up phase (three-second contraction at the top, if you opt for that version) and an even slower four-second down phase.
Important Tips
If you lower the weight too quickly, you'll reduce the lengthening components of the brachialis during the lowering of the bar, and this will reduce the effectiveness of this exercise. However, at first, lowering the weight very slowly can substantially increase your post-workout soreness. If you become sore, increase the space between successive arm workouts (by an extra day or two), and on the next workout, increase the cadence to two seconds on the way down for each repetition. However, on the next pain-free workout, move back to a four-second descent with the bar, because it will be time to hit it hard again. Have no fear, you'll soon adapt and the post-workout pain will be minimal and your arms will start to grow as you continue to pile on the weights.
Be sure you don't swing the weight upward for the first six or seven reps. Some body movement is reasonable to help get another two or three repetitions that would not be possible any other way. However, if you "cheat" the weight up, or if a partner helps you lift the weight upward (forced repetitions), lower the weight very slowly (over four to six seconds). As a word of caution, "cheating" by using the upper body to help swing the weight upward can be risky if you have previously hurt your back, or if you're prone to lower back weakness. Thus, do any "cheating" with careful forethought, and always wear a weight belt if forced reps and cheating are in your plans to continue your super human efforts in the set.
There's nothing easy about E-Z bar reverse curls. In fact, the dull ache should reach almost to the humerus bone by the third repetition of your first set. Moreover, after a few sets, it will feel as if a pneumatic pump had inflated your upper arms. The deep and full pump may make it difficult to flex your arms and almost impossible to scratch your head. This is part of the evidence that you're in the process of converting your sweat-soaked sets and blood-wrenching effort into upper arm muscle mass that's draped in veins, all elevated on a base of brachialis. It'll soon be time to increase the size of your shirts. Pump on.
References
1. Kawakami Y, Kanehisa H, Ikegawa S and Fukunaga T. Concentric and eccentric muscle strength before, during and after fatigue in 13 year-old boys. Eur J Appl Physiol 67: 121-124, 1993.
2. Kulig K, Powers CM, Shellock FG and Terk M. The effects of eccentric velocity on activation of elbow flexors: evaluation by magnetic resonance imaging. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33: 196-200, 2001.
3. Naito A, Sun YJ, Yajima M, Fukamachi H and Ushikoshi K. Electromyographic study of the elbow flexors and extensors in a motion of forearm pronation/supination while maintaining elbow flexion in humans. Tohoku J Exp Med 186: 267-277, 1998.
4. Naito A, Yajima M, Fukamachi H, Ushikoshi K, Sun YJ and Shimizu Y. Electromyographic (EMG) study of the elbow flexors during supination and pronation of the forearm. Tohoku J Exp Med 175: 285-288, 1995.
5. Roman WJ, Fleckenstein J, Stray-Gundersen J, Alway SE, Peshock R and Gonyea WJ. Adaptations in the elbow flexors of elderly males after heavy- resistance training. J Appl Physiol 74: 750-754, 1993.
6. Yang ZX, Pho RW, Kour AK and Pereira BP. The musculocutaneous nerve and its branches to the biceps and brachialis muscles. J Hand Surg [Am ] 20: 671-675, 1995.
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