Curls, Curls, Curls

I keep forgetting. Someone help me. Does it go, "curls FOR the girls," or does it go "curls ARE for girls." Well whatever it is, chances are you have been doing bicep curls since the Dark Ages. And also, chances are your "pythons" have not grown an inch or even a centimeter. But nevertheless, you have that "I'm a bad ass" attitude and you keep goin' at it. But after you read this little article, you'll soon figure out that it takes more than a "I'm a bad ass" attitude to build arms the size of cannons.

Time for a little anatomy lesson. You have to understand that your arms, which consist of your biceps, triceps and forearms, will ALWAYS work in conjunction with their "daddy" muscles. What does that mean? It means every time you PUSH a weight away from you, your chest, shoulders and triceps are being worked. And that also means every time you PULL a weight towards you, you're using your back and biceps.

You're probably saying, "Well, a curl works my biceps AND back then, awesome!" Well slow down. Unless your curling in the 100 pound to 200 pound range, it's not as awesome as you think. So what can you do besides curls to get more bang for your biceps?

Pull ups/Chin ups.

"Whoa! Pull ups/Chin ups!? Those are the best exercises you can come up for me!?"

The only person exempt from doing pull ups is this guy.

Yep. You walk into any gym and you'll always see a "bad ass" curling away. But you will almost never see anyone performing a pull up or chin up for that matter. Why are pull ups/chin ups superior to curls?

Quick questions: How much do you weigh? How much do you curl? If you can curl more than you weigh you have a problem. But for normal people, it's more likely you weigh more than you curl. And guess what else pull ups work? You pull your ENTIRE weight up. Instead of pulling only 50 or 60 pounds by curling, you could actually be pulling 160-170 pounds by doing pull ups/chin ups.

Here is another reason pull ups/chin ups are superior to curls. Your shoulder blades and back are the ones responsible for supporting your arms. And guess what else pull ups work. Your shoulder blade muscles and your entire back. Always remember that the back and chest are the foundation of the body along with the legs. If the foundation is too weak and small, the roof (arms and shoulders) will not grow to their full potential.

Now, I am not completely against doing curls. My theory is if you can do about 10 pull ups/chin ups at your bodyweight and you do not look like a stick, you can add in some curls to emphasize certain parts of your bicep. But you should never rely on curls alone. And besides, it's your TRICEPS that make up 2/3's of the mass of your arm. So in reality, you should place more emphasis on your triceps than your biceps.

"So wait, are pull ups/chin ups the only exercises I can do then?"

Of course not, Mr. Bad Ass!

Here is a little list of exercises that will transform your little torpedoes into full range missiles:

For Biceps:

PULL UPS (palms facing away from you) (weighted if you can)

CHIN UPS (palms facing towards you) (weighted if you can)

BARBELL ROWS

CABLE ROWS

DUMBBELL ROWS

For Triceps:

BARBELL/DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS

BARBELL/DUMBBELL SHOULDER PRESS

DIPS (weighted if you can)

PUSH UPS (weighted if you can)

I know, I know. Some of these exercises you probably have never heard before, which is why I suggest that you find someone who can show you how to perform them properly. The Internet can also be a good guide. You Tube videos don't count if the person in the video is wearing colorful short shorts, sorry.

So there you have it. Fellow males, if your dream is to have bazookas for arms please drop the curls and hurry, you're startin' to look like this guy.

- Juice